Cross Country Ski Gear
Nordic Center Groomed Trail Skiing
In Norwegian, "Tur Og Markaski" or "trip and field" skis
There have been some recent changes in cross country ski gear, but they've been good ones.
Salomon finally abandoned their rival SNS system to Rottefella's NNN binding system, leaving NNN as the dominant platform for cross country skis. Salomon's new boot sole/binding norm is called Prolink, which is completely compatible with NNN.
For the 2017-18 season, Rottefella introduced a new variant of NNN called TURNAMIC.
Most XC skis now come with an IFP (Integrated Fixation Plate) installed, which is a hard plastic plate bolted into the top of the ski designed to allow a TURNAMIC design binding to slide and lock onto the IFP without the use of any hand tools. It's pretty nifty, actually.
The TURNAMIC binding allows you to adjust the position of the binding forward or backward on the ski in 1 cm increments, without any disassembly or tools required. This allows the skier to optimize the flex of the ski for better climbing (but a bit less glide) or more glide (but a bit less uphill grip). If you get better than needed grip but have trouble with a slow glide, you can click the binding back 1 or 2 centimeters and see if you can achieve a better balance of grip vs. glide that way. Or, if you have trouble getting enough grip for a good kick, you can adjust the binding 1 or 2 centimeters forward. All this with just your hands, no tools required.
the TURNAMIC binding is compatible with all NNN or Prolink boots. Likewise, TURNAMIC boots are compatible with all NNN or Prolink bindings.
SNS is not compatible with any other boot/binding system norm. SNS boots are only compatible with SNS bindings, and vice versa.
NNN-BC is not compatible with any other boot/binding system norm. NNN-BC boots are only compatible with NNN-BC bindings, and vice versa.
SNS-XA is not compatible with any other boot/binding system norm. SNS-XA boots are only compatible with SNS-XA bindings, and vice versa.
Another new feature is the advent of 'Twin Skin' skis (Fischer), 'Skin Skis' (Madshus), and 'R-Skin' skis (Rossignol). This is a new waxless base design that does away with raised fish-scales for uphill grip and replaces them with mohair/nylon 'skin' material recessed into the ski base in a way that presses the nap of the skin into the snow when the skier kicks down on the ski, but lifts off the snow when the skier is gliding on the ski. The result is better glide than you can get from a fish-scale based ski, but still with very good grip for the kick or uphill climbing. You get a faster ski that climbs just as well.
Skin skis are still not as fast as a well-waxed waxable ski in good snow conditions. However, skin skis still give you the all-conditions convenience of a fish-scale based ski.
It's also easier for the ski manufacturers to put the climbing skin sections into a sintered base ski, rather than the extruded base necessary for installation of the fish scale pattern. A sintered base will hold glide wax much better than an extruded base, and you can even hot wax a sintered base with a waxing iron. You're not supposed to use a wax iron on an extruded base, for fear of damaging the base material. That's another reason why skin skis are generally faster than fish-scale based skis.
Some people complain that the TURNAMIC bindings are more prone to breaking than the NNN bindings you screw directly into the skis. I just purchased a new set of Fischer Twin Skin skis with TURNAMIC bindings, so hopefully soon I'll be able to say if I feel a noticeable difference from the SNS-BC bindings I was using before.
Stay tuned...
Meanwhile, skate / freestyle Nordic ski technique has been growing in popularity among recreational skiers.
There are growing numbers of skiers at Nordic centers switching to skate ski setups, leaving their diagonal stride 'classic' setups behind. Many Nordic centers have widened their trails and now groom them so that there's a wide 'skate lane' down the middle of the trail with classic tracks on only one or both sides of the trail. Skate technique is faster than classic, so its more important than ever to practice good trail etiquette. Classic skiers who prefer skiing outside of the tracks need to be careful not to clog up the skate lane, since the skate skiers will be whizzing along faster than most classic skiers.
The main difference in the gear is that skate boots are stiffer than classic boots and skate skis are both stiffer and shorter than classic skis. The poles are sized longer for skate skiing as well.
Unlike in classic technique, the skate skier doesn't keep the skis pointed straight ahead in the tracks, but instead uses the inside edge of one ski to kick off to put his/her weight onto the gliding ski, with the skis open in a V-shape, rocking back and forth to glide on one ski and then the other. Meanwhile, the skier 'double poles' using both poles to push off, either once every two shifts from side to side (V1) or twice as often, with every shift from side to side (V2).
The learning curve is certainly steeper for skate technique, but the reward is that you can really fly along the groomed trails once you've become comfortable with it.
Part 1 Cross-Country Ski Equipment.pdf