Auction finds - x country skis

[Salar4me]

Have to admit - I like old things, not just classic fishing equipment. Since the trout stream through town is locked in anchor ice and there is finally enough snow to ski - got out today for fresh air and exercise. Picked up two pairs of waxable wooden skis for $2.50 and am learning the ins and outs of kick and glide wax. Now need to learn when it’s time to completely strip them down and reapply pine tar.

[DrLogik]

Cool skis! I used to compete in cross country skiing when I was in college in Northern Michigan. I also worked in a X-Country ski and sport shop at the time and was taught how to repair skis from the college's ex cross country ski coach who owned the shop.

You can re-pine tar any time you want really. It's better to lay down two or maybe three light layers than one heavy one.

Strip them down and apply pine tar with a cheap chip brush from Home Depot. Just apply enough to barely cover the wood. Burn it in with a propane torch, holding the torch about 8 inches from the ski, keeping the torch moving and when you see the tar seep into the grain of the wood, wipe it off and move down another 6 inches or so. I was taught to not heat the tar until in boils/bubbles. If it boils it can heat the wood too much and hurt the ski. Keep the torch moving doing around 6 to 8 inches at a time then wipe off excess.

You don't really want any tar residue left on the bottom of the ski. If you do, it will gum up when you wax it. All the tar does is seal the pores and grain on the bottom of the ski. That's how I was taught back in 1979.

[Brooks]

Man I miss pine-tarring wooden skis. The sport had so many good aromas and the wax worked so well on the wood bases.

[bassman]

X-Country skied up north in MN for 20 years when I lived where a major trail ran through my backyard. I made many of my own trailers with snow shoes also. I never had the old wood skis but plastic ones. Still took a lot of time to learn to get the waxes right for different conditions.

I used to have a half springer/half lab that loved to ski with me. He'd always run down the hills ahead of me to check things out for me. One time in spring the trail I used most was getting icy and when we came to the big downhill on the trail Georgia took off in front of me. I started down and speed kept building. I yelled, "Run Georgia Run" but she was slipping on the bad footing. For a time she kept ahead of me but the next thing I knew was trying to run on top of my skis. This resulted in a tangle of skis, dog and human tumbling down the hill like a cartoon. All of survived in reasonable shape but Georgia never went down the hills in front of me after that but took the rear guard.

That dog was black as a lab, beautiful hair like a springer, and could point and retrieve Partridge for me with no training. Just a natural and one of those dogs as a person gets he thinks back to and misses those good times.

[Hellmtflies]

KOOL!

[driftless angler]

They look beautiful! I do a lot of X-C skiing, but not on wood skis.

[MGrallert]

One of the things i love about my wood skis is how quiet they are. those are nice. Good score.

[GerardH]

Still have a bar of pine tar somewhere...

Nice find, I'd like to get back on an old pair of wooden skis. My son was a nationally ranked junior, I still have practically a whole ski shop downstairs with almost 20 pairs of skis. Not to mention wax benches, irons, brushes, and enough wax to get me through several lifetimes...

[Salar4me]

Thanks for the info on pine tar! Think I can get through this season and redo outside this summer

[bassman]

One of the things i love about my wood skis is how quiet they are. those are nice. Good score.

Not many things sounded uglier than the fish scale waxless skis on crisp or icy snow. The fish scale skis had the ability to work poorly in all ski conditions except wet sloppy snow. Trying to use Klister (sp) Red in wet snow was a disaster. Wasn't long you'd be walking on clumps of snow built up below the skis. Never found a good wax for that.

[Booman2]

Posts like this drive me crazy. Now I need to look for basket-weave pack baskets, cedar strip canoes and more things that can be repaired, and that will last generations (and are not made in China). Many thanks for the photos.

[Cimarron]

These pictures really bring back memories. Still have at least two pairs of wooden skis in the basement, unused lo, these many years. And a bag of waxes. Ten day Outward Bound expeditions in the Boundary Waters in January pulling a sledge and with heavy packs, winter camping, Yellowstone back country in March, the whole enchilada. Those skis were indestructible, as was I, apparently. I miss those days.

[Tommasini]

Had a pair of wooden Bonna's with bamboo poles. Used them often from the mid '70s thru the mid '80s. They waxed real well and did enjoy applying the yearly pine tar treatment.

[Brooks]

Madshus Berkibeiners, Bonnas, and more, I had most, but sadly sold them off (or broke them in windmilling headplant crashes).
But I’ve kept most all my boots over the years: Norronas, Fabianos, Galibier, Asolos, I’ve never been able to part with them.

I still have a pair of ancient solid one piece skis 225cm with the nordic “elf” tips that I bought for $10 at Deseret Industries (sort of a mormon goodwill store) in Logan Utah in 1972, while in college. They were wide downhill skis: I meticulously scribed with pencil a narrower nordic width on them (including side cut) and cut them ever-so-carfully with a power jig saw. Sanded them, pinetarred them, and in the 70’ and 80’s I put thousands of miles on them.
For awhile I used Silveretta cable bindings on them, using old lace-up floppy downhill boots, also bought for $3 at D.I.

I always had immense pride in pine-tarring and prepping them for backcountry adventures.

I’ve got to think, like bamboo makers, there’s got to be a few guys out there making wooden nordic skis?

[Brooks]

I found this site: https://www.woodenskis.com/

[corlay]

Nice Score!

You can find loads on info on Wooden Skiis and Waxing at this forum:
www.TelemarkTalk.com

Common advice from the die-hard enthusiasts there is:
if using primarily off-prepared track, and blazing your own trails on the golf course or hillier backcountry,
don't waste Time/Money/Effort on "glide waxes" - the payoff in these environs is not there.

The common advice is to wax a wooden ski, tip-to-tail, with a very hard grip wax.
Swix 'Polar' is the most commonly used.
Then, if you find yourself slipping, apply a slightly softer grip wax (Swix Green, blue, red, etc depending upon snow temps) over the top of the Polar, only in the "kick zone" (a foot or so forward of your toes, running back to where your heel plants)

At the very least, start with that, and see how it performs, before you go out and purchase a wide assortment of glide waxes...

Wood nordic skiis are really nice, and really fit the mold of a bamboo flyfisherman.

[Brooks]

Glide wax is just the same as alpine ski wax.
For better performance the tips and tails should be hot-waxed, with a glide/alpine wax, scraped and buffed out with something like a cork or better yet a scotch-bright pad. The middle section (the double-cambered ‘kicker’ section) is left un-hot-waxed for your kicker waxes (green blue, purple etc).

The problem with “polar” as a tip to tail wax is that is also a kicker wax for cold snow, which will grab (snow crystals will penetrate) in really cold conditions. Important to point out that my perspective is for western up and down touring, where you want the kicker to cut loose on descents for ease of turns and cruising and the tips and tails to be slick and fast.
If you want traction all the time in really cold , then polar from tip to tail is fine, but in really cold conditions, your skis won’t slide (all that well).
My experience anyhow…

[corlay]

The problem with “polar”…

Yes - absolutley true.

If you live in arctic regions that you are frequently skiing in sub10dF conditions, my advice for a spartan wax approach of Polar tip-to-tail wont work so well.

But if you typically ski in temps in the teens/twenties/thirties - it works really well.

[DrLogik]

For true "Polar" conditions (near zero degrees), Polar in the kick zone and spray Pledge furniture polish on the tips and tails. You will FLY through the snow! An old and relatively unknown trick. Seriously, it works. Only downside is it doesn't last long.

[GerardH]

In extremely cold conditions, the hardest of the glide waxes will work as kick waxes since there's virtually no glide available. On those days, it's smarter to break out the snowshoes or better yet, sit by the fire reading a good book.

In regards to hot waxing glides sections of tips & tails -- get proper brushes. Scotch-Brite abrasive pads should not be used in waxing -- they can be employed when attempting to rejuvenate abused bases -- the correct procedure after ironing on the wax is to scrape after cooling, brush with a copper or brass wax brush and follow up with a nylon brush to polish it out. Always tip to tail.

Over 40 years of ski waxing and competitive waxing for high school and junior skiers....