UKH

Found a pair of rallye trak skiis, the binding is "nordic norm" and it has 3 spike type things on them. I have never been skiing, but heading to banff/canmore ice climbing, so thought it would be rude not to have a go. Will these be ok to learn to downhill ski on, and maybe do some trails?

In reply to dunnyg:

Yes, post video ...


Better.

In reply to dunnyg:

See room 101

In reply to A Game of Chance: Thanks HeMa

In reply to dunnyg:

There are loads of nordic back country tours in the area - get Chic Scots Nordic trails book.

Anything significantly downhill is a bit of an ordeal on this type of kit. Believe me, I've tried. A lot.

In reply to dunnyg:

If you're heading to Canmore, go to the nordic centre where they train the biathletes. Excellent facilities and bucketload of tracks:

http://www.canmorenordic.com/main.php?p=2

We used to go there at night about 8pm for an hour, good phys!

In reply to Denni: cheers, had seen the center, looks like it might be fun.
Thanks for the help

In reply to dunnyg:


Saw a pic of these on ebay, they look like XC track skis, light tourers at best.


Have you got boots to fit the binding?


No.


Maybe, if you have boots.

If you're for real and just don't know anything about skiing, you're basically asking whether a lightweight, drop handlebar racing bike is good to learn downhill mountain biking on.

In reply to dunnyg:

You may find it not worthwhile lugging a pair of "misery sticks" all the way to Canada.
When you get to Canada, seek out the nearest consignment store and kit yourself out with last year's kit left there by the trust fund babies.

Enjoy

Davie

In reply to dunnyg:

Forgot to add, there is quite a large second hand shop in Canmore called switching gear;

http://switchinggearinc.org/

When I went for an extended trip, I bought most of my kit from there and sold it back to them before I left.

Also, the little cafe next door does great soup

In reply to parafinn: "Misery Sticks" - love it!

In reply to dunnyg:

Learning to ski downhill is hard work even with proper kit. Trying to learn on a pair of lightweight (and skinny?) skis will just make it harder / impossible.

My first pair of skis were a battered pair of ex-rental downhill skis and cost me 50 euros. They were perfect and lasted me a few months after which I sold them for 30 euros. That would be a better bet for a first downhill ski.

People advised me to spend about 75% of my budget on boots and 25% on skis. Having done it I would also recommend that strategy. Your boots are far more important than your skis, especially when you're starting out.

FYI I have also owned a pair of misery sticks (SkiTrab Duo Sint Aero). Even though I was a decent skier by then I found them truly horrid and sold them after a few weeks.

In reply to tri-nitro-toulumne:

PS They look perfect for doing trails

In reply to benka:

Yah, the traditional alps rando-stix are often referred as such (waist mid 70s, and short). Really nice to go up, but generally not much fun on coming down... unless the snow is perfect or you happen to be a proper skiing superstar...

In reply to HeMa:

Andy Newell has no problems
youtube.com/watch?v=wO3ILFejlIg&
;-O