X навострил лыжи - X took (was ready to take) to his heels
X skipped out
X took (was about to take) off (for some place).
«Дело известное, что мужик: на новой земле, да заняться ещё хлебопашеством, да ничего у него нет, ни избы, ни двора, убежит, как дважды два, навострит так лыжи, что и следа не отыщешь» (Гоголь 3). "You know perfectly well what a Russian peasant is like: settle him on new land and set him to till it, with nothing prepared for him, neither cottage nor farmstead, and, well, he'll run away, as sure as twice two makes four. He'll take to his heels and you won't find a trace of him" (3a).
Большой русско-английский фразеологический словарь. — М.: ACT-ПРЕСС КНИГА. С.И. Лубенская. 2004.