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#1
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Chariot baby carrier
Dear all,
Does anyone have experience of the Chariot baby stroller with skiing attachments? My wife and I are approaching our first winter with a baby, and wondering how to approach it. We have a Chariot with the jogging and cycling attachments, and are considering buying the skiing attachments. We are both reasonably strong skiers, with a strong bias towards racing rather than touring (ie skiing briskly on groomed tracks). Questions I have not found sensible answers to include: 1. Is it suitable for steady racing-style classic and skate skiing, or is it more for ski-walking? It looks like the skis will not fit in the classic spoor. 2. How much damage does it do to a groomed track? 3. How is the stroller with wheels and the ski towing setup for roller- skiing? Thanks, Hugh |
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#2
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Chariot baby carrier
Hugh,
Our son is now 16-months old and we skied with them in a Chariot last winter. I am a sometimes racer and a CANSI Instructor and would highly recommend it. I personally preferred skating with the trailer as opposed to classic skiing, but prefer skating to classic without too. The stroller rides outside of the tracks so doesn't cause much damage. I have not yet rollerskied with it, but am considering. However, I would only do it on the flat as the extra weight makes it tough to stop. Naturally, the stroller is best on the flats, it's a hard workout going uphill and going downhill is somewhat more dangerous. My wife (a downhill instructor) and I were quite adventurous, but on one occassion I removed skis and held the back of the stroller while she snowplowed out front. More an adventure than a concern. Let me know if you have more questions. |
#3
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Chariot baby carrier
Hey Hugh - My personal experience is that skiing with the Chariot is
unpleasant. Striding amounts to strictly shuffling - if you try to ride a ski and kick with any impulse the sled jerks you around quite alarmingly. Something along the lines of nordictrack technique lets you cover some ground. Skating is marginally better, but if you are accustomed to getting any kind of lateral "float" in your skating, forget about it. You can sit in the middle and stick your legs out just fine. Good leg workout, I suppose. But the situation made me realize that I don't ski for exercise - I ski for speed and enjoyment. If you really want to ski with the kid I'd suggest a backpack. Obviously you need to dress the kid up very (very) well. But the pack is really pretty good. Our son was born in January, and that first winter I just skied around with him in a snuggli up front (really a good set-up for a newborn). The second winter we did some in the pack on warmer days. The third winter we stood around while he skied. The fourth winter - well, I'll let you know. Anybody want to by a very lightly used Chariot? Zach On Sep 12, 8:59 am, Hugh P wrote: Dear all, Does anyone have experience of the Chariot baby stroller with skiing attachments? My wife and I are approaching our first winter with a baby, and wondering how to approach it. We have a Chariot with the jogging and cycling attachments, and are considering buying the skiing attachments. We are both reasonably strong skiers, with a strong bias towards racing rather than touring (ie skiing briskly on groomed tracks). Questions I have not found sensible answers to include: 1. Is it suitable for steady racing-style classic and skate skiing, or is it more for ski-walking? It looks like the skis will not fit in the classic spoor. 2. How much damage does it do to a groomed track? 3. How is the stroller with wheels and the ski towing setup for roller- skiing? Thanks, Hugh |
#4
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Chariot baby carrier
Obviously I'm a much stronger skier than Zach . No, he's right,
it's different, but for us the most important thing was being outside together. We use the Chariot for everything: running, strolling and cycling. We commute by bicycle and tow our little one to daycare in it, so it made sense for us to use it for skiing too. We also have a back-pack type from contraption from Mountain Equipment Co-op. We didn't use it, as my wife was concerned about one of us potentially falling. BTW, if you do use the Chariot and your little one is less than a year old, I'd also recommend the baby sling that they sell. |
#5
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Chariot baby carrier
Zach,
Did you try grinding and prepping your chariot's skis? |
#6
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Chariot baby carrier
On Sep 12, 2:25 pm, SkiFit wrote:
Zach, Did you try grinding and prepping your chariot's skis? Of course! ZC |
#7
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Chariot baby carrier
On Sep 12, 11:12 am, Zach Caldwell wrote:
Hey Hugh - My personal experience is that skiing with the Chariot is unpleasant. Striding amounts to strictly shuffling - if you try to ride a ski and kick with any impulse the sled jerks you around quite alarmingly. Something along the lines of nordictrack technique lets you cover some ground. Skating is marginally better, but if you are accustomed to getting any kind of lateral "float" in your skating, forget about it. You can sit in the middle and stick your legs out just fine. Good leg workout, I suppose. But the situation made me realize that I don't ski for exercise - I ski for speed and enjoyment. If you really want to ski with the kid I'd suggest a backpack. Obviously you need to dress the kid up very (very) well. But the pack is really pretty good. Our son was born in January, and that first winter I just skied around with him in a snuggli up front (really a good set-up for a newborn). The second winter we did some in the pack on warmer days. The third winter we stood around while he skied. The fourth winter - well, I'll let you know. Anybody want to by a very lightly used Chariot? Zach On Sep 12, 8:59 am, Hugh P wrote: Dear all, Does anyone have experience of the Chariot baby stroller with skiing attachments? My wife and I are approaching our first winter with a baby, and wondering how to approach it. We have a Chariot with the jogging and cycling attachments, and are considering buying the skiing attachments. We are both reasonably strong skiers, with a strong bias towards racing rather than touring (ie skiing briskly on groomed tracks). Questions I have not found sensible answers to include: 1. Is it suitable for steady racing-style classic and skate skiing, or is it more for ski-walking? It looks like the skis will not fit in the classic spoor. 2. How much damage does it do to a groomed track? 3. How is the stroller with wheels and the ski towing setup for roller- skiing? Thanks, Hugh- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - I'm with Zach on the backpack. The jogger is a great tool for a superhuman running workout, and hiking. The double jogger, loaded with both kids, is an amazingly difficult workout (running). Honestly, we never had the jogger with skis, so I don't have specific knowledge, however the backpack was a good addition to skate or classic because the weight addition to the upperbody did not kill your glide, but it added a core strengthening dimension to a ski workout, as you bobble the top heavy load. But it works well for skiing, and also ski- bushwacking on golf course terrain. Once at a 5k I was passed by a super Dad pushing a Burleigh with his kid in it. I nearly applauded the guy. I think he broke 18 minutes that day. |
#8
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Chariot baby carrier
Thanks for these.
Perhaps 20lb of backpack will help flatten my too-stiff classic skis; or perhaps the Chariot will expedite my conversion to ski-walking. Another trip to REI is needed. Hugh |
#9
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Chariot baby carrier
Hi Hugh,
There is a link here, with some useful information, in case you haven't found it. http://www.xcskiworld.com/family/Parents/sleds.htm The thought of using a backpack for the infant just seems a bad choice to me. I had to stop to try to analyse why. I hiked with a child in a backpack, and used a child-seat on my bike. Both without incident, although I was cautious what I did, and i wouldn't have gone out running or fast cycling with that set-up, because of the risk of falls. I don't fall much ski-ing, but I did go down once or twice while I was towing a pulk, which the pulk-occupant thought was hilarious. It wouldn't have been so funny in a backpack. Falls are more likely too, because of the higher centre of gravity and the mobile load. The old adage comes to mind "Rucksack on back makes skier go splat"! Keeping them warm would be a lot more difficult too, and I did hear a horror story of a baby dying of hypothermia in a backpack. I don't have a source so that may be apocryphal, but they certainly have to be dressed very well and have poor protection from the elements and errant ski-poles. It is bad enough trying to dress an infant for winter without having to put on more than you have to. In the pulk, you just bung them into a rug, in their running-around clothes. And it won't be long before your youngster is running (and skiing) around. I only used a backpack once. It wasn't enjoyable, the child nearly made me fall by leaning out on a downhill corner, and there was no respite from carrying the weight. I think it would only be useful for short cautious trips in good weather, on fairly flat terrain, with no overhanging branches and with a very small child. For ski-ing with youngsters, I have used and can recommend, the standard Norsk bit of kit, the fjellpulken. It works well for babies , and also for intrepid young skiers needing a bit of a rest. I used the pulk until the child was five years old. The youngster's skis will fit in the Pulk too. It is also easy to carry the picnic and spare clothing for all the family. The infant is well- cocooned, which mine liked. They have a choice of sitting up and joining-in, or they can lie down and go to sleep. What I found good is that you could take a hot damp child who had been ski-ing and just wrap them up and put them in, and they would then be snug and cosy. You can get a really good workout by towing, while the child sleeps safe and warm. You won't do your technique any good though, as you have to do a sort of high tempo shuffle to keep the momentum going. Top gear for a cardio workout and for shedding baby-fat. In other words, it is hard work, especially on uphills. It is very stable on descents, and the child is protected by the structure and windscreen from all sorts of impact and weather. I can't comment on the Chariot from experience, but it looks to have most of the advantages and drawbacks of the pulk, although maybe not as warm, roomy and well-protected. However, I think the centre of gravity looks high and I would worry about it tipping easily. The attachment poles look short too, and you should check you have enough room to ski without skis or poles hitting the chariot, (bearing in mind you will be shortening your stride, while towing). It looks a great bit of kit for jogging or cycling and I wish I had had something similar. The skis look a better option than the runners on the fjellpulken and the fact they are waxless is an interesting choice which could help a lot on uphills. If the suspension remains when the wheels are taken off to allow the skis to be fitted, then that would get over the main drawback of a pulk, which is a rough ride when the snow is hard. Have fun, Alex |
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