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Make Your Own Nordic Skate Sharpening Jig
Using Nordic skates is no fun when your blades are dull.  You gotta keep them sharp.  To sharpen Nordic skates you can't take them to a hockey skate sharpening place.  Hockey skates are sharpened to have a concave surface on the blade base.  Nordic skates are like speed skates, they need the blade base to be flat.  So you will need a sharpening jig and a sharpening stone.  You can get the stone at a hardware store like AIH (in Anchorage) or maybe Lowe's or Home Depot.  I use a Norton (8 " x 2" x 1") sharpening stone ... you can find them on the web if they aren't at your local hardware store.

You will need a sharpening jig to hold your skates rock steady while you sharpen them.  To get a jig you can order one off the web.  But if you are like me, you will say: "Why buy one when I can whip one together with stuff I have lying around my home!?".  So ... here is the jig I made (see below).  It's no work of art ... but it gits 'er done!

Sharpen your skates with smooth, steady strokes from the front of the skate to the back.  Make sure the sharpening stone is lying flat across your skate blades or you will not get a good sharp edge.  When the edge of your skate blades can easily shave off white powder from your thumbnail ... then they are ready to go.
1/2 inch plywood (12" x 16 1/2")makes up the bottom.  Window casement scraps make the ends.  Norton combination sharpening stone resting on top of skate blades. To hold the blades firmly I use a metal plate with a wing nut to tighten it down on the skates.  I covered the edge of the plate with duct tape. A long carriage bolt goes through a hole in the plywood.  A nut holds the bolt firmly in place.  And a washer and wing nut are used to tighten the plate down on the sides of the blades. I also installed no-skid rubber tabs on the bottom.  These help when you are sharpening to make sure the jig does not move.
 
Before you go "wilderness" Nordic skating this year, make sure you have ice rescue picks.  These are good ones.  And they are cheap.  Sportsman's Warehouse has been selling them for less than $10. Happy blading to ya!