Anyone use or own Wooden Skis?

[Jish1969]

I was eyeing a pair at a barn sale this summer, but I wanted a pair that would be more than just a decoration. So does anyone here have and use wooden skis for winter recreation? Show us some pics of your rigs!

 

[Valhson]

I don't have any pics but I use to use a pair a few years ago. They were lapland style cross country. I loved them! I would use them not far from where you are. (I lived in the Olean area for awhile)

Just remember like any skies they need some love and the wooden ones need pine tar treatment.

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

I used a pair of the lapland style about 30 years ago but broke the tip on one while after a fall at speed coming downhill on the Cairngorms. I remember it was hard work trying to travel back on one ski. My knees would not stand up to skiing these days :-D
Good fun though and good luck to you.

 

[Tomasso]

I rented wooden cross-country skis several years ago and found them to be very sluggish compared to the modern stuff. I've never used wooden alpine skis but I think I still have a couple pairs in storage that belonged to my parents.

 

[Heeresbergführer]

Ski Heil Kameraden,

I've been skiing on wooden x-country and Telemark skis since the late 1970's...Have used many different types from vintage to more modern...Plus don't forget the leather ski boots. Here's a great website with info on how to treat your wooden skis:

http://www.woodenskis.com/

As a WWII mountain troop collector, I have several pairs of skis in my collection, along with many period skiing manuals:

Hals und Beinbruck!

Patrick

 

[Retro_GI_Jane]

Wonderful pictures, Heeresbergführer! The only time I've ever used wooden skis was when I first joined the military. My unit took us troops that hadn't been to boot camp yet out for a run on them for some exercise. They were white and heavy and up until that point, I had no experience on skis. Makes me wonder how old those suckers were and then it's been over ten years ago when I used them!

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Thanks for sharing more of your photos Patrick. As ever you have a wonderful collection.

Looking good on the skis too.

 

[Jish1969]

Nice pics there Heeresbergführer! I cross-country and telemark ski as well. My telemark rig is much newer though; I'm riding on Karhu 10th Mountains skis with Voile 3 pin cable bindings. I put riser plates and climbing wires on them as well, but I also have a new pair of skins for when it gets step. They are a great rig for touring, but the binding design has changed little...

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[Valhson]

those are the smallest snowshoes i have ever seen

 

[Haversack]

My first pair of downhill skis were made of wood with lever-and-cable bindings. I was four years old. My dad had been skiing since the late 1940s and started me early. Graduated later to Head Standards and then to Head 320s. These are still the skis I use.

 

[tonyb]

Like our friend Haversack, I started skiing on wood skis with cable bindings. This was in the mid- to late-1960s. (I'm talking alpine skiing here -- you know, lift tickets and lodges and snooty teenagers from affluent families and all of that -- as opposed to cross country.) I knew they were quite crude even in comparison to the metal skis available then, but I didn't realize just how much more difficult (and less enjoyable) they made the entire activity until I scored myself a pair of Harts. Night and day, man.

Unless you're looking to somehow capture the zeitgeist of the skiing experience prior to, say, 1960 (the time by which most "serious" skiers, those who went more than a coupla-three times a year, had switched to Heads or Harts), I say use the wood skis for decorative purposes only. Some of those really, really old ones look pretty cool, and for that reason I suspect they fetch a whole lot more than they did 40-some years ago, when I recall frequently seeing them at the Goodwill store marked at essentially giveaway prices. But really, modern equipment is so, so much easier to use.

 

[Heeresbergführer]

Hope to get out on some 1940's period skis this winter if we get any snow!! It's 67ºF today in the Washington DC area.

I was photographing some of my period ski boots last weekend...here are a few of them:

Ski Boots #1

Ski Boots #2

Ski Boots #3

Ski Boots #4 with post-war Vibram soles:

Ski Heil,

Patrick

 

[Tomasso]

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[Heeresbergführer]

Thanks A.C. for posting the great "Bass Ski Boots" ad!!!

Here are some period ski photos:

Ski Heil,

Patrick

 

[Edward_Lindey]

If I ever move to a place that sees snow again I will most likely pick up a pair.

Edward

 

[budrichard]

My Alpine skiing started on rental wooden skiis in 1960 or so. Shortly after I graduated to Northland metals and then to Head Super Competition's GS Model. The wooden alpine skiis were no treat and in no way compared to the start of the modern ski. My wife then started XC skiing on a pair of wooden XC skiis she purchased new. Based on my Alpine experience I purchased Fisher fiberglass XC skiis and never looked back. Each year I had to Pine Tar flame my wife's wooden skiis, a miserable process. There is no way I would go back or recommend a wooden skiis of any kind to anyone.
Some things are just too miserable in practice to be used whether 'vintage' or not.-Dick

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Talking of wooden skis, I have just converted "Falling for you" from VHS to DVD.

 

[tonyb]

Sounds like you and I are in the same camp, budrichard. But those of us who learned to ski (such as we did) on wooden skis have to tip our hats to those who actually use such "vintage" equipment (don't even get me started on the old leather lace-up boots) and manage to do it well. That takes real skill, and dedication.

I don't know how these things go back where you are, but out here in the Seattle area, where there are about a gazillion skiers (and snowboarders, these days), pretty darned decent equipment can be found secondhand for less than the cost of a lift ticket. A lot less, in some cases. Compared to how things were when we were kids, budding skiers on a budget have it good these days, at least in regard to equipment. Lift tickets might be another matter.

 

[bil_maxx]

Sounds like you and I are in the same camp, budrichard. But those of us who learned to ski (such as we did) on wooden skis have to tip our hats to those who actually use such "vintage" equipment (don't even get me started on the old leather lace-up boots) and manage to do it well. That takes real skill, and dedication.

I don't know how these things go back where you are, but out here in the Seattle area, where there are about a gazillion skiers (and snowboarders, these days), pretty darned decent equipment can be found secondhand for less than the cost of a lift ticket. A lot less, in some cases. Compared to how things were when we were kids, budding skiers on a budget have it good these days, at least in regard to equipment. Lift tickets might be another matter.

Here in Canada we have the same situation. Used modern skis are everywhere and if you want vintage skis, boots and poles almost every second hand store I have been to has at least a couple of pairs in a cardboard bin in the back of the store. Careful though. I started off on my dad's 1959 Italian Army skis when I was a kid for kicks and I found the boots to be very cold. They are beautiful skis though.

 

[budrichard]

One last comment.
There is growing interest in using outdated methods and equipment in a number of areas of sport. Three that come to mind are skis, Damascus barreled shotguns and silk fly lines.
What I believe has happened is that the older user base which had grown up with using these methods has begun to die off or have mostly died. As I have said, wood skis are a lot of work to keep up and don't come near to the ease of use of fiberglass or other composites. Damascus shotguns are not safe to shoot but the old timers who saw these things blow up and quickly changed to modern steel barreled shotgun when available are gone. There is now money to be made selling these old guns. Silk fly lines require line dressing and frequent cleaning. Since the late 1960's modern fly line have been available that virtually did away with silk but now silk has a resurgence.
Sometimes it's just better to let some things die.-Dick