As great as the snow was for alpine ski areas, it was far better for cross country centers. With little or no snowmaking, Nordic ski centers often sit out December and seldom have much skiing for the big vacation period.

Last weekend’s blast of winter set up most of them for the best holiday skiing in years. When I checked the Maine Nordic Ski Council report Monday, only a few were reporting, so I called executive director Wende Gray and learned that many had been caught by surprise but were frantically grooming to open by the weekend.

As it happened MNSC’s annual meeting was scheduled for last Saturday and had to be cancelled because of the storm. The only centers who could make it were the three in the Bethel area, Bethel Inn, Carter’s and Sunday River Inn.

According to Gray this was the meeting where they would discuss how to report conditions and now the information is being sent out by email and fax. She reported that the all-area passes that also support the Winterkids program are going very well.

Gray reported 42 inches of snow in her field with a water equivalent of 2.85 inches of rain. That’s the kind of light snow they expect out west.

At Sunday River Inn, Steve Wight wasn’t sure how much they got, but said, “It’s the most snow we’ve ever seen this time of year. We spent the whole fall getting trails ready so we could ski on three inches of snow and we got three feet!”

Wight also noted that he got a call from one lady who wanted to know if the trails were groomed because there was too much snow to ski in her backyard. He assured her that most were groomed and more grooming was going on as they spoke.

With five days to groom, most centers were expecting to be close to full operation this weekend. And the amount of snow pretty much insured against Thursday’s rain. That much snow can absorb a lot of rain and with temperatures quickly returning to below freezing levels, there was little loss of cover at the centers that received the most snow. That means barring a real meltdown type thaw, there will be plenty of cross country skiing, which is really good news in Rumford where the U.S. Nationals will take place in January.

With all the snow setting things up for cross country, this is a good time to take a look at some of the new equipment. Most centers have demos in their ski shops and you can check out the latest skis before Christmas for a change. If you haven’t tried new skis in a few years, there are some pleasant surprises out there.

Skiers have heard the big push in recent years over alpine skis with the shaped skis coming in shorter than ever. The shapes may not be as radical, but the same new materials and construction methods are being applied to cross country with some terrific results.

One of the big questions as skis grow shorter remains how to pick the right size ski. Alpina and Madshus have come up with a simple answer. They call it the Ski Selection Solution. Because the ideal ski is one that delivers the right balance of kick and glide, a way to determine the amount of force a skier can apply is needed. The Solution looks like a scale, without numbers. Step on it and it will register a color. Find a ski with the matching color in the right ability range and that’s the ski.

The most important factor is technology. Just as alpine skis have improved in performance while growing shorter, cross country skis are undergoing the same evolution. One area of change is width. When skis were made of wood, cross country skis had to be skinny for reasons of weight. With the new materials and technology, weight is no longer a problem and skis can be wider for more stability and better flotation for back country without any loss of performance.

As an example, Fischer’s Wide Body Technology concept is applied to cruising models that are wider under the foot with a double sidecut. This adds stability and uphill kick without reducing glide. Atomic has used the same Beta technology found in their very successful alpine models. Race models still come as narrow as 42 mm, but 60 mm waists and wider can be found in touring and back country models. New from Rossignol is the Evo series of short skating skis, that come in small (130 cm), medium (150cm) and large (170cm). For classic they come in 150-170-190.

Boots and bindings are also getting plenty of attention and the new technology being applied has created a new generation of gear that makes it easier than ever to enjoy the sport. But, there is one area of misunderstanding.

We still see the term “no-wax” skis, and while it’s true the such things as fish scales under the foot make it easier to climb without wax, all skis need wax. I talked with the folks from Swix and Toko and they agreed that if you want to get peak performance and long life from skis, keep them waxed. The ski reps agree on this as well. We may not need the clister to climb, but for proper glide we need wax. The new waxing techniques and tools are too numerous to name, but check them out. Waxing systems have never been easier to understand and use.

With all the snow, conditions are great for all skiers, on the mountains and on the cross country trails, so get that shopping done and join me in the snow.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.