Clothing advice

Well, I've finally bitten the bullet and booked three days in Yllas, Finland
in mid-December. I'm looking forward to it no end, but my only concern is
with clothing.

I normally go downhill skiing in the Alps in March, when it is quite warm
and sunny, so am concerned to get my clothing right for the much anticipated
colder weather, and the different type of movement. Will I be OK with my
normal ski wear, jacket, gloves, hat and sallopettes plus thermals, or
should I look to more x-country style clothing? The travel agent stated that
when he went he wore track-suit trousers over his thermals!

Also, what sort of eyewear should I consider, I guess mirror glasses are
out?

Any advice gratefully received.

Jonathan Grant wrote:
Well, I've finally bitten the bullet and booked three days in Yllas, Finland
in mid-December. I'm looking forward to it no end, but my only concern is
with clothing.

I normally go downhill skiing in the Alps in March, when it is quite warm
and sunny, so am concerned to get my clothing right for the much anticipated
colder weather, and the different type of movement. Will I be OK with my
normal ski wear, jacket, gloves, hat and sallopettes plus thermals, or
should I look to more x-country style clothing? The travel agent stated that
when he went he wore track-suit trousers over his thermals!

Also, what sort of eyewear should I consider, I guess mirror glasses are
out?

Any advice gratefully received.

if by "normal ski wear" you mean downhill cloths, it depends. If you
are a total beginner, you probably will be fine. Once you start moving
around on skis comfortably, you will need smth less bulky.

if you are willing to spend $$ for nordic-specific clothing, look at
Sport Hill:

http://www.sporthill.com/productentry.htm

As for the eyewear, cycling glasses work fine. And, please, don't use
downhill goggles.

Thanks for the advice. I've looked around and read a few bits of advice
elswhere and they all match your sound comments.

Unfortunately, being in the UK there are very few specialist shops around
for x-country skiing, although Decathlon have open a store not too far away
from me. There are, however, lots of cycling shops, so I will make a trip to
get the glasses, I presume you mean the yellow lensed ones.

Have to go now as the x-country skiing is about to start on the TV!

speaking of cycling clothing vs nordic clothing.

long-sleeve thick winter cycling tops should work for nordic. Cycling
pants would work, too, if not for the excessive padding.

CRAFT makes underwear that I see both in nordic and cycling stores.
It's considered the best underwear by many. Go for the long-sleeve
tops.

Cycling vests - yes. I prefer regular thick fleece vests though.

yellow cycling lenses for cloudy weather - yes.

polypropylene cycling hats - yes.

Warm cycling gloves should work great (the padding on the cycling
glvoves is not in the exactly same spots as the padding on dedicated
nordic gloves, but it's close enough).

Bottom line - there is quite a bit of similarity between winter cycling
clothing and nordic clothing.

Just avoid cotton by all means.

I forgot the obvious - check running stores, too.

Thanks again for all the tips. One of the big cycling shops has combined
with a running shop near where I work, so I will pop in one lunchtime.

Jonathan Grant informed
rec.skiing.nordic with the following:
Well, I've finally bitten the bullet and booked three days in Yllas, Finland
in mid-December. I'm looking forward to it no end, but my only concern is
with clothing.

I normally go downhill skiing in the Alps in March, when it is quite warm
and sunny, so am concerned to get my clothing right for the much anticipated
colder weather, and the different type of movement. Will I be OK with my
normal ski wear, jacket, gloves, hat and sallopettes plus thermals, or
should I look to more x-country style clothing?

Depends a bit what you mean by "normal ski wear" and what sort of
skiing pace you intend to take.

The travel agent stated that when he went he wore track-suit trousers
over his thermals!

I suppose that might be ok combination.

Also, what sort of eyewear should I consider, I guess mirror glasses are
out?

Given that mid-December is the darkest time of the year in northern
hemisphere, you won't need any eyewear at least to protect from the
sun.

--
Heikki "Hezu" Kantola,
Lähettämällä mainoksia tai muuta asiatonta sähköpostia yllä olevaan
osoitteeseen sitoudut maksamaan oikolukupalvelusta EUR100 alkavalta
tunnilta.

Also, what sort of eyewear should I consider, I guess mirror glasses are
out?

I've got Madison triple lenses and mostly wear the clear lens (it stops my nose running).
The yellow would be useful for you in December. You wont need bulletproof lenses, unless you're in a downhill tuck in a convoy at race tempo when the pole tips of the skier in front could poke your face.

You dont say if you've done much track skiing before. Since you have a booking does that mean you have tuition or refresher time planned and that you know the difference between classic and skate techniques.
Perhaps you are going with a group where tuition is part of the plan.
One can get really knackered or seriously injured on the first day if you've only DH skills to rely on.

wrote:

if you are willing to spend $$ for nordic-specific clothing, look at
Sport Hill:

http://www.sporthill.com/productentry.htm

As for the eyewear, cycling glasses work fine. And, please, don't use
downhill goggles.

A big ditto on both the sporthill and eyewear recommendations. I use
some of my sporthill stuff for cycling also.

As for eyewear, I tend to keep my eyes open for suitable cheap eyewear.
I like well fitting glasses that go down to the cheek bones and wrap
around the sides, but have found many pair that really have decent
optics and durability in the cheapo racks at stores and also the safety
glasses racks at hardware stores. I'm not saying any old cheapo
glasses, but ones that happen to fit my face and seem to be reasonably
clear without distortion. Most of these racks have the common sport
type lense shape, but for $15-20 instead of $100+ I'm not saying
expensive glasses aren't worth it, but I just can't afford to lose,
scratch and break expensive glasses, so I buy the cheap ones and don't
worry about it.

As for lenses, I have a few pair in a light brownish tint for sunny
days and some yellow ones for under the lights or overcast "flat" days.

As for eyewear, I tend to keep my eyes open for suitable cheap eyewear.
I like well fitting glasses that go down to the cheek bones and wrap
around the sides, but have found many pair that really have decent
optics and durability in the cheapo racks at stores

We totally agree on this one. I have purchased 5+ pairs of 100+ cool
cycling glasses. They are just as easy to break, fog up just as much,
and get scratched as easily as cheapo eyeware. They are styled better
though (if you care).