We have received a great number of questions about ski equipment. Some of them are answered in the FAQs document. Here are my best answers to the questions:

1. Everyone needs to Ski both Skate and Classic Meets.
2. We recommend Combi (do both skate and classic) boots. Later in the career, they can work for classic boots as you buy better skate boots.
3. We recommend getting separate poles for both classic and skate from a ski swap or ski store (Pioneer Midwest, GearWest, or Hoigaards).
4. Combi skis are jack of all trades, master of none – they do both skate and classic, but neither extremely well. If you plan to get more skis later in your career, then they are great for learning in the first year or even second year. If you want to compete at a higher level, you will want skate and classic specific skis. If you have a young skier that is growing quite a bit, combi skis are very economical and will serve the purpose of the learning process.
5. We have rental skis available, but always recommend buying if you can. We have some skate, some classic, and some combi skis. We will not be able to know for sure if we have enough skis to rent to everyone until everyone signs up for skis and we hand them out during the first week of practice. Fill out this form if you need to rent skis for sure.
6. Everyone must have a ski bag to put their skis and poles in. There are places at each school that they can store them, but they need a bag. More details will follow.
7. You MUST label all equipment. Everyone has the same equipment, so getting them confused is extremely common. You also MUST label your bag.
8. Skiers should not bring their skis on the first day of practice. We will give more instructions at that time. Also, most morning busses will not allow you to bring them on the bus. It is still your responsibility to get them to practice so either parents or other athletes/families can help.
9. If you have brand new skis, you will need to wax them A LOT so once the wax room is open, you will want to be there as much as you can. You will have to put 7 coats of wax in before you can ski on them. The only other option is to have the ski shop hot box them, then you just need a coat or two of wax.
10. If you have used skis, your waxing will be less at the beginning, but there is always some prep so plan accordingly. We want to ski as soon as there is snow and every year there are a few athletes that miss out on ski practices because they do not have skis or have not waxed skis yet.
11. Ski swaps are an awesome place to buy used equipment. There is one the saturday before practice starts right in Osseo at Pioneer Midwest. You want to have an idea of what you are looking for though because they have some people working, but they are really busy. If you are looking for a lot of equipment or good equipment, you will want to show up early so you can get in early.