As a rule of thumb, a skilled user can make any pair of skis work on the slopes, whether they’re long, stiff, short, or soft. Cross-country (XC) skis, though, which explicitly aren’t designed for ...

is done with the skier's heels locked into ski bindings (except tele skiers, but that's another can of worms) and on steeper slopes with the purpose of traveling downhill. In contrast, cross-country ...