Cross Country Ski Basics
This web page is located at: http://home.custertel.net/~ckeene41/IntroToXc101.htm
Last Edit: 12/14/2007 18:00 PM. Note see ** for minor edits made since then.
** Caution: Don’t try and digest all that’s on this page in one sitting. Glance at the text and review a few of the links and come back again after you’ve done some skiing. Also note that this page my help you teach others more effectively.
Introduction:
Most of our trips
don’t require a high level of expertise and I worry sometimes that emphasis on
training may scare off some folks that might enjoy beginner level cross country
skiing. If you can walk you can tour some of our easier trails and probably
enjoy it. With practice you can probably also learn to negotiate some of our
steeper trails. See some hints below. However if you plan to race, want to
learn to telemark ski, or want to be able to travel as quickly and efficiently
as possible I’d encourage you to get lessons. You can learn a lot through
practice, but lessons and knowledge may increase your enjoyment and speed up
your learning. **Actually if you really want to enjoy your first day of skiing
I’d suggest that you contact Tawna Skinner (see below). The are lots of things
that the beginning skier needs to learn and it really helps to learn what they
are from a professional. Note that if you are thinking of taking up downhill
skiing, spending some time learning cross country ski basics will help you. Conversely
if you have occasion to take some beginning downhill ski lessons, that will
help you learn cross country skiing.
Sources of Lessons:
Tawna Skinner is a member of our group and will give cross country and telemark ski instruction. Click here for her flier.
The Lost Trail Ski School Offers Telemark Lessons on certain days. Click here for their phone number.
** Each year the Bitterroot Cross Country Ski Club offers cross country ski lessons. Currently if you go to their “Tour & Events” web page you’ll find the following: “Jan. 26th Free introductory ski lessons at the Chief Joseph Cross Country Ski Area”. I don’t know if the time and details will be the same but to give you an idea, information from past years included: “… beginning promptly at 1 PM. The parking area is located off Hwy 43 approximately one mile east of the intersection of Hwy 93 at Lost Trail Pass. Participants should plan on arriving in the parking area no later than 12:30 as they will need to have all their gear on and be at the lesson area at Picnic Meadow, approximately one half mile from the parking lot, on time. It will be necessary for those attending to furnish their own skiing clothing and equipment. There are several sources of equipment rental if they do not possess the proper skis, poles and boots. Lessons will include those who have not skied previously, those with minimal experience and also intermediate skiers. The lessons are free, and provided by members of the Bitterroot Cross Country Ski Club. … ”.
I expect their emphasis will be on how to ski on the tracks as efficiently as possible, and for more advanced skiers - how to ski as fast as possible. I expect you’d get a lot out of it. Classic Diagonal stride techniques will be featured.
Note that there are two main types of cross country skiing: 1. Diagonal Stride aka (Kick and Glide, or “Classic” Skiing), and 2. Skate skiing. (Skate skiing on a prepared track with the proper equipment is faster than Classic and is thus it’s the technique used when a ski race is labeled “Free Style”). Most all advanced skiers have skated from time to time, but for actual “Skate Skiing” they need special equipment. None of the trails at Chief Joseph are groomed for skate skiing. Those that have the equipment sometimes skate on the Ridge Road west of Salmon, especially after it’s been groomed for snowmobiles.
On our trips the focus is usually “how can I get down this steeper slope efficiently and hopefully without falling”. Some of the “survival” techniques that we use are: 1. Put one ski out of the track into softer snow or ski entirely beside the track in softer snow. 2. Pick a more gentle line and ski diagonally to the slope (traverse) rather than straight down. (Even experts will use this technique on very steep slopes. They usually also incorporate the stationary “Kick Turn” to change direction.) 3. Drag one of both poles off to one side or between your legs. 4. Try a wedge or snowplow position with one or both skis or try a snowplow (wedge) turn. In soft snow this requires some practice, but can be a good technique once mastered. 5. Do a step turn. This definitely needs to be practiced, but can often save you from falling. At faster speeds it can become a “skate turn”. 6. Fall down – preferably to the side and slightly uphill. 7. Walk on your skis downhill holding yourself back with your poles in front. 8. Sidestep. (A very good technique for a very steep short pitch).
More advanced skiers will do some turning. If you’re able to make a turn you can control your speed. This is not a requirement for our trips, but it does allow you to get downhill faster most of the time. I say most of the time because often when folks attempt to make turns in poor snow conditions they often fall; and sometimes the folks using the above “survival” techniques can get down just as fast. Folks often make a modified snowplow or parallel turn. Sometimes by just rolling the legs, turning the skis slightly on edge, and using a steering motion they can turn. See the XC Downhill Basics below for more details. However with touring skis the most efficient turn is probably the telemark turn. It’s definitely not a requirement for our trips. However, one of the good features is the fact that someone with only moderate skill can make a turn at a fairly slow speed. Getting into the correct position seems to be very easy for some folks and very hard for others. At first one should practice the position without trying to turn.
Here are some web links for more information on the above: (If you have an active internet connection and your browser is working, you should be able to click on the following and go to each web page.)
General X-C Ski Tips & Choosing Gear Etc. by LLBean: Click
Here for X-C Ski “FAQs”.
http://www.llbean.com/outdoorsOnline/outdoorSports/winterSports/tips/
REI SITES: Click here for Cross Country Ski Basics, and Click here for Quick Tips for X-C Skiing. Click here for links to more snow sport links.
Here’s a fairly concise discussion about ski gear:
http://www.adventuresportsonline.com/skiequip.htm
More General X-C Ski Tips for those starting out:
http://www.snowlink.com/snowlink.php?section=learn&page=cross_country
Getting Started In X-C Skiing (There are links to some good
videos too.)
http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/xcountryskiing/startxcski.shtml
Some “Classic” (Diagonal Stride) XC Ski Techniques:
http://www.roberts-1.com/xcski/classic/faq/index.htm
More “Classic” X-C Ski Techniques:
http://www.xcskiworld.com/training/Technique/classic.htm
XC Downhill Basics has a good description of some of the tricks I mentioned
above. Previously I’d found this site hard to read so I copied it and made
cosmetic edits. Click
here to see my version. As far as I can tell they’ve fixed the problems. So
you might check the following to see if they’ve added anything.
http://www.xcskiworld.com/training/Technique/downhills.htm
More XC Downhill Basics – A different site with similar instructions as
the previous site:
http://www.roberts-1.com/xcski/m/downhill/index.htm
How to “Double-Pole” more efficiently:
http://www.crosscountryskier.com/2004-05/nov_2004technique_train.html
Cross Country Ski Tips - A General Discussion: (You
may want to select the text with your mouse on this one. It may be easier to
read.)
http://www.norskoutdoors.com/Howtoski.htm
Currently I don’t have any links to sites with information on more advanced techniques such as telemark or parallel turns. That will be added later. Let me know if you have some links to be added.
Last Major Edit: 01/18/2007 16:45 PM Word Count: 1,211.
Previous Edit: 01/16/06, 19:45 PM: Word Count: 1,089.
Minor Edit Dec 14, 2007