I heard your state tourism board had cast envious eyes at places such as Aspen and Jackson, and planned to launch a flashy Ski Iowa” campaign in an effort to siphon some tourist dollars from elsewhere. The plan was to build ski ramps down a silo located at Hawkeye Point (the highest point in Iowa at 1,670 feet, which proudly stands above the surrounding topography by a rather measly 50 feet), then build a resort in nearby Sibley. Alas, the owners of the high point, , refused to give up their corn field.
Karhu’s XCD 10th Mountain Skis
XCD 10th Mountain cross-country skisThat said, youre probably not going to find any tracked stuff, so Id get a pair of backcountry XC skis. The classic skis for that sort of thing are Karhus XCD 10th Mountain (karhu.com), which normally go for $275 but now can be had for $195 at REI. These skis have plenty of float for fresh snow, deep sidecuts for good turning, and no-wax bases for ease of use. Full metal edges give you some grip if its icy or the snow is hard.
Another good ski would be the Fischer Rebound Crowns ($240 but also now on sale; fischerskis.com). They have a little newer design than the Karhus and have features such as an elevated binding plate so you get a little better leverage in your turns. But generally, specs are similar: wood core, metal edges, good float and sidecut, and a waxless base.
Either ski would work well with Alpina NNN BC 1550 boots ($150; alpinasports.com) and matching Rottefella bindings ($70; rottefella.com).
Or, you could just take that money and buy yourself a flight to Jackson
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