Alpina "Discovery" skis are about as close to an "all around" cross-country ski as you can get. (Alpina photo)
Gwen, a reader from New Hampshire wrote recently for some recommendations on cross-country ski gear. She wanted gear she could take into the untracked backcountry. Yet she still wanted to be able to use it on groomed cross-country trails.
I faced the same dilemma myself a couple of years ago. Tele gear with skins which is wonderful for very serious off-trail skiing, especially on steep terrain. Skate skis or classic racing skis are a blast on groomed, but almost useless anywhere else. Touring skis can work almost anywhere, but some “backcountry” skis are even better.
On tracks or off, the Alpina Discovery will take you there. (Tim Jones photo)
The key is the width of the ski relative to its length. At equal length, a wider ski “floats” higher in untracked snow (especially if you are carrying a pack) than a narrower one and generally turns better in softer snow. The downside, of course is that wider skis are heavier than narrow ones and the more your skis weigh, the more work it is to move them. That’s why most backcountry skiers are going for wider, shorter skis.
But the set tracks at Nordic ski areas are generally about 70 mm wide, so the widest ski you can use without scrubbing the sides of the track (which slows you down) is about 68 mm. That isn’t very wide by modern backcountry standards.
The ski I came up with that works for both me and my sweetheart Marilyn is the “Discovery” backcountry ski by Alpina which has full steel edges and a sidecut measuring 68mm at the tip, 60mm underfoot, and 65mm at the tail. That width at the front doesn’t really slow us down in tracks and the ski performs beautifully in the untracked. She uses 170s, I have 190s for extra flotation if I’m carrying a pack.. Both pairs are mounted with Rottefella BC Magnum NNN bindings. I ski mine with a beefy backcountry boot, the Alpina BC2050 (since replaced by the similar BC2150) which has the ankle support I like for skiing with a pack on serious terrain. Marilyn uses the lighter BC1550 boot since both she and the packs she carries are lighter.
(Tim Jones photo)
No, these aren’t the fastest and lightest cross-country set up if you are skiing in tracks, and no they don’t have as much flotation as a really wide backcountry ski. But if you are going to have only one pair of cross-country skis to use anywhere, any time, this is just about perfect.
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Tim Jones, Founder and Executive Editor, started skiing at age 4 and hasn't stopped since. In the summer, he hikes, mountain bikes, paddles and fly fishes. In addition to his work at EasternSlopes.com, Tim also writes a pair of syndicated weekly newspaper columns, Active Outdoors and Eastern Slopes, and is Managing Editor of The Angling Report. He lives with his sweetheart Marilyn in New Hampshire with 25 ski hills within easy day-trip distance. 
