Curious to hear from people who've used different cross-country ski brands.

When comparing higher-end Nordic skis from Fischer, Madshus, and Rossignol, what differences have you actually noticed?

Is performance mostly about finding the right fit and setup, or are there meaningful differences between brands that make paying more worthwhile?

Would especially love to hear from anyone who's switched brands.

I'm trying to plan ahead for the upcoming ski season. I normally just wear my regular prescription glasses which works fine until they fog up and freeze. Also, when I'm going down hills and when it's extra cold my eyes water a lot and then I can't see very well.

I was thinking of buying some glasses off of zenni optical or a similar site as they have some sports glasses for reasonable prices. The problem is my prescription is -4.5 in one eye and -5 in the other and apparently this might be too high to order online for wrap around frames. I did see they have some that look like regular frames with a wrap around shield connected to the front of the frame.

What are other high prescription glasses people doing for skiing?

I am 6ft 2in and size 34 waist. I need help finding training pants that will fit. Swix XL is too big in the waist. Swix L is too short. I run warm so I don’t need them to be overly insulted. Tights or softshell pants are best.
Any suggestions? Thank you!

Hey I am looking to gauge what people are looking to see out there in the world in terms of cross country skiing on the internet. I have been developing a brand based around nordic ski and winter sport culture, def more US based but with a global appeal. Not looking to report on the NENSA results or top Olympic qualifying times...it's for and about the culture.

The germ of the idea was from brainstorming on products I'd love to see in the market based off personal observations around my skiing. Then, being someone not raised in the sport, noting the subculture around cross country skiiing, especially youth clubs in New England and now out West as well. But also the 20somethings meeting up after work for a twighight ski and a beer/sauana after. Or 40 y/o dad going out for solo night missions after the kids are to bed.

I think this sport is only going to continue to grow with today's interest in fitness and getting outside, not to mention a constant search for the 'next' thing in fitness...(don't get me started). While I am agasint fitness 'trends' I'd love that if it meant more healthy kids getting outside in Winter and nourishing not just their bodies but minds and souls (IMO). And also if it means more development of trails, tracks or clubs that we can ski. All that to day:

If you were involved in this, what would you most like to see in a website for Cross Country Skiing in 2026. I think this will eventually branch into at the very least some basic commerce of branded merch as I have design chops and ideas, or potentially a resource and outlet for other brands, ideally new or independent brands, but for now I'd love to build, as organically as possible, a x-ski cultural hub dropping relevant news across x-ski culture, product and adjacent outdoor/winter sport. Bandit is a bad reference as I want this to feel more accessible and less serious (aside from other issues I have with the brand as a very serious runner myself), but it's not an awful comp to where I'd love this to go someday 'in my wildest dream' sort of thing..

A few ideas I've already built out or in process:

Weather, Snow and Trail Conditions - Up to date resource sharing up to date conditions at nordic ski center and trail systems anywhere in the US that they are available

Race/Event Finder - Find events as a participant or spectator anywhere in the US. These could be official sanctioned races, club meetups, film screenings or anything in between.

Gear Exchange - A 'vetted' classic message board or simple classified type digital space to list, seek or swap used gear or custom items

Product reviews or 'maker' deep dives - Reviewing new product (ski gear or apparel) or doing some more journalistic deep dives into some brands in the space, old and new

Essays - Some 'staff' pieces along with submitted work, whether it's coverage of an event or waxing poetic on a great ski.

Interviews - Focusing not on the Olympians, but club folks, up and comers, or cultural icons in the sport.

Videos - I'd love to host some cool videos of the day or week, or something. Some UG stuff, some linked old classic footage, short films, perhaps our own content (I am in film production)

I'd love to hear any thoughts. For me, ideally, this becomes a place not just die-hard skiers are visiting daily as a resource for info and entertainment, but also casuals and maybe even non-skiers...and who knows where it could go.

Fire away, thanks all. Winter is coming....

I went to a specialized outdoor/cross country ski store in Edmonton recently and bought a nice pair of discounted Fischer Twin Skin Speedmax 70 - stiff and 192 cm long.

After researching a bit now I'm unsure if they set me up with a pair that actually fits me well or not. I'm about 130 lbs and 5.6 (167 cm). Is the stiff setting okay given my weight or will I have issues?

I was looking for the official Fischer sizing charts but can't see that specific model on it. Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you

Hi all. My name is Ewan from AeroCardia, a small Montreal medical device startup.

Have you ever done a VO2max test? We’re trying to understand what makes this equipment comfortable or uncomfortable to wear, and the best way to find out is to ask the people who’ve used it.

The survey takes about 5 minutes; it’s completely anonymous.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NFtV73LM56AxkTSzL7cz0rdIfRHcPIgFWgHjpE4tjyQ/preview

If you’ve run these tests as a technician or clinician, we’d especially like your perspective too. I’ll post a summary of what we learn here once the survey closes.

Thanks for helping!

Hi everyone,

I have a pair of old wooden skis, maybe from the 70s, very old-fashioned looking. Got them at a garage sale for $50. Not sure if the purchase was worth it but I'm going to give them a shot.

I'm planning to use pine tar on them (open to brand recommendations!). Can I then just... ski? Do I need to wax them too or can I made do? Can I take them to the shop to get them waxed, or will those guys not know how to do it properly? I don't have waxing tools at home anymore and don't really want to buy it all, although I know how to do it.

Thanks, folks!

I’m planning on doing the Swedish Vasaloppet this year and like many it will be the longest race I’ve done. I’m trying to plan out and practice a fueling strategy in advance but it seems logistically very difficult to eat/drink enough during the race. For those who are trying to get ~90 g of carbs/hour how would you plan considering the race will take 5+ hours for the vast majority of people? Any advice or other resources where people discuss this topic would be appreciated.

I am 6 foot 170 to 175lbs.

From the sizing charts, looks like I would fit the 179 CM best

However, I found a place that selling used pairs for really good price but they only have 169 and 189.

I would be planning on using these for really mellow stuff- ungroomed or snow machine tracked forest service roads, and spring backpacking trips over reasonably flat terrain in the early- mid spring in the Rockies.

I’m a relatively newb skier and not interested in anything hard-core, just playing outside in the snow.

Would I be likely to make one of those sizes work?

Thanks!!!

Hey, im trying to create the best possible upper body trainin plan for classic races like birken, marcialonga or vassaloppet. If you have seen me here before, hey again, im sorry for asking so much, but too many questions is far better than too little. And if you havent, well, this isnt going to be the last time either, lol.

But as the title says, can you use olympic lifts for xc skiing power effectively? like snatches, cleans or hang cleans and high pulls? or is it too much of a waste?

Now, i know that endurance training is ofc the single most important aspect, but strength in xc skiing is still quite important and shpuldnt be under looked.

I do like to make a training plan unique, but i dont want to have an in efficient one either, so all perspectives helps.

Alaska State Parks sent a snowmachine drag groomer 3.5 miles out Powerline Pass trail. Skateable for the motivated, but most peeps were on classic gear. Obligatory moose detour on the way back (always on an out and back trail).

I am looking for any information about these nordic ski boots. I know they are from meindl and rottefella but thats about it. Thank you!

Just bought a pair of Salomon's with Rotefella bindings used of FB marketplace, and a pair of Atomic Savor 25 boots new from REI where I work. These skis are for a seasonal job in Maine in a few months, I don't have much knowledge on XC skiing. I know bindings can vary, but to be honest I just assumed these would be compatible since the guy in FB said the bindings were brand new.

The shoe clips seem like they're literally too small to fit into the bindings. Is this an issue where I need to get new bindings??

Hi, I bought new skin skis last year - do I need to keep my stash of waxes, corks, and scrapers around? Probably not the waxes as my grip area is now the little carpet like fibres, but what about the corks and scrapers?

Thanks!

I have my dad's skis from the 70s with 3 pin bindings and his boots have heel locators on them. The boots are falling apart, being 50 some years old, and I found a pair of Alico ski march boots to replace them. This has me wondering if there's any point in trying to move the heel locators over to the Alico boots. With a boot as rigid as the ski march, would the locators make any sort of difference? For context, I generally ski in rolling terrain in the woods, never on groomed trails.

Kind of bushy but it was good. Very fast coming out. Only saw two other people.

I know of MEC, Sportchek & Sail. Any other ones you can recommend?

Hello! We launched Staka about a month ago. It connects to your SkiErg and lets you race live against other skiers, follow structured workouts or free ski with other users all over the world. Give it a try!

https://www.instagram.com/staka.ski/

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6762497521

staka.ski

I'm ready to commit to trying skate skiing this year and want to get set up before winter. I live in north jersey I'm not in a "xc ski zone" and would like to go to a retailer with a very knowledgable staff for a fit and purchase. Any suggestions within 2 -3 hours of NYC?

Hi all, during the next winter i would like to do the iceland's traverse from Akureyri to vik. Anyone has a gps trace? Thanks 😀

I’m a 21 year old cinematographer who grew up in Massachusetts and has 19 years of skiing experience. Looking for any snowboarders to connect with to do film/clips anything related to that FREE OF CHARGE