The great thing about the modern era of gear is that it doesn’t need a set track! I know I’ve said it many times before but it bears repeating til it catches on.
Grooming is a BIG PROBLEM for skiing:it’s expensive, it takes a lot of manpower, it stinks.
But midlength skis and cuffed boots and modern bindings don’t need grooming! This liberates skiing from a huge and disastrous dependency on infrastructure, man-hours, and pollution. It’s big.
Tracksetting was invented for long noodle skis and sloppy boots’n’bindings that offered zero control. See the difference?
Today’s skis have strong torsion, strong edges (even when not metal they offer huge turning power). Bindings offer HUGE control. Boots offer HUGE control and stability.
So skiers can enjoy trails that walkers use, snowshoers, even bikers. Yeah, a bit of track can be nice. (And racers still like tracks coz their skis are so light and thin that they’re still noodley. But specialists maybe shouldn’t be setting the tone for an activity. And even they have tons more control than before.) And grooming is good, but tracks are just less critical than they were.
Grooming of some kind certainly is needed keep a trail fresh when there’s a lot of usage. Over time a trail will ice up so it needs maintenance. …But we don’t need to cherish the grooves so much. Especially if it helps us to all get along and to grow outdoor sport.
And there’s a limit to multi-use, depending on snow conditions. Postholing is bad, as is the wandering snake of a bike tire that sinks in, esp when frozen in place! Ugh!
But really there’s far more compatibility among activities than before.
And skis can easily be used in so many more places! All good news.
Thanks to a new kind of ski gear…that…gets…ZERO marketing and PR. I mean, retailers tout the new better control but no one is investing in what that could mean for the public. So, again: “Hello, skiing? Bike boom calling! Here are some ideas for you…”
