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How to do it /
Gear |
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The
gear we use in cross-country skiing is different from the gear we use in alpine
skiing; the most important thing is safety binding that has a mechanical system
for unblocking the heel plate during the ascent and after leaves it fixed for
skiing normally again.
The ski boots are special too. They are lighter and have two positions,
one for marching and one for skiing, and also, you’ll need sealskins (they are
called so, but they are neither skins nor from seals). Sealskins are two long
stripes of synthetic material that you stick for one side on the bottom faceof
the ski, and in the other side have a thick cape of hard hairs lined up as wheat
ears in the same direction, in such way that when the ski is uphill they line up
and allows sliding, and when we put weight on the ski, the hairs fix on the snow
and impede that we slide downhill.
When the snow is frozen sealskins are not enough. Then, we’ll have to
fix blades at the ski. These blades penetrate in the snow each step, and allow
us to march comfortably.
Lastly, it is essential to carry two tool characteristic of climbing: ice
axe and a couple of crampons for ice. In case of ice, there is no other chance
that to hang skis on your back, fix your crampons and cross the ice. It is like
put chains on your car-tyres, an awkward, but if you don’t do it, you can’t
continue, and sometimes, is very hard to go back only for a little stretch of
ice.
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