Discussing My Backcountry XC Skis and Philosophy for Backcountry Cross-Country Skiing

Good vid!

I TOTALLY agree 100% with your philosophy on relying on one's skills and technique or buying the latest and greatest shiny new gadget or equipment. This video has just confirmed and answered every question I think I ever had, about Classic XC skiing.

I got the 98s with 3 pins. I love em. I've never felt "wish I had a different ski on right now" but I definitely want to get a narrower setup at some point.

Yeah I never use skins either, never bought em. If I did have some though, I would probably use them to pull my ice fishing gear out to a little lake near my house. I think they'd be useful for that, but I've never even tried without them, so iunno, maybe I don't even need them for that.

Hey Jared what kind of boots do you run on the various setups?

Do you find that nordic camber makes a difference when breaking trail through powder? I have a voile hypervector bc which is a little wider than the fischer 112 and has fish scales but a softer more downhill oriented camber. I'm wondering if a nordic cambered ski if similar width would be any more or less efficient for powder stomping. A side note, it has voile switch back bindings on it (free pivot tele bindings) and I like the free pivot in powder because it helps keep my tips pointed up.

First off, thank you for sharing so much valuable information. I was raised skiing on classic cross country skis, but never using them on groomed trails, I just followed my dad around the golf course. I know live in the country and ski open meadows and bush, zero hills to go down. I have found it to be exhausting breaking my own trails and battling through deep drifts on classic skis. I would like to transition to back country skis. Would the 88's be overkill? Again thank you for everything you share. Respect from southern ontario Canada.

Thanks for the video

Really enjoyed this video. Your approach on this topic is outstanding with a lot of good old common sense! I couldn't agree more in regards to the Classic Technique being fun and effective, if done correctly.
Keep up the great work!

Hey Jared! Looking forward to another winter of videos. I must have missed this one. Recently picked up a pair of S Bound 98s (actually pre-ordered them last December and finally came in a month ago). Have them paired with BC Magnums. I was wondering if you could feature a video with the 98 or 88 and touch on diagonal striding in deep snow if such a thing exists. I was out yesterday in about a foot of firm snow and found myself having a hard time gliding. It looks like we will be losing some of our snowpack here in northern New England so fingers crossed for another good storm. Thanks for all your insightful videos I truly appreciate it!

I owned the Europa 99s from Fischer but that was in a different century. They were single camber and I could go uphill with kick wax and then turn around and ski downhill. I did not ski at 40 degrees F. Normal temps were 5 to 25 degrees F. Not a tele marker so those skis were fine. On groomed trails I had classic and skate skis.

Hello Jared! Hello from Northwestern LP Michigan. Thank you for your thorough videos. Tons of information in each one!

I got a pair of the Fisher 62mm OTX skis last season and I’ve had some good sessions with them on groomed trails in and out of the tracks. I didn’t have as good of a performance off of groomed trails, but I am a beginner and my technique is a work in progress.

Prior to the 62mm I was using a borrowed pair of Fisher 68mm for off-groomed trail use…. Mostly hiking trails with fresh snow or sometimes with snowshoe tracks laid, or another skier’s tracks. I also took them on frozen lakes when there was a good amount of snow on top. Once in a while a walking path with snowmobile tracks laid.

I really noticed a difference between the 62 and 68 width…. Seems like I could go everywhere with those 68s…. But on groomed XC trails the speed lagged and that’s where I’ve been enjoying the skinnier 62s. However the 62s weren’t as good off a groomed surface…. Like you said in a comment, they felt like long snow shoes.

I’m looking to buy a pair of wider backcountry xc skis to take me back into the woods and wherever I please. Where I live isn’t really in the snow belt due to being real close to Lake Michigan. We don’t get piles and piles of snow like they do further inland, so I’m thinking I should pick a width under 90mm for sure. I’m hesitant to buy a pair of 68s since I’d only be adding a few mm for a whole ‘nother set of skis, and two pairs is about all I want to own. I’m just looking for groomed & ungroomed versatility.

Should I stick with what’s worked and get some 68s? Go for 78s? Would 88s be overkill? Your thoughts and suggestions would be most welcome. 🤍💙

Yeah I'd say it's a teensy bit about yer gear....

I completely agree with you. I really wanted some S-Bound 98s but they are incredibly hard to find. I ended up getting some Asnes Rabb 68 which are 94-68-104mm and Voile Mountaineer bindings for my all leather Scarpa Telemark boots. I have been struggling with kick wax and klister in variable conditions. I just ordered some 40mm Race X-Skins similar to the Easyskin hoping this works better in our warm/wet snow. The downhill has been super fun however. I think if you tried using the S-Bound 98s more often you would learn to appreciate them more.

A question: First some background. I turned 70 this year and while this old dog can learn new tricks (I have three days on x-c skis total at this writing) there are limitations. Orf greater import, I weigh 260# today. I might lose weight, docs want me to but I don't have much time so probably not. I have Fischer Spider 62 crown in 199cm. The recommendation is 220#+. So my immediate question is just how far up does that "+" reach? I like the skis so far with nothing with which I can compare and with the turnamics in -1 and F4 swix wipe on I'm gliding pretty good I think (again, nothing with which to compare). Am I on the right or as close to right ski for me? Are there OT or BC skis built for old fat guys? Thanks, and cheers! Oh, my first day was on Rossi Evo OT 65 195cm. I didn't glide well and they felt loose and squirrely. That was last year though, it was a bit icy and my first day so. . . The Spider 62 feel a lot more stable and glide better as noted.

On the weight - ski size charts, how do you factor in clothes and pack weight? I played around with a scale and my light day pack and looking at boot weights, figuring I would add 10-16 pounds to my clothed body weight. This can push someone into the next ski size range. But I would prefer shorter more maneuverable skiis if possible.

Should you go from NNN to NNN BC to 3-point bindings depending on the width of the ski or can you use any binding you choose to go for any width ski?

Appreciate the opportunity to hear this kind of stuff from someone with lots of experience and knowledge. Great video.

Any experience with Madshus Panorama M68 skis vs Fischer Sbound 98. Similar sidecuts. Hard to find info/reviews on Madshus but less expensive and seem to be more available. Maybe someone you know uses them?

I just bought some Fischer Traverse 78 with magnum bc bindings and Fischer OTX BC boots. I can do tele turns in the right conditions so will work with what I have for now but thinking of a narrower and wider set of skis like spider 62 with nnn bc and sbound 98 (or the panoramas) with bc magnum to complete my "quiver". Probably get a pair of Alpina Alaska bc boots or heavier Fischer bc boots to complete the setup.

Weight range.. with or without backbag? It can make a huge difference

I totally agree with this philosophy!
I picked up a pair of ski's and stave's for ~4$ second-hand and I'm having tons of fun with that.

I can't live without my Helge Ingstad from Åsnes.

Can you recommend a backcountry cross country ski shop in the Truckee/Tahoe area? Maybe a shop in the Bay Area? How about recommendations for instruction?

Love your philosophy.
Thank you🙏🏼

Thanks Jared for an awesome video which tells it all, IMHO. You strike the perfect balance about what gear can and can't do for you. I never hear what I consider common sense: we spend so much more of our time going on flat or uphill that focusing solely on downhill. Also, technique and refining one's technique has the greatest impact on satisfaction in real life, whilst procrastinating on what is the best gear is only temporary.
I was born in Finland and moved with my parents to the French Alps when I was only few years old. My parents put my brother and I in alpine ski lessons with our finnish cross country skis (with cable bindings and no steel edges). For 2 seasons that's what we used. Of course all the other kids used regular alpine ski gear and we eventually did too of course. With that back ground, I ski with my backcountry Rossignol on most downhill slopes just as well as a lot of people with modern gear. I still use my Rossignol backcountry skis 200 cm and 63 mm as my only pair of BC gear. I've changed the bindings and boots to NNN BC and Crispi Svartissen and that did make a big difference (I had regular Salomon XC boots and bindings for most of those 30 years). I tried recently some Madshus skis I believe 88 mm wide but much shorter. To be honest, I was planning on buying some shorter and wider skis because a couple of times my 200 mm long skis were too long in narrow rather steep descents. But trying my friend’s Madshus got me thinking. I lost so much of the fun doing “real cross country” on flat terrain. I had to work hard to keep them going straight and (relatively) fast. ANd to my surprise, it didn’t bring me radical change in fun going downhill. Sure the turning radius was shorter. But what’s that for a real difference. One can boast nicer tracks on a downhill? Nothing in it for me. I was so happy when I got my skis back.
By this I don’t mean that in all conditions my longer narrower skis would always trump shorter wider ones. But the reason is exactly what you put forward in your video: technique trumps gear. I learned to ski on XC skis, I got pretty good at alpine ski and never stopped XC on groomed tracks, was at ease on 44 mm XC skis. On my 200/63mm Rossignol, I have been on all kinds of terrain for 30 years, 25 of which not knowing that back Country skis had evolved towards shorter/wider (and loss of camber). So I still enjoy my outings on those skis, which aren’t very frequent because I live far away from skiing places now.
I will still be on the lookout for second hand wider skis because I don’t pretend my trial was definitive. I do go in steeper terrain where I go snowshoeing and thing I could ski rather that walk. But I don’t have the money to spend on new gear for a few opportunities if any every year.
Al in all I am very happy to see that I am not alone thinking what I think. Sometimes on forums here in France I feel cornered into a conservative oldschool persona. Skiing on narrower skis is most often presented like a posture of masochist resisting change, suspected of wanting to turn newer skiers away from the “real fun “ of BC ski (which is totally unfounded because I never give anyone any advise on gear; just talking about my approach and my feelings).
Sorry for being so long.

What happens if wearing heavy pack re weight

If using waxless with scales how do they work gliding down hills I hear your comment re noise interesting

My friend likes wax

I found this of value along with your video about dedicated track skis as I have a wide range of ski opportunities here in the Rockies. Do you have an opinion about the skis with the various "mohair" strips as opposed to the scales?

So as my Fischer half skins arrive Monday, I'm wonder just how much I might even use them. We'll see.

One thing I am curious about is what is the widest ski that can effectively be controlled by a NNNBC binding for turns? There is only so much leverage so what do you think is the realistic limit?

Would a wider ski be better for 300 plus pounder ? 6’ tall 340 plus. ??

What is diagonal stride?

Hey Jared hope all is well! Thanks for this video, i am looking into getting a set of BC skis. I am like 149lbs at 6'. The skis Im looking at have a range 120 to 150lbs for 175 and and 150 to 180lbs for 185. Im leaning towards the 185. Do you have any suggestions or guidance? Thank you. Praying for lots of snow for yall and for us here in Maine!

Not the video I was looking for but a great video and great info

Great topic! Well worth the watch. Appreciate the candid feedback on gear vs gear review. Nuances are aplenty. Have enjoyed your technique videos too!