UKC

My partner is looking to dip her toes into XC skiing. I have Fischer E109's but they're a bit steep for someone not sure if they want commit to the high end stuff - are there any alternative waxless/crown and also fairly wide skis on the market that don't cost a bomb? Or is this asking the impossible!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

you can find relatively cheap narrow waxless XC skis in French shops (I once had a pair from Decathlon) although they'll be edgeless & designed for track skiing, never seen cheap, wide, steel edged XC skis unless in a sale or 2nd hand (but would be interested to find a pair for my partner)

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Do you need steel edges? If not drop me a line.

T

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

XC skiing for the vast majority of people who do it means track skiing where you don't want wide skis as they won't fit into the tracks! Do you mean ski touring or some type? I don't know if they are still around but a couple of years ago Salomon were making their NNN-BC bindings and the boots to go with them and various brands like Fischer and Asnes did 'forest skis' that would work with them. Not much choice in the UK as there is so little call for them, Sport Conrad or Telemark Pyrenees might be the best bet for looking what is available.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:
Depends what you mean by a 'bomb' I guess...

I got a pair of e99s here:

http://crosscountryskis.co.uk/products-page-2/backcountry-skis/

Seemed to be the cheapest I could find. Otherwise maybe rental?

In reply to Rharrison:

but not really 'fairly wide', although the price is OK

In reply to Rharrison:

That is a very good price, seems like an old model which isn't a bad thing. They only do them in 210cm though!

In reply to TobyA:

Always get mixed up between touring, XC and Nordic! Fitting in tracks could be useful but ultimately we want to get away from the resorts and groomed tracks so I think stability/control takes priority.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:
E99s have been around in one form or another for 25 plus years, but 210 cm is a bit long unless your partner is very tall.

I've had a couple of pairs of skis of similar design (but waxable) & they are good for touring on rolling terrain (eg Cairngorm plateau) and I've used them hut to hut touring in Norway a few times, while they will just fit into cut tracks if necessary. They will seem difficult to turn if you're used to alpine skis but will turn with reasonable technique - I've skied black runs on them in the past but struggle in difficult snow compared to wider skis with more sidecut.