Cross Country Skiing.. anyone?

[bdfreetuna]

When the snow is going to be icy I think I should maybe go cross country skiing instead. What sucks for Alpine makes for fast going on XC.

I haven't skiied XC in years but I did a lot as a kid and young teen. It's excellent exercise and I remember having a lot of fun zipping down narrow windy trails through the woods on XC skis. No you don't turn with alpine precision but that's half the fun!

Also I believe part of the reason I picked up downhill skiing so quickly... by that I mean never having to go through the "make a pizza" phase even as a really young kid... was because I was XC skiing at the same time. With XC skis, you don't make a pizza, you (try) to carve (slide).

Going uphill can be a bear but going downhill on skis which aren't really equipped for fast downhill traveling makes it worth the journey.

Thinking about getting back into it this winter. Like, this weekend. Also I met a girl I'm trying to date and she expressed interest in my love of skiing, and wants to try it. I'm thinking maybe a day skiing XC might be a good introduction as the learning curve is basically instantaneous if you're skiing in a track. And if you can manage downhill sections on XC skis even halfway decent you can probably do them better on alpine skis.

I live in western Mass so around here the best places I know are Northfield and Stump Sprouts. Any recommendations besides those?

 

[Scruffy]

When the snow is going to be icy I think I should maybe go cross country skiing instead. What sucks for Alpine makes for fast going on XC.

I haven't skiied XC in years but I did a lot as a kid and young teen. It's excellent exercise and I remember having a lot of fun zipping down narrow windy trails through the woods on XC skis. No you don't turn with alpine precision but that's half the fun!

Also I believe part of the reason I picked up downhill skiing so quickly... by that I mean never having to go through the "make a pizza" phase even as a really young kid... was because I was XC skiing at the same time. With XC skis, you don't make a pizza, you (try) to carve (slide).

Going uphill can be a bear but going downhill on skis which aren't really equipped for fast downhill traveling makes it worth the journey.

Thinking about getting back into it this winter. Like, this weekend. Also I met a girl I'm trying to date and she expressed interest in my love of skiing, and wants to try it. I'm thinking maybe a day skiing XC might be a good introduction as the learning curve is basically instantaneous if you're skiing in a track. And if you can manage downhill sections on XC skis even halfway decent you can probably do them better on alpine skis.

I live in western Mass so around here the best places I know are Northfield and Stump Sprouts. Any recommendations besides those?

Yes, I love Nordic skiing, all types, skate, classic, XCD, light back country, right on up to full blown tele BC.

It's a great workout, you'll drop pounds like crazy if you really push it.

Try Garnet Hill in the ADKs, near Gore. You can go fro a weekend and hit Garnet Hill one day and Gore the next.
Or Lake Placid, ski Mount Van Hovenberg, and then Whiteface.

 

[abc]

Notch View near North Adams. Never been myself (I'm in New York). But heard it's nice. Loads of areas in the Berkshires. Do a google search of MA xc ski areas, you'll find a bunch

 

[Bene288]

Winter biathlon.

 

[BeefyBoy50]

I've xc skiied before and it really is amazing how much more difficult it is to stay balanced on xc skis than on regulars. At big sky we were doing hard black diamonds and double black diamonds all over the place, and we'd go back to our rented cabin which was on a green run and put on the xc skis that my dad had rented nearby- that was the biggest challenge of all! I handled the green but I wouldn't be so sure about a blue...
The cool thing about xc skis is that they are so light you can just jump and do a 360. No pain/crashing involved.

My dad grew up in atlanta, ga and learned about xc skiing as he went to college, then skied competitively all over new england during his college years. This was back before the sport differentiated into classic and skate skiing, and he has a bunch of interesting race stories.
Sadly he says the snow is so much worse now then when he was skiing in the 80's (during the Boston mini ice age) that it's more difficult to xc ski often. I'm sure he would have a ton of northeastern places to recommend though.

 

[crank]

I xc. Mostly in the woods near where I live in CT though. When I go up to the mountains I always consider it but end up on alpine boards or sometimes alpine touring. Love it for exercise. unfortunately, with the exception of a few notable winters, the times conditions are ripe for xc around here are few and far between. I used to bring both my mountain bike and my skis to the trailhead with me and use whichever tool seemed to suit the conditions best: hard and crunchy - bike, deep and soft - skis. But these days I no longer bike in the winter...getting too old for that shyte.

 

[bdfreetuna]

mountain biking in the winter is frustratingly difficult.

 

[abc]

mountain biking in the winter is frustratingly difficult.

Not if you're in CT. In fact, it's less frustrating than xc skiing, even in winter.