My Ski History by anemic

[anemic]

Allow me to share my story with you because you may enjoy reading it.

Thank you. I have enjoyed this site for years; I love the XCD focus. You've taught me so much! Yet, I have never tele'd! I don't have a tele rig of any kind!

In the 1970's as a middle school youth in Michigan who'd not yet skied (I knew I would love skiing even before day one), a friend of the family gave me his 210 cm woodies when he moved to FL. The poles were bamboo. The boots were blue addidas high tops with a long duckbill and of course a light 3 pin binding. I kickwaxed the full length of the pine tarred base as was the tradition. I learned they were HUGE! I was not a tall kid or even average height. I've owned those skis over 30 years now. Eventually the boots started cracking and it seemed like a good idea to upgrade to NNN. The old school boots would pinch my foot to a degree with every kick. The NNN were a good step in the right direction. I even raced a few times on these skis - the lone woody. As the recreational caliber NNN boots aged, I wanted to look into something heavier duty so I upgraded the bindings to NNN BC with Alpina 1550 boots. Not a bad move, especially the left boot. Sadly, the right boot is a blister machine on my heel. There is a plastic edge which cuts it's own liner and there is no way it will ever be comfortable. Meanwhile I bought some beautiful black mohair skins for these skis. They are very skinny about half width. I leave them on all the time because they glide GREAT! I no longer kick wax them. They stick to the wood great, snow never gets underneath them. they climb incredibly well. If only these skis were capable of making a turn. Any turn. 30 years of step turns.

When wood is good, it's really hard to beat. When it's bad it is slow like a snowshoe. I have skied almost all the way across Michigan on a horse trail on these. That was a 2-night overnight adventure, self supported, with backpack. That's what necessitated the NNN BC upgrade.

Those skis got me into Nordic ski racing, which I still do. I had a full bore Nordic life for about a decade. so I have lots of skate & classic race gear.

Meanwhile, when I finally did go Alpine skiing in middle school, I loved it. I raced on the high school ski team and loved it. I graduated from college and became a ski bum in CO for a couple years. I currently have some big mountain resort skis (186 x 100) and some race SL skis and I still enjoy that type of skiing to a degree (but it is somewhat boring to me by comparison to self-serve skiing, which I find more satisfying, and would be happy to do only that forever).

One of my Nordic race buddies has a place in Driggs and he does a good deal of AT skiing which is great in the Tetons. Under his influence I became the owner of an AT rig.

But the AT rig is NOT the ticket for Michigan. It's perfect for ascending and descending. It's really not any fun on the flats. At all. All the individual parts feel pretty light for how big and capable they are. But when you put it all together, especially with the full-width skins, it's heavy. If I had enormous climbs and resulting descents I would put up with the funless flats, but I don't have that here. Also, with 130 wide tips (100 underfoot), I cannot avoid knocking the striding ski against the kicking ski. They are really just too fat for that kind of activity. Yes a more moderate ski would alleviate that. But then the binding is like $500 and I’m still left with the boot, and the heavy skins.

So I am headed to a new career as an XCD tele-ist! I have ordered some old school 200 cm waxable (or skinable!) XCD GTs from LoveJohnny and some fine old soft Merrell 3 pin boots from a mountain man in the Sierras (who prefers more of a resort rig) and some Mountaineer HD 3 pin bindings (all these new toys ship today!).

I am fascinated that we all have our own region and it's topographical peculiarities which give rise to slightly different preferences in our gear choices. I have seen a lot of feedback from enough skiers using crowns, fishscale, waxless patterns that I am hesitant to go that route right now. Yet I am fascinated by the Altair Kom with a waxless pattern that is claimed to be much better. I am fascinated to be able to communicate with the Altair ski guys, who developed the Karhu XCD lineup. I am fascinated by their inspiration, the indigenous skiers of the Altair region who have been skiing on fully skinned “Hok prototypes” for thousands of years. I am fascinated that such small differences in the spec and width of the Karhu/Madshus lineup creates significant changes in the performance and sensations of each ski. I am fascinated by the Japanese XCD enthusiasts who are heading into the mountains and even riding lifts on NNN BC XCD rigs. Those videos are kind of life changing for me because they redefine tele life. Tele life doesn’t have to be heavy duty, dedicated resort rigs, that apparently cannot climb without a ski lift. (I don’t want to cause a storm there. I’m a tele noob but that’s what I’ve read about NTN.)

For now I will experiment with somewhat minimalist skin skiing on the waxable XCD GTs (sans kickwax). I showed my wife the Japanese videos and she agrees, this looks like fun! My AT foray was never going to include her; unfortunately she doesn’t share my massively overdeveloped sense of adventure. I am not quite certain what rig we’ll put her on yet (would prefer the same as mine, whichever I go with, so possibly 3 pin, yet perhaps waxless). She is looking forward to the XCD adventure too! Her background is similar to mine; some alpine racing, a very competent resort Alpine skier, a fast Nordic ski racer (especially classic in her case) and zero tele experience - willing to start a new ski chapter!

Our master plan is to be ski bums the moment we hit the empty nest. We have a high school junior and a freshman. XCD could really turn into our next lifestyle. I’ll let you know how LoveJohnny’s XCD GTs turn out! (when the snow comes back)

[MikeK]

Wow - welcome anemic. It sounds like you are heading in the right direction. Gear tastes will change day to day, year to year, but getting the techniques and having fun is the bottom line.

That setup you are starting with is really old school. And to tell you the truth, other than using vintage wax skis, it's almost EXACTLY what I started with.

My tastes have evolved from there, and they are still evolving... I think it's called learning

Make sure you get your wife a set of skis and take her with you. She will enjoy it... maybe not at first, but it grows on you. My wife HATED skiing when I first tried her with it, but I urged her to stick with it and stick to the Nordic side of things and now she loves it. She still has her moments of struggle and frustration, but that's part of learning. When the benefit outweighs those little bits of struggle, you know you really enjoy it.

Good luck!

[Woodserson]

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH I AM NO LONGER ALONE

PICS OF THE WOOD SKIS!!!

[Johnny]

Wooooaaah...! Very nice story Anemic, you're going to make me cry...!!
We can feel the passion here...

Just do it, ski bumming is the coolest thing!

Not sure the XCD GTs are the best skis for telemark and turning, but it's a starting point...!

We definitely need a wood ski thread... I need to use my wood skis more often...

[anemic]

XCD Progress Report

Boots
I wear my new vintage Merrell leathers at my desk all day. They feel great on my feet. VERY comfortable! I found them right here in the forums.
Mrs. anemic has ordered a couple new pairs of Garmont leathers which look very similar to my Merrells. They are not available in half sizes so she ordered 7s and 8s.

Skis
I just placed an order for waxable 195 cm Eons (for me) and 175 cm Epochs (for Mrs anemic). Bindings to be HD Mountaineers. She's real pleased with that binding choice.

Snowpack Problems
I'm racing a 50k skate race tomorrow. Backyard snowdepth is nil but I'm about 60 miles south of the rain/snow line during recent precip events and warmups, north of this line it was close, but all winter. So we may be traveling for our turns in the coming weeks.

Rockski Plan & Question
I'm going to mount up LoveJohnny's older Karhu XCD GT 200 with a 3 pin binding that may not be a new Voile. Some vintage bindings have a nice plate style clamp on them, but still look more similar to the old track/ racing grade binding. Many of these say Nordic Norm on them. Meanwhile others (BD, Rottefella) look more like the HD Voile or telemark grade. Can we use the vintage bindings on leathers with a 3/4" / 19 mm duckbill, or do they fail to clamp?

[lowangle al]

Welcome to the world of xcd dude. I would not use a 3 pin binding not made specifically for the thick soled boots you have. It is possible that some of those old bindings would fit your boot but the problem is there strength. Broken bails used to be a problem with some of them especially if you are turning and possibly crashing. Nobody wants to have to walk out.

I have been skiing waxable XCD GTs for 30 years and they turn great on a firm carvable base and even better with powder on a firm base. Off trail in heavy powder they take a lot of speed and commitment to get them to work and I avoid using them for that.

I like the fact that you wear your boots at work. It shows me that you have the level of dedication required to succeed at this sport.

[anemic]

Thanks Al! I appreciate all the input and encouragement.

I will hold out for a telemark style 3 pin binding - thanks for the confirmation.

That is great to know that the old school, basically straight XCD GT v 1.0 may still have a purpose in life. I look forward to riding those and finding out how they feel. Reassuring to know you still value yours.

[Rodbelan]

Regarding old 3 pins and tele boots:
It works but not very long! A friend had the old all metal rat trap 3 pin binding on woodies and Alpina Telelight (similar to the Supercomp)... He destroyed the binding in very little time...

[anemic]

Just add snow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeK]

I'd add some bindings to the XCD GTs and Eons too!

But yeah, I like your style!

My wife especially likes Mrs. Anemics skis (because she has the same ones with the same bindings - she told me to say so).