Advice on Skate skis needed for Arrowhead 135

I have several pairs of Fischer RCS skate skis, 195 cm flexed for 175
lbs, with NNN bindings.

Now, I need a beginner or intermediate version of used skating skis for
use on snowmobile trails on the Arrowhead 135 ultra race this coming
February (www.arrowheadultra.com).

According to Tim Kelley's account from this year's Susitana 100(posted
on fasterskier.net), racing skis can't handle snowmobile trails like
their cheaper and heavier models.

I don't want to buy a new set just for one event once a year. Instead,
I want to pick up a used pair on Ebay.

What types of models were sold, say ten years ago by Fischer, etc.?
Thank you.

Mitchell Rossman
Mendota Heights, MN

Hi,

Are you sure you want to skate an event like that? Have you done it
before? I'm no expert by any means, but such a long event I would
expect the tortoise to beat the hare!

Good luck!

Joseph

I think when Tim talks about snowmachine trails in AK he means jsut tracks
left by the machines, not the wide groomed ones you will find in northern
MN. Most of those trails are grromed with big machines (tractors with sleds
or Piston Bulley type machines). I htink on these trails any skate ski
would work fine, but they are usually on the soft side. One consideration
would be the trail condition. Often times snowmachine trails have lots of
gravel by road crossings and other spots on the trail. You will also
probably encounter quite a few whoop-de-dos.

Sounds like a fun race. My brother-in-law has been trying to convince me to
come up to AK to do some of the races the Tim goes on about. Someday...

Dave

wrote in message
ups.com...
I have several pairs of Fischer RCS skate skis, 195 cm flexed for 175
lbs, with NNN bindings.

Now, I need a beginner or intermediate version of used skating skis for
use on snowmobile trails on the Arrowhead 135 ultra race this coming
February (www.arrowheadultra.com).

According to Tim Kelley's account from this year's Susitana 100(posted
on fasterskier.net), racing skis can't handle snowmobile trails like
their cheaper and heavier models.

I don't want to buy a new set just for one event once a year. Instead,
I want to pick up a used pair on Ebay.

What types of models were sold, say ten years ago by Fischer, etc.?
Thank you.

Mitchell Rossman
Mendota Heights, MN

Dave:

Thanks for the information. I have never been on a snowmobile trail in
Northern Minnesota.

Mitch

Hi guys,

Just wanted to confirm what Dave said ... the snowmobile trails that
the Susitna 100 on are not groomed. If such races were on Piston
Bulley groomed snowmobile trails (which you have a lot of in the
continental 48 and which are just starting to appear in AK) I'd
definitely use top-of-the-line skate skis. Like the RCS.

The snowmobile trails the Susitna 100 uses are not groomed and used by
many snowmobiles. Without grooming you can get moguls or waves in the
trail. And the more traffic, the worse the waves get. This can be a
wild "bucking-bronco" ride on narrow downhills where you can't snowplow
to slow down. And a lot of people use paddle track snowmobiles (up to
2 1/2 inch treads). These "ditch-wich" the trails on the hills often
leaving a 16 inch wide trough, an a foot deep, that can be very
dangerous ... especially when it ices over.

If the Arrowhead 135 route is on groomed snowmobile trails and not the
ratty Alaskan trails I'm describing ... then use your RCS's and enjoy
the skate!

Tim