Category: Helpful Articles
These are our real daily trail reports, written each morning by the same crew who grooms the trails. We are a full service cross country ski shop and trail system in Roscommon, Michigan, and these reports come straight from people walking and grooming the snow, not modeled forecasts. Reports typically cover skate and classic conditions separately, since a good skate day is not always a good classic day. Check our live trail cam for a real time look at the trails right now, or sign up below to get each report by email the moment it is posted.
Best new Nordic Cross Country Ski Gear for the 2026/27 season Lots of new offerings this year from all our favorite brands! We’ll start with the stand out for this season: the new Salomon Equipe line up. Salomon re-vamped their whole high end race fleet this year ! The new Salomon Equipe S/Labs are now THE lightest skate skis on the market, coming it
HINT: Not tight like a downhill boot, and not loose like a loafer. Your foot has to have a bit of space to expand as your body warms up, but also needs to be firmly held to give you control over the skis. Buying new nordic ski boots doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Follow these guidelines for getting the perfect fit! Step 1.)
The arrival of the 2025/26 ski season is full of amazing new equipment from a variety of our most beloved brands. We got to test out a few things last winter and here is The List of the Best New Gear for 2025/26 Season! We’ll start with the Salomon Outside 82 Back Country skis. We had a chance to demo these skis last winter
Are you intrigued by the idea of skiing farther this winter? Finding the incredible vista, pushing yourself, getting to the more remote areas of nature, where it’s quieter, wilder, and more pristine? Finding yourself in places that remind you of the vast greatness of this beautiful world? We are, too. Skiing farther doesn’t only have to do with your technique and your skis. How
We’re excited to be carrying some new gear this year, starting with a few new skis from Fischer. We were lucky enough to demo the Orbiter Crowns last winter and found them to be just a riot! They are a short cut ski with Fischer’s reliable “Vario-Crown” pattern for grip, which is cut to be less aggressive at the tips and tails (to increase
This winter, ski the paths less traveled. Explore nature’s hidden gems on a pair of metal edged adventure skis! What’s the advantage of a metal-edged ski? Metal-edged or “back country” skis are wider than average touring skis, giving them more stability and better flotation in deeper snow. With a stainless steel edge, they cut through crusty, icy snow and track exceedingly well. Metal-edge skis
Why the most challenging ski races often are the most memorable, and why we shouldn’t avoid them. It was 4:45am. I waited, car running, outside my brother’s house. The thermometer read -2F. I sipped my coffee, chased it with water, and double checked my Google map. In two hours, we’d be at the starting line of the most grueling ski race on the Michigan
How an unsuspecting speedster succumbed to the bite of the Spider Written by XC Ski HQ Shop owner, Mariah Frye Colie Over the years, the HQ crew has developed a deep love for, and loyalty to, a handful of certain skis. These tend to be skis that have a wide application and high enjoyment rate, and whose design is difficult to improve upon. One
XC SKI HQ Manager and Race Team Member George Frye shares his skin ski breakthrough from the race course last season: Oh, I remember it well… It was the Hanson Hills Classic race last winter and I was skiing on some Fisher Twin Skin Carbon Pros, sized perfectly for my build. I was blown away at how fast they glided on the well packed
The Ice, the Island, and the Adventure Bob and Lynne Frye, of Cross Country Ski Headquarters, ski across the Lake Huron Ice Bridge to Mackinaw Island. As we approached the snowy, bustling parking lot in Michigan’s upper peninsula city of St Ignace, on the shore of Lake Huron, we gazed out over the snow covered ice with Mackinac Island in the background, and saw
If you’re wondering about cross country skis, what’s new this season, and what our staff favorites are, you’ve come to the right place! While most of the exciting updates for cross country skis involve race skate skis this season, most cross country skiers are NOT racers; they just want fun, stable skis that get reliable kick and a little bit better glide than their
