Ski Length

The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for 80%
groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240 lbs and I am
a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which was the
first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois on un-groomed
mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old pictures the skis were maybe
195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures other than they
exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge they gave me skis that were 174 cm in
length. I did parts of the Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I enjoyed the
experieince and plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and will check out
Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough to be in a
position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to use as a
base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo, CA. I need
to decide what length would be best as a beginner again. I have been looking
at beginner packages.

I recommend that you visit an excellent store that specializes in XC skiing,
or check out any one of many excellent web stores and have them select skis
for you.
Ski length is mostly irrelevant for groomed snow classic skiing. It's the
flex pattern and pressure distribution that you need to be concerned about.
That said you'll end up with the longest skis
made, and that depends on how they are measured. Expect 210 to 213. Keep in
mind that unless you are getting a racy ski fit will be ball park rather
than precise, and that's ok. Just go ski.

May I recommend Madshus Nordmarka as a good compromise between a touring and
racing ski? They used to be called Tur Langren. (Tour/Race)

Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY


"bits" wrote in message
...
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for 80%
groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240 lbs and I
am a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which was
the first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois on
un-groomed mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old pictures the
skis were maybe 195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures other
than they exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge they gave me skis that were
174 cm in length. I did parts of the Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I
enjoyed the experieince and plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and
will check out Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough
to be in a position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to
use as a base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo,
CA. I need to decide what length would be best as a beginner again. I have
been looking at beginner packages.

Speaking of stores, down there in Truckee you'll find a reputable shop
called Paco's - http://www.pacosbikeandski.com/.



"Gary Jacobson" wrote:

I recommend that you visit an excellent store that specializes in XC
skiing, or check out any one of many excellent web stores and have
them select skis for you.
Ski length is mostly irrelevant for groomed snow classic skiing. It's
the flex pattern and pressure distribution that you need to be
concerned about. That said you'll end up with the longest skis
made, and that depends on how they are measured. Expect 210 to 213.
Keep in mind that unless you are getting a racy ski fit will be ball
park rather than precise, and that's ok. Just go ski.

May I recommend Madshus Nordmarka as a good compromise between a
touring and racing ski? They used to be called Tur Langren. (Tour/Race)

Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY


"bits" wrote in message
t...
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for
80% groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240
lbs and I
am a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which
was the first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois
on un-groomed mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old
pictures the skis were maybe 195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from
the pictures other than they exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge
they gave me skis that were 174 cm in length. I did parts of the
Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I enjoyed the experieince and
plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and will check out
Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough to be in a
position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to use
as a base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo,
CA. I need to decide what length would be best as a beginner again.
I have been looking at beginner packages.

Dear Bits:

I agree with the older post. As Bert Kleerup says, your skis have no
idea how tall you are, just how much you weigh. I usually look for the
longest skis I can find that have a flex pattern and strength to fit my
weight.

Randy
bits wrote:
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for 80%
groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240 lbs and I am
a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which was the
first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois on un-groomed
mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old pictures the skis were maybe
195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures other than they
exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge they gave me skis that were 174 cm in
length. I did parts of the Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I enjoyed the
experieince and plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and will check out
Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough to be in a
position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to use as a
base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo, CA. I need
to decide what length would be best as a beginner again. I have been looking
at beginner packages.

Your skis may not know your height, but you with your ability do
relative to the skis. Compare skiing on your regular skis with a short
pair. In bits' case, a long stiff ski would probably not work as well
as a one in the 195-200 range.

rm

" wrote:

Dear Bits:

I agree with the older post. As Bert Kleerup says, your skis have no
idea how tall you are, just how much you weigh. I usually look for the
longest skis I can find that have a flex pattern and strength to fit my
weight.

Randy
bits wrote:
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for
80% groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240
lbs and I am
a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which
was the first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois
on un-groomed mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old
pictures the skis were maybe 195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from
the pictures other than they exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge
they gave me skis that were 174 cm in length. I did parts of the
Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I enjoyed the experieince and
plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and will check out
Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough to be in a
position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to use
as a base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo,
CA. I need to decide what length would be best as a beginner again.
I have been looking at beginner packages.

bits wrote:
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for 80%
groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240 lbs and I am
a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which was the
first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois on un-groomed
mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old pictures the skis were maybe
195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures other than they
exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge they gave me skis that were 174 cm in
length. I did parts of the Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I enjoyed the
experieince and plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and will check out
Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough to be in a
position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to use as a
base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo, CA. I need
to decide what length would be best as a beginner again. I have been looking
at beginner packages.

Stiffness is the issue. It has to be matched to your weight, and the
conditions you expect to encounter. As others suggest, a good shop
should be able to sort this out for you. At 240# finding skis stiff
enough will be a bit of a challenge I suspect. But that doesn't really
matter, as softer skis may be just fine for a beginner. How is your
general fitness?

As you are a gear freak, I'd suggest just getting some cheap skis first
to get some experience on snow, and then once you form some opinions
about what sort of skiing your like or plan to do you can decide what
"real" skis to buy.

I'd guess you'd be looking in the 200-210 range, but again stiffness is
the thing.

Have fun!

Joseph

I want to say thanks to each of you who took time to give me your input. I
plan to visit Sierra Nordic (www.sierranordic.com) tomorrow afternoon to
leverage their knowledge and experience. At a minimum I plan to explore a
purchase and get some skiing in at Tahoe-Donner and Royal Gorge these next
three days.



In response to the question about my fitness well I need to improve it. I am
carrying too much weight on my upper body. Lower body has always been my
best asset. Even did some speed skating when I was younger. I am hoping my
endurance will be sufficient for my beginning stage. I expect it will
improve if I stick with it. In most things that I do I start off slower than
most but manage to get to a reasonable level to enjoy the activity and
benefit from the workouts.



In August 2005 I got into sea kayaking which has helped. I have done well
working out in a gym in the past but I prefer to be active outdoors if
possible. You can find some of my kayaking pictures at
http://11000.spaces.msn.com .



I will give you an update.



~ bits



"bits" wrote in message
...
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for 80%
groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240 lbs and I
am a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which was
the first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois on
un-groomed mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old pictures the
skis were maybe 195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures other
than they exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge they gave me skis that were
174 cm in length. I did parts of the Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I
enjoyed the experieince and plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and
will check out Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough
to be in a position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to
use as a base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo,
CA. I need to decide what length would be best as a beginner again. I have
been looking at beginner packages.

bits wrote:
I want to say thanks to each of you who took time to give me your input. I
plan to visit Sierra Nordic (www.sierranordic.com) tomorrow afternoon to
leverage their knowledge and experience. At a minimum I plan to explore a
purchase and get some skiing in at Tahoe-Donner and Royal Gorge these next
three days.



In response to the question about my fitness well I need to improve it. I am
carrying too much weight on my upper body. Lower body has always been my
best asset. Even did some speed skating when I was younger. I am hoping my
endurance will be sufficient for my beginning stage. I expect it will
improve if I stick with it. In most things that I do I start off slower than
most but manage to get to a reasonable level to enjoy the activity and
benefit from the workouts.

I was curious so as to be able to get a picture of how fast you could
expect to progress. If you were seriously out of shape and seriously
overweight, I'd figure it would take a while before any equipemnt
choices would make any difference at all as you would just be shuffling
around huffing and puffing. In that case any skis at all would do just
to get some exercise. That seems not the case. If you expect some
reasonably fast weightloss, maybe get skis tuned for a weight somewhere
between your current weight and your "match" weight. This way they will
be a bit soft as you start out (easier to use when you are not in the
greatest shape), and will become more agressively fitted as you lose
weight and simultaneously improve technique.

But you may not lose any weight at all! If you are the type that builds
muscle easily, your weight may even go up. Last year I had a large
weight spike due to upper body muscle development when I skied quite a
bit. Of course weight isn't important, body composition is, and I'm
happy with higher weight as long as it is muscle and not fat.

Joseph



In August 2005 I got into sea kayaking which has helped. I have done well
working out in a gym in the past but I prefer to be active outdoors if
possible. You can find some of my kayaking pictures at
http://11000.spaces.msn.com .



I will give you an update.



~ bits



"bits" wrote in message
...
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for 80%
groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240 lbs and I
am a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which was
the first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois on
un-groomed mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old pictures the
skis were maybe 195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures other
than they exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge they gave me skis that were
174 cm in length. I did parts of the Little Dipper and Palisades trails. I
enjoyed the experieince and plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and
will check out Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately enough
to be in a position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee to
use as a base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San Mateo,
CA. I need to decide what length would be best as a beginner again. I have
been looking at beginner packages.

there is also Paco's in Truckee which I like more than Sierra Nordic

I am wired such that when I find something I want to get into I throw myself
into it along with some $$. I try to balance value with quality when I
invest the $$. An approach that has worked well for me is to seek out
knowledgeable and reputable people and have a conversation with them. I
explore their background and experience. If I like them I put my $$ in their
hands and leverage their expertice. Then when I get the gear I take lessons.
After I take lessons I take more lessons and attend clinics. That process
has worked well in the past when I got interested in fly fishing and sea
kayaking so I expect it will work here as well. One thing about having my
own quality gear is I can focus on me and my technique. I take the "oh it
must be the gear" right out of the equation. Yea I know others take
different approachs but this is mine. :-)

I got into this so I could socialize with my friend who ski. If I get a
fitness benefit out of it all the better. After two days using my new gear I
am having a blast. Other than that I just enjoy being outdoors and do my
best to get outside whenever I can. I can now add nordic skiing to my other
outdoor pursuits of fly fishing and sea kayaking.

wrote in message
oups.com...

bits wrote:
I want to say thanks to each of you who took time to give me your input.
I
plan to visit Sierra Nordic (www.sierranordic.com) tomorrow afternoon to
leverage their knowledge and experience. At a minimum I plan to explore a
purchase and get some skiing in at Tahoe-Donner and Royal Gorge these
next
three days.



In response to the question about my fitness well I need to improve it. I
am
carrying too much weight on my upper body. Lower body has always been my
best asset. Even did some speed skating when I was younger. I am hoping
my
endurance will be sufficient for my beginning stage. I expect it will
improve if I stick with it. In most things that I do I start off slower
than
most but manage to get to a reasonable level to enjoy the activity and
benefit from the workouts.

I was curious so as to be able to get a picture of how fast you could
expect to progress. If you were seriously out of shape and seriously
overweight, I'd figure it would take a while before any equipemnt
choices would make any difference at all as you would just be shuffling
around huffing and puffing. In that case any skis at all would do just
to get some exercise. That seems not the case. If you expect some
reasonably fast weightloss, maybe get skis tuned for a weight somewhere
between your current weight and your "match" weight. This way they will
be a bit soft as you start out (easier to use when you are not in the
greatest shape), and will become more agressively fitted as you lose
weight and simultaneously improve technique.

But you may not lose any weight at all! If you are the type that builds
muscle easily, your weight may even go up. Last year I had a large
weight spike due to upper body muscle development when I skied quite a
bit. Of course weight isn't important, body composition is, and I'm
happy with higher weight as long as it is muscle and not fat.

Joseph



In August 2005 I got into sea kayaking which has helped. I have done well
working out in a gym in the past but I prefer to be active outdoors if
possible. You can find some of my kayaking pictures at
http://11000.spaces.msn.com .



I will give you an update.



~ bits



"bits" wrote in message
...
The Goal: To purchase the correct classic (not skate) ski length for
80%
groomed track use where my height is 6' and my weight is ~ 240 lbs and
I
am a beginner.

The Reality: I went XC skiing this past Sunday at Royal Gorge which was
the first time in 30 years. The previous times were in Illinois on
un-groomed mostly flat to rolling terrain. Looking at old pictures the
skis were maybe 195 - 205 cm. Hard to tell exactly from the pictures
other
than they exceeded my height. .At Royal Gorge they gave me skis that
were
174 cm in length. I did parts of the Little Dipper and Palisades
trails. I
enjoyed the experieince and plan to return regularly to Royal Gorge and
will check out Tahoe-Donner. I am a gear freak and am fortunately
enough
to be in a position to purchase my own gear and have a place in Truckee
to
use as a base on the weekends. The rest of the time I live in San
Mateo,
CA. I need to decide what length would be best as a beginner again. I
have
been looking at beginner packages.