Just about any thrift store or garage sale has a pile of these guys. Usually leaning among the dozens of pairs of downhill skis, you’ll find some old 3-pin cross-country skis, almost always for less than twenty bucks. They also pop up in the ‘free’ section on Craigslist all the time. If you’re lucky, the boots will come with. If you’re really lucky, those boots with be your size and in a condition that still looks like something you’d be willing to put on your foot.Current cross-country skis have gotten shorter in design, but for the skis from the seventies and eighties, the old rule generally still holds true: When standing with your arm outstretched straight over your head, you should be able to cup the tip of the ski in the palm of your hand (pictured above). Waxless skis, introduced in the early seventies, have a fishscale, textured pattern on the bottom of the ski (kick zone) between the skier’s feet and the snow. If not waxless, grab some $9 wax at your local outfitters, throw on that Norwegian knit, and get outside.
