Anyone Snowshoe or Cross Country/Touring Ski in Off Season? Getting Started Tips?

[mtnbiker208]

My my that slope looks ripe for a big slide.

it does, but not everytime! that is where learning about slides come into play. they don't just happen.

 

[Whisky]

My wife has been loving her birthday present

These are great skis, exactly what I was looking for!! For her I mean.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Marbles]

I love cross-country skiing and do it a lot, but it's ONLY FOR GROOMED SKI TRACKS. I see people using them off trails, and they're a terrible tool for that.

Agree that snowshoes are the best tool for what you describe, and just getting out on the snow.

A really fun way to get around once you're comfortable on snowshoes, are "ski shoes", or short skis with built in skins. I have both the "Altai" brand and "OAC" brand. Both are excellent. They take a bit of getting used to but are a great way to get around, and a little more efficient than snowshoes. When skiing downhill I highly recommend the technique using a single stout wooden pole that you lean on as a rudder.

Depends on the ski set up. Full metal edge skis with a tech binding toe and heal pad are significantly better for breaking trail than snow shoes. The set up is also expensive though due to the cost of BC touring boots.

I agree that a skinny ski with no metal edges and NNN bindings is best on groomers.

BC touring skis with skins, while not as efficient as a cross country ski on flats, are pretty good to. For me, I enjoy exploring on skis, breaking trail in snowshoes is not something I enjoy though.

 

[medvedyt]

they don't glide as well as traditional skis- they are shorter (and wider) and have a length of skin built into the bottom, but they still do glide pretty well on packed roads

little late on the battle but do you need wax to use those skis?

 

[mtwarden]

little late on the battle but do you need wax to use those skis?

the only time I wax is if the snow conditions cause snow to stick to the skins, which isn't too often

 

[7mm-08]

Back to the OP's original question - I've been snowshoeing for more than 50 years and it is a great winter aerobic activity. I do it a lot (still) because I wolf hunt weekly between mid-December and mid-April and there's no other practical alternative (for me). What I will say is that I've tried about every snowshoe made (from native-made gut bearpaws to MSR's Lightning Ascents) and come to one conclusion - the binding and how it attaches to the snowshoe is the key. There are no more technically advanced snowshoes than MSR's Lightning Ascents. They're spendy and not the lightest, but they are (in my humble opinion) the best snowshoe (my kind of) money can buy.

 

[justinspicher]

I'd love to have some of these for late season cow hunts.

Glidelite 147 Trek Skis With Binding

<ul> <li>Integrated GlideLite skins</li> <li>Steel edges for added versatiity</li> <li>Compression resistant elastic foam core</li> <li>Patented Unicoat ski base</li> <li>Weight 1200g w/o binding</li> <li>Width 124-110-122mm</li> </ul>

www.blackdiamondequipment.com

I have a set of these with the universal boot binding if anyone is interested.

 

[TaperPin]

I love snowshoeing areas that were hiked in the warmer months. Along the way I’ve seen a lot of new back country skiers get in over their head - with climbing skins you’ll go up areas you may not be prepared to ski down. When bindings are designed to not release, rather simple crashes can be knee wreckers. Make sure your insurance is well understood. Knee injuries from backcountry skis have robbed more than one person I’ve known the simple enjoyment of hiking.

Backcountry areas full of snow have a number of new ways to kill newbies that they hopefully learn early on. Leading snowshoeing trips for groups of college kids, it sometimes felt like keeping toddlers alive - turn your head and someone will sneak off to stand on a cornice over a 50’ drop onto rocks, or one will start across a glassy open slope with a first class high speed ticket to slam into boulders at the bottom if they have a small slip. Big pockets of air around trees aren’t dangerous with a bunch of people to dig you out, but fall head first solo and hopefully you’re lucky.

Fatal avalanches aren’t all big open slopes. It doesn’t take a big run to bury you when the snow is deep or heavy. We often followed a track into the best lakes, and I’ve lost count of how many times the first people in walked across the bottom of many seemingly small open slopes, with obvious high slide danger, when simply walking across the slope on the uphill side, or taking a path through the trees on the other side eliminates the danger altogether. Every sizable pile of snow on a small slope becomes a teachable moment - you simply want to be anywhere but under it. Being smart greatly stacks the odds in your favor.