Touring ski recommendation (for a noob)?

Hi,

Looking for some advice regarding skis. I'm a snowboarder learning to ski (been out skiing about 30-40 days). I have BD Kilowatts 165 and Dynafits for resort and BC use. I weigh 140lbs and I'm 6'0".

A friend has recommended that I also check out some waxless touring skis for low-angle terrain and for groomed trails. There's a pretty good deal on Alpina Lite Terrain Skis, which he recommended highly, along with the Rottefella NNN BC manual binding.

The question: what size to get? Still very new to skiing and these skis aren't super expensive, but I'm hoping to get something that will last. Should I get the 158 or 168s?

Thanks for any help.
Cheers,
Erik

always good to see a knuckle dragger learning to stand erect... alot of people swear by those alpinas. check out the karhu xcd line. also, the atomic sierra and ranier models. the new ones, not the older ones. width and length ? ask yourself where you want to go and how you want to ski. shorter and wider for turns. longer and narrower for covering ground. corn, or, fresh snow ? ( i know, i just earned a rocket scientist award for that...). none of these skiis will be fast due to minimal camber. but you can make turns on any of them ! go get 'em big daddy !!

Really think about what you are going to use this equipment for. Most groomed track skiers seem to be migrating toward skate skiing. If you are getting a ski with minimal camber, short and fat, it will not perform as well as a classic style cross country ski. I do not hink the alpina would be a good choice for primarily groomed tracks. They would be much slower than a standard classic style ski.

If you're wanting to stick the skis in a track, then I'd agree with the above that the Alpinas would be compromised against speed and the kick and glide thing. But you ain't livin' if you only have one set of gear! If you want to track ski, get track skis. Skate skiing, get skate skis. But I'm hearing you say you're looking for front country gear for tooling around on trails and low angle stuff, rolling terrain, maybe packed, maybe loose, maybe a clearcut here and there with a few hundred feet of vertical. those Alpinas would be perfect. You are pretty light for a guy of 6 ft, but the Cross Terrain (papa version of the Lite Terrain) might suit you better. Some guys like the Karhu XCD boards but I don't. The Alpinas are a blast. Put the lightest and simplest bindings on them - a $30 three pin, if you tele, or even if you dont. Compatible boots, leather or otherwise, are easy to come by or rent. I use my resort Tele boots often for fun front country days on those Alpinas.

Thanks for the advice so far.

@davidG, you pretty much nailed my interests for these skis.

I don't expect to do a lot of groomed skiing, but want the capability if there hasn't been any new snow recently. I'm already a gear whore, trying to minimize right now so I thought the Alpina Lite Terrain would be a total compromise: light enough for some time on track, big enough for some mellow turns off-piste. If I'm looking to ski something deep or steep, I'll just use my AT gear (still feel wayyyy more comfortable with my heel locked down). I thought the longer ski might help keep me afloat in variable conditions, but like the idea of maneuverability a shorter stick would get me. I guess the question I'm trying to answer is "what is short?" since I don't have a lot of time on skis. My AT setup with 165cm skis is great for me, though I felt that even there I was opting for a shorter ski.

At 6 ft there's no way you belong on the short boards. And, seriously, put 3-pins on them ~ with minimal technique you can turn them just fine, alpine style, sans heels, and with enough boot, you will soon tele, and know why you were born. Under no circumstance mount those skis with the NNN or SNS systems, unless you plan to ski with a scarf and carry patee`for lunch.