Discussion: Cross- country (XC) ski equipment for Kids?

Winter is coming soon and I recently found myself organizing couple winter trips with 4-6 young children (3-5 years old). (In parallel with Ski-O)

It seems kids would be quite capable of XC skiing if right equipment were available.

We have quite a lot of simple groomed trails at Tahoe and Yosemite but equipment-wise I found nothing on craigslist and practically nothing on the web.

Any ideas where to find the equipment?
Maybe somebody has bunch of old stuff in the garage, not needed anymore?

When our kids were that age, we got lots of hand me down xc gear from my wife's family in Finland. We've passed it on at this point. Maybe you can work out someting with a Nordic connection on AttackPoint.

What is Nordic Connection?

Ski swaps are great places to get used gear for kids. They should be going on right about now, so check quickly. This site lists a bunch in northern California.

http://www.skibac.org/SkiShowsSwaps.htm

Also check with Play It Again Sports. They have several locations in the Bay Area.

Thanks, origamiguy, I tried they have nothing.
Apparently, to play something AGAIN, one needs to play it first time, and looks like nobody does it here :)

sorry, by Nordic Connection I mean: ask on this forum if someone from one of the Nordic countries would be interested in helping you get your hands on used kids gear.

The way kids that age grow....wouldn't it be easier/cheaper just to rent equipment for the week you'll be skiing? And rent larger stuff next year?

I participated in BAOC's week of ski-O earlier this year. All of the ski areas we visited near Tahoe seemed to have well-equipped rental shops...after all, are there many Californians that own their own XC equipment?

Thanks, chitownclark
after all, are there many Californians that own their own XC equipment?

I hope there are many. I will be one of them soon, either way.

XC skiing is so much fun outside of the resort,
If you are not a pro and your speed is low, you getting very low fun/money at the resort.

You spend 1 hour renting, lines, papers. Then you are in the middle of the crowd with no hope to leave it, then you have timed return.

Compare with: rent house in the middle of Forest - take papa, mama and brother and go along recent snowmobile trail left by motorized neighbour right next door. Anytime of day or night...

I want my children like it not hate it :)

I myself often rent Downhill equipment, but I bought XC immediately as it moves whole idea to completely new level.

Well, I was thinking that you'd rent the equipment once, for the whole week. Most ski rental shops have pretty low weekly rates, but you have to call them to negotiate. I'd look first at Royal Gorge or Auburn, which seems very family-oriented.

thank you anyway