How to Fit Cross-Country Skis

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Will, from the Outspokin Bicycle and Sport shop in Newbury, New Hampshire. Today we are going to talk about how to fit cross country skis. A cross country ski is a lot different than alpine skis, skinnier, a little thicker, a little bit of mystery on how to size them. So actually with these skis you do not go by height, you go by weight. So you might have somebody that is five four, that has a really long ski. You might have someone who is six two that has a little short ski relative to their size. It has a lot more to do with how much weight the skis can support, not how long it is. So each ski company has a different product. You notice with a lot of the skis are a little thicker under foot, and they taper off to become very thin at the tip and tail. And the tip and tail are very soft, and flexible, and under foot it is very firm. Also under foot you will look you will see this is where your traction comes from. It is some sort of scale device or grip, and then at the tail and the tip you don't see any of that it is very smooth. So your glide is going to come from the very end, your tips and tail. And your grips is going to come from the middle, and that is why we talked about weight being a factor. Your weight is going to be what makes the ski collapse under foot, and expose these grip scales to the snow so you can push off with one foot. And then as you let off a little bit of weight, and transfer it to the next foot you are going to be gliding on your tip and tail, which is the smooth part. So kind of a long story for a short definition. You go by weight just because you need to be able to glide on the tip and tail when you only have a little weight on the ski. And when you put all your weight down that ski needs to collapse, and let the grips scales contact the snow. So a ski that is a little too short is not going to glide as well. The ski that is a little too long it supports more weight, it is going to glide really well, but maybe not collapse enough under foot to get enough grip. So I guess if you live in a flat area or you ski in flat areas you can run a longer ski, get a lot of hills. Like where we live a shorter ski is much better. And that is how you fit a cross country ski."