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Do folding (or telescoping) cross-country skis exist and if so are they useable?

Update: Or are there small cross-country skis that are short enough for easy transport, yet still capable of providing support for uphill movement?

newenglander
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1 Answers1

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This question had two answers that unfortunately didn't survive the migration. I'll post what I've found, as well as one of the links from @Refineo's answer (the other link was a patent description). Here's a folding ski used to climb mountains, so not cross-country compatible:

http://www.mtnapproach.com/

In addition to @Refineo's links, I was also able to find some other websites, but nothing really conclusive, or useful.

Similar to the MTNapproach skis: http://www.climb.co.at/index.php?lang=en

Russian Patent holder of folding x-country skis: http://www.vector-ski.com/collski_e.html

Backcountry style, but no longer available for sale: http://www.zigzagtour.de/index2.htm

Home-made folding skis: http://www.woodly.de/blog/?p=41

Update: Most of the above links are no longer reachable, but possible viewable at the Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org).

newenglander
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    FYI, that Mountain Approach ski has skins permanently attached to the bottom, so they have no downhill glide whatsoever. It's more of a sliding snowshoe than a ski. – furtive Feb 13 '13 at 19:12
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    @furtive A skin like that used for the mountain approach provides a 1 way glide. Using to ski downhill can burn the skin so it's basically discouraged for high speed/extended descents. – Glenn Feb 03 '17 at 17:31