Backcountry Skiing

 

Re: strap-ons

>>I can't believe I'm the only one that gets sore feet from ski boots. So, I'm
>>serious. Looking for serious responses.

That's lots of people.

Will Steiger, the guys who did ski circuses to both Poles and lives in
MN made some sort of plastic binding for use with his mukluks, but don't
expect much kick and glide. I tried them once years ago because they
were around, but I preferred my 75 mm set up, and I didn't get blisters or
cold feet.

In article <3fKdnXPiV_44vPXanZ2dnUVZ_g6dnZ2d@megapath.net>,
Hal Murray wrote:
>What kind of "sore"? Are they too tight? Are they poking or pinching
>in a particular spot or maybe just too tight all over?
>Are your boots the right size? Do you have funny feet? ...
>Try talking to a good boot person at a ski shop.
>In general, "very comfortable insulated work boots" are probably
>too sloppy for good skiing.

I can't imagine a sloppier boot than a Steiger mukluk.
I wore my Sorels into work just because I can into and out of them.

--

 

Article References :

Re: strap-ons
Re: strap-ons
strap-ons
Re: strap-ons
 

See Also : Re: Skating In Back Country Skis?

good point; I forgot to consider that if he's using backcountry skis
he's probably using a backcountry pole with a round basket rather than
the compact racing baskets with the short plastic teeth ... the round
basket and short (sometimes adjustible) poles are designed for downhill
performance; you could get them to about 160 cm. for the uphills and
take them down to 137 or so for the downhills. the shorter pole will
lessen the leverage and shorten the stroke as well. I remember many a
time in the "snowmobile sections" on my local golf course being able to
maintain a "skate" of sorts with my stiff crowned skis ... it was
somewhat satisfying and I thought the practice would put me in good
stead when I went to the groomed trails. invariably I was disappointed
though; getting passed like I was standing still by the folks with the
real XC skate gear. when I eventually splurged and got my own skate
skis I was also impressed with their downhill performance as compared
to my relatively more flexible XC classic skis. of course the
backcountry skis should be better there but surprisingly the crowns
could be disappointing on downhill sections, the crown would make the
downhills sections way too easy and reatively slow to boot; the double
camber for the kick zone also prevented aggressive edging and turning.
the most fun I had using backcountry skis on the trails was when I
upgraded my half steel double cambered crowned Karhus to a Fischer GTS
waxable telemark ski. the single cambered GTS waxed for full glide
was really fun in the downhill sections which I could overpower and ski
aggressively on ANY XC type of trail no matter how steep while I could
actually skate them up most hills w/o a problem too (although I did
have to herringbone some of the steeper sections) and again the weight
was considerable more than true skate skis.. as far as telemarking
with the GTS; I was never really able to progress much past the easier
lift served trails; the lightweight Norwegian welt style 3-pin boots
were too flexible and the skis seemed to deflect too much in the
heavier snow. for those skis, the plastic Terminator style boots
probably would have been too powerful (overkill) ... and that being
said the Norwegian welts were heavy and awkward compared to my
lightweight Alpina skate boots with lightweigh NNN race bindings.

it's truly amazing the size your quiver could get if you factor in all
of the different types of skiing that's out there and you wished to
maximize your performance for each of these conditions and disciplines.
based on the downhill performance of the XC skate skis I would
definitely think you should consider the upgrade from boring
backcountry crown skis (which are more for backpacking/touring kinds of
afternoons) ... but be warned down hill sections that you might have
handled easily with the crowns (and went boringly slow) could be an
adventure with the skate skis ... which are much faster and will also
deflect more than backcountry skis. the skate ski downhill performance
is considerably better than classic racing skis though (if you've tried
true classic skiing). the flexible kick zone was the downfall there..