If you're buying new cross country skis, you can choose the right size by cross-referencing height and weight on a sizing chart to find the appropriate ski length, then checking the lengths clearly marked on each set of skis. If you're not sure how long those old skis you've found at the ski swap are, however, it's hard to be sure you're getting the right thing. As long as you have a small measuring tape in your pocket and know the basics of how to measure skis, you can solve this riddle in a matter of seconds.
Step 1
Lay one of the skis in question out on a flat, level surface. Place the "zero" edge of the measuring tape underneath the tail of the ski.
Step 2
Stretch the measuring tape from the tail of the ski to an imaginary line that goes straight down from the forward tip of the ski and read the measurement in centimeters. This is the ski length, and is often the only figure you'll need to know to find the right size skis.
Step 3
Measure across the narrowest portion of the ski, near the bindings, to identify the ski's waist or width measurement. Measure straight across the widest portions of the ski's tip and the ski's tail, too, and record all three measurements in centimeters. If the waist measurement is much smaller than the tip and tail measurements, the skis are designed for carving turns off-trail. Skis designed for on-trail use will have waist, tip and tail measurements that are identical or nearly so.
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