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#1
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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. |
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#2
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Ski Length
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. |
#3
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Ski Length
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. |
#4
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Ski Length
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. |
#5
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Ski Length
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. |
#6
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Ski Length
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 |
#7
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Ski Length
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. |
#8
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Ski Length
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. |
#9
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Ski Length
there is also Paco's in Truckee which I like more than Sierra Nordic
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#10
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Ski Length
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. |
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