[Jozz]

That doesn't pack trails. On the slightest off-camber stuff, tires and sleds just slide right off the trail. Making a tight twisty trail sustainable over the winter takes some work, berming, filling holes, making it wide enough, reinforcing the sides (the weakest part), etc. It's still a fraction of the man-hours of summer trail building. There are a few people that insist on dragging tires and sleds, but it really doesn't do much of anything useful for setting a trail. XC skis have a lot of compaction and while relatively skinny, are quite helpful.

Tire on the heavy side does a good finishing job when you have a fair amount of snowshoe traffic. Like you said, you need a good base and some side cut to hold the line. I now use my Hok skis to pack trails, it makes natural wider turns and berms. On the up trails you still need to stomp a bit to hook the skins.

 

[Jm_]

Tire on the heavy side does a good finishing job when you have a fair amount of snowshoe traffic. Like you said, you need a good base and some side cut to hold the line. I now use my Hok skis to pack trails, it makes natural wider turns and berms. On the up trails you still need to stomp a bit to hook the skins.

I want to try the hok skis. In a lot of spots I'm getting off the snow and backfilling against the trail, to build something off-camber or add filling behind a berm...that's why the snowshoes are super maneuverable for this purpose ,but the hok skis look good.

Dragging a tire can help to reset on a flat trail after a bunch of post-holing, but you gotta get a good amount of tire traffic to pack that shit down. I find if you don't make the trail appealing for riding, then it gets post-holed, no one rides it, and it never gets good. So reinforcing it to the point where hikers can go on it and not totally screw it up helps keep it enticing for riders, which in turn keeps it far more packed and minimizes the damage from hikers over the long term.

 

[StiHacka]

I want to try the hok skis. In a lot of spots I'm getting off the snow and backfilling against the trail, to build something off-camber or add filling behind a berm...that's why the snowshoes are super maneuverable for this purpose ,but the hok skis look good.

Get something more XC-ski like. The centered foot position makes the Hoks difficult to control, they are only a small improvement over snowshoes.

 

[Jozz]

Get something more XC-ski like. The centered foot position makes the Hoks difficult to control, they are only a small improvement over snowshoes.

Have you only tried Altai? OAC are more ski like and a lot more fun than snowshoes

 

[jonKranked]

OAC

tell me more

 

[Jozz]

tell me more

Well, here's the link: https://www.skinbased.com/product-page/kar-149

I have the first generation. I use a standard 3 pins backcountry fix with bc boots. By using your own fix you decide were you want it. Mine are a little back from center.

 

[Adventurous]

Have you only tried Altai? OAC are more ski like and a lot more fun than snowshoes

More fun than snowshoes isn't a high bar to clear.

I'd try those OAC out of curiosity, but I have 0 issues with my Hoks. After having skate skied and used more traditional BC style XC skis for years, they were a revelation.