Outdoor Life
Related: About this forumAny snowshoers or backcountry skiers here?
"Signed up" for both. Not going to sit around during a long Michigan winter. Bought aluminum snowshoes and poles from REI back in October when they were almost $100 off.
Ordered a pair of Fischer E99 Crown Xtralite skis with bindings, boots, poles, and a waxing kit this morning.
I'm going to an Intro to Snowshoeing next week at REI, and same for skiing in December.
Used to x-country ski as a kid, high school age, but didn't pursue it.
Any tips, hints, suggestions?
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)If you skied as a youth, you will probably pick up the rhythm quickly. Then you need to learn to snowplow to lose speed. Put the ski tips together and roll your ankles inward.
My first skis were "skate skis", but now all I do is traditional kick and glide. We ski on every chance we get. We get a lot of snow in Cleveland, but with the inevitable thaws it only means ten or twenty times a year. Work interferes. I have skied at Yosemite and Sequoia and would love to do more of that.
I melt glide wax with a travel iron, melt it in, then scrape it flat within an hour. You don't have to put the skis out in the cold or any gimmick to make the wax super hard.
There is a ski center north of you at Roscommon that has had skiable snow already in early December. I have never been there. There is a great advantage to finding a place where there are already tracks, whether it is tracked with a machine or just tracks of other skiers. It is way more fun. Metroparks and golf courses sometimes support skiing.
With those Fischers, you are ready for a polar expedition! I have never used metal edged skis, but I think that they give you super control for long downhills. Have fun!
Denninmi
(6,581 posts)Went a lot better than expected, remained vertical, traversed about a mike of terrain in a pretty good time, and enjoyed it.
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)Here comes the first warm up of 2013. Above 1100 feet around here, the snow seems to last longer than down by Lake Erie.
Denninmi
(6,581 posts)Fell and messed up my shoulder just a little, but I'll live.
Also gone out snowshoeing 3-4 times.
Last weekend our roads had cleared, so I went back to my first love, my Specialized bike.
They say 50's here with rain, so snow will go.
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)... it is like riding my bicycle through the refrigerator. The air trapped in the valleys is cold and damp. Gotta love it
Denninmi
(6,581 posts)I get cold easily, so I do have to layer up.
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