Boy, do these skis scream "early 70s". The last of the line for Karhu wood ski production - these skis were produced around the time when fiberglass skis were taking over. Aside from the (clumsy) binding mounting, these skis are UNUSED, untarred, unwaxed, with expected dings and scratches for a pair of skis their age. The bases are highly-sought birch, with hickory edges. The stickers at the top identify "Ski-Shop Sandberg", a defunct retailer possibly in Tampere, Finland - this is where the skis were recently acquired.
Helsinki-based Karhu (Finnish for "bear") has equipped skiers ranging from the Finnish army to World Champions such as Harri Kirvesniemi. They focus more now on footwear and apparel; the former still bearing the "M" striping that refers to "mestari", the Finnish word for champion. Fun fact: in the 50s Karhu used a three-stripes branding on its footwear, but sold it to a fledgling German sports equipment maker.
BINDING NOTES: These skis come with a ham-fisted pair of non-functional 3 pin bindings. Someone took a pair of 71mm bindings and tried to expand them to the norm - before Rottefella standardized "nordic norm" at 75mm there were a variety of widths. Also, they hand drilled the screw holes, so they are in no standard place on the skis. If you are going to put NNN (modern) bindings on these skis then you'll need to plug these holes and balance/mount. If you want to use 75mm, bear in mind that these skis are very narrow and the screw hole placement on older 3 pin bindings will be too wide. In the early 70s Rottefella started moving the two bottom screw holes slightly closer together to accommodate the narrower skis that were being made.
The black heel plate was left on because it was very well done. Before you rip this off, consider that this is a very classic (and inexpensive) look for older skis from the Nordics, and functions just as well as the variety of heel plate systems that were sold in USA and Canada.
Skifabrikk ski techs have over 50 years of experience skiing, racing, and preparing cross-country skis, both wood and fiberglass, so contact us with any questions. Skifabrikk will, if requested by buyer, further smooth, tar, and base wax the skis prior to shipment, for FREE.
Size: 210cm
Camber: medium (3-6cm at ski center)
Weight (pair): 1460gm w/o bindings
Mfg date: early 70s
Base: birch/hickory
