Things I wish I knew before I bought Cross country snow skis

At the time I was about 28 years old and had taught myself to ski in the wilderness using World War II skis my father owned that were Army surplus that were wooden with bear Trap bindings that break your ankles (or legs) if you fall wrong because they just don't release at all like modern skis do. But, then again they were the best from World War II in many ways too for soldiers to use in snow country like in more northern parts of Europe during the winters.

So, I was married in 1974 and we had moved to Mt. Shasta with our now 2 year old son. We went up to Ashland, Oregon because at that time there was no sales tax in Oregon at all so we could save a lot on skis by buying them in Oregon rather than in California. Also gas was really cheap compared to now. I think we had just bought a 1976 Datsun blue Pickup truck  (which now are called (Nissans) by the way. I think Nissan bought Datsun about then in those years. 

Here's what I wish I knew then:

Cross country skis (without any metal edges) are great ONLY if you are going to be skiing on the level pretty much. However, if you are going on any steeper downhill routes they are dangerous if you get into ice. Why?

Let me tell you of one experience of mine. I was skiing from Bunny Flats down to 7 mile curve on Everitt Memorial highway then on Mt. Shasta and I hit a patch of ice, my skis slid sideways about 500 feet and the only way I didn't hit trees at a bad speed was that I took one of my ski poles and grabbed it by the base and stuck the bottom spike in the ice until I stopped. Otherwise I might be dead now. I have used this technique to save myself many times after that as well when bad things happened and you cannot stop for whatever the reason on a steep slope. It's nice to stay alive.

So, unless all you are going to do is to ski on level terrain and that's all you need what were called then "Mountaineering skis" which are skis with cross country bindings (that allow you to walk in them up hill or on a level or ski down hill too). You cannot easily walk in downhill skis at all without possibly injuring yourself. Downhill skis are meant for groomed slopes whereas Mountaineering skis are meant for literally any kind of conditions you might run into. If you are into snow boarding they make Snow Boards that are split skis so you can go uphill to where you want to snow board and then you can put your skis together to make a snow board and then snow board down a hill too. But, otherwise you have to carry your snow board up to where you want to ski in the wilderness yourself (unless you are at a ski lift or something like that).

But, if you like to ski where it is completely wild and often untouched with often virgin snow (but with literally any snow conditions present from good to bad you need mountaineering skis for un-groomed snow in the wilder back country when you ski or snow board.

So, my recommendation is whether you are renting cross country skis or buying cross country skis be sure to get metal edges on what you are buying so you don't die like I almost did more than once when I hit ice on a steep slope. With metal edges you can dig in with your metal edges usually and not slide off steep hills.