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Eric Hansen
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Eric Hansen
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PostSat Nov 13, 2021 8:34 pm 
Cross country skiing is great. Something worth passing on. Learning how to snowplow, and weight one ski while unweighting the other gives you control and a fundamental wedge turn. While learning it is sooo much better to go to a bunny hill at a local downhill area while it is not busy. There you can do a turn, pause and consider what worked well, what not so good. And do another ten or more turns while you analyze. When you are out on a cross country ski trail it is not always easy to evaluate your turn, break down the mechanics. That and know when to back off when out on the trail. If the snow is crusty, ice or just difficult there comes a point where cross country boots/bindings/skis are over their head in terms of control. You can always side step down a hill.

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Cyclopath
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treeswarper
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PostSun Nov 14, 2021 7:33 am 
Eric Hansen wrote:
Cross country skiing is great. Something worth passing on. Learning how to snowplow, and weight one ski while unweighting the other gives you control and a fundamental wedge turn. While learning it is sooo much better to go to a bunny hill at a local downhill area while it is not busy. There you can do a turn, pause and consider what worked well, what not so good. And do another ten or more turns while you analyze. When you are out on a cross country ski trail it is not always easy to evaluate your turn, break down the mechanics. That and know when to back off when out on the trail. If the snow is crusty, ice or just difficult there comes a point where cross country boots/bindings/skis are over their head in terms of control. You can always side step down a hill.
Yes. I always have had a hard time transitioning between downhill skis and touring skis. One winter I only skied on my Epoke touring skis. I started out by climbing and skiing down the little hill at Leavenworth. At the end of the ski season, I was skiing downhill on my Epokes at White Pass and skied all the blue runs. It was brutal, but I did it. When starting to ski, if all else fails, FALL DOWN and preferably with skis lined up across the slope so you don't go shooting down the hill. And yes, learning to side step or slip can get you out of some "situations". The way I have taught people to turn on skis, is to pretend that each boot has a turn button on the outside of the ankle. If you want to turn left, touch the turn button on your right, or outside of the turn foot. This makes you get down and puts weight (or edge) on that outside ski which is how you turn. Start in a snowplow, (Pizza) position. There is a South Park episode about Pizza, Fries that is hilarious.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human末animals and aliens are great possibilities
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treeswarper
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PostSun Nov 14, 2021 7:37 am 
This is all you need to know.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human末animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Chief Joseph
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PostTue Dec 28, 2021 7:19 pm 
I bought some Alpina Approach X-country skis today at a second hand store for $15. I knew nothing about them other than they looked to be good quality, fairly modern and very light. The bindings also look to be pretty good quality. Now to find some boots, they had a couple pair there but didn't seem to fit the bindings are were pretty bulky. These skis are the non wax variety as well. So by looking at the picture below, what type of boots will fit those bindings? https://www.ebay.com/itm/373836641700?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&toolid=10044&campid=5337965612

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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treeswarper
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PostTue Dec 28, 2021 8:38 pm 
Those are old three pin bindings. Not sure if they still make boots for them, but you can find out. There may be quite a few old boots floating around yet somewhere, in a closet....who knows. You can take your skis to a shop if you shop for boots--but I'm not sure if three pin boots are common anymore. I'm not sure what the width of the bindings were--75mm? I'm sure somebody else will know. Three pins were the common binding back when for touring and some of us abused ourselves by telecrashing with our light touring gear.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human末animals and aliens are great possibilities
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treeswarper
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PostTue Dec 28, 2021 8:41 pm 
Ah yes, I googled and they still make boots for them. Here is one example. You are in luck. boots

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human末animals and aliens are great possibilities

Chief Joseph
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Chief Joseph
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Chief Joseph
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PostTue Dec 28, 2021 9:03 pm 
Thanks. I shop a lot on Ebay, so looked on there for 3 pin boots and they want pretty much the same price for used ones as they do for the link you provided. Amazing how many different styles are listed there, some Asolo's, old school Vasque's etc.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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Eric Hansen
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Eric Hansen
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PostTue Dec 28, 2021 9:26 pm 
Hi Chief Joseph. I ski a fair amount on 75mm 3-pin Nordic gear. I'm looking at your pictures and especially the bindings. There are different 3-pin bindings that fit different thicknesses of the soles of the boots. Thicker soles on beefier boots, thinner soles for more moderate duty boots. Just a caution in trying to match boots and bindings. If you end up with boots you like and you're enjoying the skis you may want to invest in these "smile plates". Memory has them costing $20 . They beef up (armor) the 3 pin holes in the sole of the boots so they last longer.

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Malachai Constant
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PostTue Dec 28, 2021 10:56 pm 
Heavy duty 3 pin bindings fill a gap between the light NNN and AT skis and are excellent for going up logging roads in the NW. you can still find them in thrift shops and second hand sports shops if they are not too motheaten. We gave away all ours years ago only keeping the asolo and merril leather ones. NNN bindings fit the same holes and may be easier to find.we got full sets at MEC when they were selling off rentals.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Cyclopath
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PostWed Dec 29, 2021 6:36 pm 
What binding is this?

Chief Joseph
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MtnManic
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PostWed Dec 29, 2021 6:45 pm 
Why, a purrfect binding, of course. smile.gif

Backpacking: limited to one pack at a time. Cameras: limited to as many as I can carry.
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Randito
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PostWed Dec 29, 2021 6:49 pm 
Eric Hansen wrote:
If you end up with boots you like and you're enjoying the skis you may want to invest in these "smile plates". Memory has them costing $20 . They beef up (armor) the 3 pin holes in the sole of the boots so they last longer.
And they are hard to come by now that 75mm is "old skool" -- but these folks might still have a few https://www.confluencekayaks.com/shop/c/p/Bluebird-Smile-Plates-x44736334.htm

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rossb
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PostFri Jan 14, 2022 12:27 pm 
Eric Hansen wrote:
There are different 3-pin bindings that fit different thicknesses of the soles of the boots. Thicker soles on beefier boots, thinner soles for more moderate duty boots. Just a caution in trying to match boots and bindings.
My thinking exactly. I may have the history wrong, so someone correct me, but I think it went like this: Back in the day, 3-pin was standard for Nordic gear. In the 80s, Telemark skiing gained popularity, and they came out with a thicker duckbill (and slightly different holes). That has stuck around, despite losing popularity to other options. There are still plenty of beefy 3-pin boots out there being made. Alpina still makes the Alaska 75, Montana 75 and BC 1575. Fischer and Alpina still make at least one pair. Then there are plastic Telemark Boots which people still make (which feet the beefier 3-pin bindings). Unfortunately, it is quite likely none of those boots fit those bindings. Lighter, thinner 3-pin was still popular through the 80s, but over time, other binding styles became popular, especially for lighter, thinner skis. These all involved using a bar (or two). That is still true today. There are several different variations (making things more confusing) but everyone uses a bar now unless they get beefier gear. The two standard options for beefier gear are BC NNN (a thicker bar) or the beefy 3-pin mentioned in the last paragraph. You can get gear with even more control by moving to Telemark or Randonnee. So either you have perfectly good modern style 3-pin (of which there are several manufacturers) or you have an outdated style. You could find a shop that sells the 3-pin (which is relatively common) and see if the boot fits the binding. If it does, then it is matter of finding a boot for your foot (used or new). If not, then you may have to chase down an old pair of boots. Unfortunately, cross country bindings are very confusing, and have changed a lot over the years.

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rossb
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PostFri Jan 14, 2022 12:40 pm 
Worth noting: REI sells the Alpina Alaska, so you could always go in there and see if it fits (or even order a pair and try them out, even if you just send them back).

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Eric Hansen
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Eric Hansen
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PostSat Jan 15, 2022 9:24 pm 
New boot getting a lot of buzz on TelemarkTalk forum. Fischer Transnordic https://www.gearx.com/fischer-bcx-transnordic-75-waterproof?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo-i5ibW19QIVUnxvBB3MmQyxEAQYAyABEgIDl_D_BwE#491=39460&517=847 I'm eyeballing it and it is tempting. Trouble is "I'm trying to quit". Or, "thinking I should". Just turned 73 and some logic to knocking off the backcountry skiing. Much less injuries with snowshoes. But, still dream ski trips.

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