# Home made snow skies



## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Last winter i tried my hand at making some old fashon wide wood skies to see if they worked better than snow shoes. I like the snow shoes better, not so tippy and less work treking.

They are made from oak and five inch wide and 80 inch long.
I tried them with just leather straps over my toes first but that didn`t work well going up hills. I made some steel heal brackets that worked pretty good.


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## hmsteader71 (Mar 16, 2006)

Wow! Great job! Those are beautiful and look like you will get a lot of use out of them.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Thanks, i was beginning to think skies were out of style lol.
I still like snow shoeing better though.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

Bravo! Well done!

Have a joyful day!


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Those skis look like they'll work well for going cross country. I used to have a pair of old wooden skis with cable bindings made for use with sorrel pacs. They worked okay until one day I stepped out of them on a warm February day and didn't stand them up. When it was time to go they had 6" of snow stuck to the bottom. I hacked the bottom up trying to get the snow off.

Unless the snow is deeper than my knees I find skis much easier and faster than 'shoes but now I'm using skis made for groomed trails.

I had planned a X-C ski weasel/squirrel trapline this winter using a homemade tobaggon but it looks like my surgery may prevent it.


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

Thanks, hope ya get feeling good enough to get out this winter. I`m not into skiing just had to make a pair of wide wooden ones to try .
I`m actually looking forward to winter to go snow shoeing again. :walk:


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## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

Wow!!


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Interesting project. Bet they were a lot heavier than snowshoes, and the wide skis made you push a lot of snow and have a lot of drag. Nordic cross country have a severe curve and narrow ski.

It wasn't until the 1930s that skis were more than a novelty in the U.S., as most of the trappers used snowshoes. I wonder if snowshoes and skis could ever be combined successfully?


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## Pitchy (Aug 25, 2011)

The reason i made them is a friends Gradfather had some wide skies and used to take off for days on a hunt with them. They wanted me to make a set to hang on their wall so i made myself a set while i was at it.


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