Cross country skiing/Nordic skiing/#nordorking

[Andy sti]

Cycling and skiing go well together. Cold weather and crappy roads mean it's time to break out the skinny skis. It's great training and blast to do. If you have access to ski trails I'd highly recommend you get out and give it a try.

I typically ski long duration/distances on the weekend and ride the trainer during the week. It's been a great way for me to train during the winter and keeps me fairly fit.

If you have any good ski trails, photos, training tips, etc post them up.

Some pics from this winter and last winter.

[Buzz]

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[gasman]

No photos or tips but I really enjoy getting out on my skinny skis. I rarely get over the hill the Bachelor but love to skate at Hoodoo .
I hit the un-groomed areas around Willamette Pass. We do need more snow though !
Very nice photos.

[Clean39T]

That looks like so much fun...

Is XC skiing the same gear-intensive rabbit hole as bikes? Has to be

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[fignon's barber]

Used to nordic ski at a pretty decent level when I lived in Michigan, both classic and skating(formerly was a real hockey player so skating was easy). A typical winter training day was an hour of indoor cycling with specific goals, then 3-4 hours on skiing. Come March, I was flying on the bike. Tips? Don't wear too many clothes and it's never too cold to ski. You generate so much heat from skiing, it's crazy. I always felt most comfortable when the temp was zero F or lower ( I think the lowest temp I skied in was a wind chill of -75). I see you do skating (nice skis, by the way). A great core workout is to hop in the classic track, and do preset intervals (15-30 minutes) of double poling only. You can't cheat, because skating skis have no grip.

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

That looks like so much fun...

Is XC skiing the same gear-intensive rabbit hole as bikes? Has to be

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If you don't do it where you live, you're really missing out. Plus, in the higher elevations, I think you get a pretty long season. At least you did when I used to go to Portland quite a bit in the 90's.
You'd love the gear end of it. Real skiers have a full quiver of skis for various conditions, and times by two for skating and classic. Plus waxing is a craft unto itself. Nothing like being out in the woods, by yourself, all you hear is your breathing..... Distance racing is fun too. It's not like cycling, where if you get dropped by the main bunch, you're a loser.

[merckx]

Everything that Fignon's Barber said above. I'll reinforce that you do not need to invest a lot in equipment to enjoy the sport and use it as a fitness vehicle. When I began skiing about 10 dozen years ago, I first purchased a pair of 60mm touring skis. I think they were Fischer Country. This type of ski will allow you to enjoy some off-track skiing like on a golf course, MUP, or trails through the woods, and will also work in groomed tracks. You can cover a lot of kilometers and gain a lot of fitness on a pair of skis like these. The other piece of equipment I would suggest is a pair of wind-blocking briefs. It is true that you will be able to ski comfortably in below zero f. conditions, but lest you want to roast your chestnuts over the open hearth when you return from your day, I would suggest the investment is this piece of kit.

[buddybikes]

Equipment hounds, still massively less. Sell one bike and probably, with shopping skills, end up with 3 good pairs of skiis (skate, traditional (perhaps metal edge, and waxless) Wax is more of a time intensive effort than cost unless you want to begin playing around with florocarbons. Outfit - same as you winter biking stuff, except dress bit lighter..

Those pictures were a dagger in me a bit, where we live now little snow, and my back and other issues won't do more than shuffle. Most memerable trip was Yellowstone in winter, snowcats bring you inside and drop off so you see this beautiful national park way it should be seen.

[merlinmurph]

Yup, heading up to Jackson NH next week for some XC. Love to get out, especially when it's really cold and downhill skiing is questionable. I'm a downhill skier at heart, my wife is more XC.

[TBLS]

Love the pics. Usually ski 15-20x pear year.....zero December 2019 and ytd with our no snow Michigan winter.

Keep posting skate lanes!

Agree with the cost - easy to rent nice stuff, best in class kit $1000

[zap]

Thanks for posting the pictures.

I grew up in Canada and spent many winters xc skiing. Did the Canadian Ski Marathon (our prep school team won twice) and raced in Quebec, NY, NH and Maine. Also raced Biathlon......the hardest sport ever. I learned quickly that I would never become a sniper. When I was home in Hudson PQ I was able to ski for hours right from our front door.

Most enjoyable days for XC skiing were some of the coldest. When I raced wax prep was most critical and the coldest days made the kicker selection so much easier.

Since I left Canada I went xc skiing once......near Breckenridge. Despite renting waxless skis I had a great time. Every so often I think about flying up to Montreal for a quick xc ski trip.

[Hindmost]

Cold, fresh groomed, yum!

[Black Dog]

Lots of fun. Its all about being outdoors and winter is an amazing time to be outside. Even kids love it. This was a few years back when my youngest would ski a little bit and then get in the sled and fall asleep while I pulled him and got a crazy good workout. When the snow is good, and that is less often due to some climate changes, we can go out the bock door to ski.

[buddybikes]

If anyone is in Central MA/South and need kids skating skis or and adult, ping me. Free for the pickup in RI

[Andy sti]

Great weekend of skiing. Yesterday was a classic day due to all the fresh snow and today was skate with about 2 inches over the groom. Beautiful weather.