Yes, I own metal-edge skis!

These skis were made for trails like Brewster creek. File photo from 2016

Ulrike was asking about Brewster Creek and what kind of skis she should use. Thank you to MAAD and Jean-Francois for their input. It sounds like the snowmobile ridges have been smoothed out for now. 

As someone who has done it on both skinny “plastic” skis and wider, metal edge skis, I’m going to vote for the metal edge skis when the trail has snowmobile tracks in the snowplow lane. 

This trail is fun, has lots of variety, creeks, bridges, animal tracks, scenery, and an invigorating climb. It can, however, get quite “interesting” when returning. I wrote about it back on Jan 13, 2016 when I used metal-edge skis…

Brewster creek at 8.6K. File photo

Descending Brewster creek with all the steep downhills, sharp turns, snowmobile tracks, ridges and whatnot, I actually think I was faster than on my skinny skis. I was truly amazed at how confident and fast I could be on a sketchy trail with the right skis.

Let’s put this in context. Back on Dec 1, I skied Brewster creek with skinny racing skis and wrote the following:

Wolverine tracks on Brewster Creek. File photo

“I turned around at the end of the tracksetting and had a harrowing trip back down. The snowmobile leaves a lot of ridges and ruts, and coming down those steep hills with turns can be scary. It’s imperative to stay in control, which means going slow. At the bottom of Brewster creek, I had to pry my legs out of the snowplow stance. With the trail in this condition, it would be a good idea to use wider skis and metal edges wouldn’t hurt, either.”

Snowmobile ridges on Brewster Creek. File photo

The skis are wider, but not real wide. The dimensions are 59-49-55 compared to my skinny skis which are 41-44-44. Granted, the skis are slower but on a trail like Brewster creek that’s an advantage. Going slower, I didn’t have to snowplow very much at all, and when I approached a corner with some speed, it was still easy enough to slow down and turn. Riding over the numerous bumps in the trail was like floating over small waves on the ocean. Fun, and safe.

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The Strathmore golf course is looking good. Tracksetter Ed Meyer sent the following video…

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