Cross Country Ski... Anyone Do it?

I would do it...I learned in one day and i was pretty good. It technique just like swimming so have fun.

I've cross country skied before.  My parents have a cabin in Wyoming.  We were up there for Christmas one year and I found their old cc skies in a closet.  The store where I would normally run to go get the newspaper was a 4.5 mile roundtrip - figured I'd try the skis out one morning.  Took me a few minutes to get the hang of it.  I did fall over for no reason a couple times though.

EDIT: I've done this ONE time.  I'm no pro and probably will have little-to-no advice for you.  Good luck!

Edited by Tyrell 2009-06-22 10:00 PM

My family and I love XC skiing! Basic diagonal stride can be picked up fairly quickly, however the technique will take years to master. For going downhill, bend your knees and use a snowplow to slowdown\turn. Of course if you get to a big downhill you can 'sled' like the little kids. put your knees on the skis, grab the tips and slide on down! Its actually a lot of fun.

Have a blast and post pictures!

I learned to cross country ski in the army while I was stationed in AK. It was Army equipment so it was about 30 years old and I figured it out very quickly and became very good at it. It isnt too hard to learn but make sure you go out a couple of times before your race. You will have a decent amount of trouble with it your first time out but it will come to you and then it will be fun. If you can watch a pro or something online so you can see how they do it. You wont do it like them but you might think you are. haha

Cool, I was stationed at Ft. Richardson a while back, like a long while back 84-88. To the OP, you must be in the southern hemisphere? I grew up x-c skiing and raced for over 20 years. While you can pick up the sport in a short time, at least enough so that you can complete a course, it will take a lot longer to master it. Like someone else said above, it is like swimming in the fact that technique plays a big part. Learning to get around a course in the classic technique is easier to pick up, skating is a little harder to learn. The skating technique is faster than classical. If I were you I would find someone who skis well and try and get some help. It will shorten the learning curve.

Yeah I spent a lot of time at ft. rich and he is right. I guess I learned the skating way (unless I had a ruck on) but I did learn from an "army pro" and I never did master it but ended up being very good at it.

It is an incredible full-body workout and a great way to stay in shape for running - uses many of the same muscles, but with less impact. Plus, it is wicked fun!

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I did one last winter, they also add snowshoing to make it a quadrathlon.

As long as you aren't skate skiing it shouldn't be too hard to pick up.

cross-country skiing is so much fun!  I learned how when I was about 6 or 7 (my whole family used to go out in the trails around our house all winter long).  Like other posters have said, the basic technique isn't too hard to master.  I think probably the hardest thing for a complete novice to learn is how to alternate poles and skis.  You will also want to practice going up steep hills -- the fastest way to climb up hills is to go up in a herringbone pattern (put the back ends of the skis so that they are almost touching, and climb up the hill that way -- but if the back ends overlap each other, you will trip yourself!), but you can also sidestep up.  I don't know if you downhill ski or not, but you will want to remember that the bindings of cross-country ski boots don't automatically release like downhill ski boots do, so you need to take a little more care when you fall so you don't sprain an ankle.