Those old military Karhu skis only virtue is their very low price, nothing else. The skis are very heavy, and slow. That seems to be what I'm gathering from the feedback. I think I'll probably end up passing on them. A cheap ski is cool and all but if it's kind of a drag and not enjoyable to ski it...

I came across an eBay listing of some old military surplus Karhu waxable skis in 190cm. They're pretty cheap and seem like a low cost way to experiment with waxable skis. My question is, 190cm is fine for me but my wife also wants to try some. She weighs around 135lbs and I'm worried that the 190s w...

Oh, wild. I've mounted more NNN/Xplore setups than I can count with that jig and haven't ever had it lead me astray. It's also the only one we've ever had in our shop though so I have no point of reference. I do agree that it's a little janky feeling, especially compared to the old metal Voile jig w...

Just a word of caution @bmholt_ I was out recently in -17C or in my world 2 F, I had to strip the polar of my skis to get them to slide. They were still slow, but it usually isn’t that cold where I live, so I don’t glide wax my skis. It was also 6”-8” of fresh cold powder. Good to know! I'm gonna g...

lilcliffy , a year later I finally got around to trying this technique. We've had a string of dry weather that was turned almost all the snowpack in to facets and this morning we got another dumping of cold dry snow. Temps this morning were about -12C. I crayoned and ironed in some Swix green from ...

Yeahhhh... Every time we're out on those skis she always goes, "Why don't you just replace those with some like my skis?" And I always hem and haw and argue that I already have skis I don't need to go buy more. But it is tempting when she just walks right up an incline!

I have the Madshus M62 and my wife skis on the Traverse 78. I can confirm with others that my M62s do not have a center track. As to performance, my wife's Fischer's climb better and track straighter than my M62s. The M62s can be a bit squirrely and you really have to concentrate on your technique t...

You can get excellent full length Black Diamond Ascension skins on Ebay, brand new for about $15 a pair [...] You can't afford not to buy a pair! [...] BTW the scales on the Fischer Traverse 78 and the Excursion 88 (and other models) climb 100% better than any other ski manufacturer's. Oh, wow, tha...

I kick wax scales. I usually apply a couple layers of Swix polar white to the entire ski base. If I’m slipping, I will apply kick wax in the same manner I would use on waxable skis. Really the only difference is you can’t scrape kick wax from scales, I have taken to using commercial wax strippers. ...

Yes, you need skins. In my experience, fish scales don't grip at all in super loose powder or hard icy. Even on snow that favors fish scales, they are really only sufficient for mild climbs. For mountainous terrain you shouldn't head out without skins in your pack. If the traction pattern on the m7...