New to Skiing - Northern Canada

[farnorth]

I don't know how to reply to people properly yet. lilcliffy Do you think there would be issues with the wax in the low temperatures? Montana St Alum had mentioned wax being difficult to use below -32°C

[lilcliffy]

I have used grip wax down to -40C in northern BC.
It works, but you won't need much to get enough grip!
You can strip it off if it is too much.

I would get a kicker skin- not a permanent skin on the long distance ski.

Can't take the integrated skin off.

The integrated kicker skin is great on the short fat bush ski.

[GrimSurfer]

Good recommendation @lilcliffy

Something that fails (or degrades) progressively can make the difference between life and death in extreme conditions.

[mca80]

@lilcliffy has a great idea in getting short wide ski like Altai Hok to strap onto the pulk and the Metsa Step (plus a removable skin) for most of your travel.

Also, in lieu of regular boot/binding, you could opt for something like the Finn Grip Era and wear whatever mukluks or super warm boot you have.

https://kuusamonuistin.fi/en/finngrip/

I can't attest to how these work or whether they will fit giant mukluks, but looks like an interesting option to ensure your feet don't freeze off.

[GrimSurfer]

If it was a leather binding, not plastic, it would probably work.

The temperatures in NWT are considerably colder, so I wouldn’t trust plastic. Leather can be repaired… plastic, not so much.

Spare leather strap material stows pretty easily. Numerous uses on the trail too.

[mca80]

If it was a leather binding, not plastic, it would probably work.

The temperatures in NWT are considerably colder, so I wouldn’t trust plastic. Leather can be repaired… plastic, not so much.

Spare leather strap material stows pretty easily. Numerous uses on the trail too.

Scroll down past the "easy" model and you find the metal version used by Finnish defence forces.

[GrimSurfer]

Metal version… good choice. Just missing the toe cap part needed to keep the boot locked in. Maybe I’m missing something though.

It gets a far sight colder in NWT than northern Finland. NWT is dominated by arctic outflows. Finland influenced by the deflection of the Gulf Stream by the Labrador Current.

So there’s no guarantee that Finnish, or Finnish military, will necessarily work. Fair starting place as any though.

[lowangle al]

Whatever ski the OP goes with it would probably be a good idea to bring along the snowshoes.

[GrimSurfer]

Too right, my friend. Snowshoes are far tougher than skis. Solid backup for when it hits the fan.

(Actually, you’ll find Rangers travelling by snowmobile with a set of snow shoes strapped onto the back. Some skis, but not many. The light infantry guys will go with a ski/snow shoe combo (can’t drop 500 snowmobiles with fuel and parts without totally bogging things down).

Rangers = few. Light Infantry = many. So their models of deployment and sustainability in the arctic are totally different.

They can travel together easy enough though. The Rangers are a force multiplier. They can ease the logistics burden because of their hunting and fieldcraft skills.

[Capercaillie]

Yellowknife-based polar guide Richard Weber used to make a universal binding for use in arctic weather. Here is a video of him striding and gliding uphill and linking telemark turns on Fischer E99s in mukluks: