View Full Version : Cross Country Sking
Mother Natures Son
01-23-2011, 10:21
With all the snow on the ground, how many are using their Cross Country skis to stay in shape (for the trail) or to have fun? The second question is, where are you sking? I'm down at the local golf course or in a farmers field having fun.
From mid-Dec to about mid-April I am on skis almost every weekend.
There are plenty of trails and mountains in the area where I take off to and ski.
My first love is backcountry Nordic, but I've been doing some tele skiing too (about to take off for it a few!).
It is a great way to stay in shape (works upper/lower/core, the need for balance works the small muscles you normally don't work, and it does cardio) plus it is fun. And the views????
http://pmags2.jzapin.com/gallery2/d/24020-1/image014.jpg?g2_GALLERYSID=a9a2d858a2491e08c9fdc17 b21c0e537
I use my skis on my property which includes a high-grass field that I carved out trails through with my riding lawnmower in the spring. But there are also plenty of parks, etc. around. Yesterday I headed up to High Point Cross Country in New Jersey. I've been skiing there for years. It's a beautiful place run by a Norwegian family. The weather was perfect. That's the beauty of x-country skiing.....you can do it anywhere there's snow. Beats working out indoors in some smelly gym.
fiddlehead
01-23-2011, 12:05
I'd love to, but, no snow here.
only beach.
I did go jogging today and then speed hiked up a mountain.
Does that count?
canoehead
01-23-2011, 13:52
I'm a Ranger and live on a 500acre camp and snowshoes or skis is how I get around. We have about 2'-4' of snow out there.. I just came in from ice fishing the ice is 21" thick and I'm having a perch fish fry for supper... Camping tonght and temps are headed for -10ish with 15+winds..
No Bugs.. No Bears. Gotta love it.
garlic08
01-23-2011, 14:00
I used to join Mags for skiing when I lived in Colorado. That's actually how we met the first time, not hiking. It's not only fun, but I believe it's what kept me in shape through the winter for my AT hike. We would do a lot of climbing, three to five thousand feet every day out, and that helped tremendously. Georgia in the spring was a cakewalk after that--well, almost.
Smooth & Wasabi
01-23-2011, 15:12
I love nordic skiing, both backcountry touring and tele. I will go everywhere from the backyard to trails. Don't forget it's not just for fun or to stay in shape. Nordic skiing is a great way to backpack in the winter. I did my first lightweight overnight backcountry ski tour last winter in NH's Zealand Notch and the Pemi. It was awesome.
I'm a Ranger and live on a 500acre camp and snowshoes or skis is how I get around. We have about 2'-4' of snow out there.. I just came in from ice fishing the ice is 21" thick and I'm having a perch fish fry for supper... Camping tonght and temps are headed for -10ish with 15+winds..
No Bugs.. No Bears. Gotta love it.
What a life! That all sounds so wonderful.
timebreaks
01-23-2011, 15:21
We've been going to the Mohonk Preserve/Mohonk Mountain House up in New Paltz, NY (two separate landowners with adjacent lands). The Mountain House grooms and tracks the trails, some of which are on the Preserve. Gorgeous country, and great fun! I've been meaning to get up to High Point, though...I hear that the ski center there is great.
We've been going to the Mohonk Preserve/Mohonk Mountain House up in New Paltz, NY (two separate landowners with adjacent lands). The Mountain House grooms and tracks the trails, some of which are on the Preserve. Gorgeous country, and great fun! I've been meaning to get up to High Point, though...I hear that the ski center there is great.
I've skied there as well, it is GORGEOUS! I fell on my "last run" down a very icy trail and broke my wrist. The house doctor was wonderful and took good care of me. The insurance agent representing Mohonk called me and took care of the whole bill. Never asked for a thing from them it was totally my fault but they covered all medical expenses.
Another great area up there is Minnewaska.
Toolshed
01-23-2011, 17:49
I have a BC Ski setup, but with kids, just cannot get out much...We have 4.5 acres along with my neighbors 6 acres where we share a big hill, all is mowed fields. Works great after the first circuit to break trail.....:)
When we lived by Mt Wachusett, I used to ski the road up and back a lot. Also before it closed, I used to go to Windblown XC in NH - Nice place that was about 30 minutes away..
I used to join Mags for skiing when I lived in Colorado. That's actually how we met the first time, not hiking.
Good times my friend. I have to give you call soon!!
Garlic has watched me do more than one face plant. :D
I Don't forget it's not just for fun or to stay in shape. Nordic skiing is a great way to backpack in the winter.
I dunno. I thought backpacking WAS fun! ;)
Cookerhiker
01-23-2011, 21:50
I'm a novice beginner at X-Country and now, I live rather far from good skiing. Using rentals, I try to ski once a winter at least. After the PA Ruck, I expect to do some at Herrington Manor SP in Western MD and Blackwater Falls SP in WV.
This season's XC skiing has been the best I can remember (in Western Mass). I don't take them on the AT, I'm not that skilled. When I'm in the mood for some more groomed trail (or when the natural snow is crappy) I head to Mt Prospect "Ski Center" (east of Bennington VT on Rt 9 or to Notchview Reservation in Savoy. Both are around 2200 ft and higher and they have access to some back country trails as well as traditionally groomed ones. Notchview is free on the weekdays and $5 on the weekend.
When I'm not in the mood for travel, and the snow is great, I head to the local High School which as a couple of km's of loosely groomed trail out back--plus a bunch of woods with lots of old roadbeds, great for making your own route. I'm out pretty much every weekend for 2-3 hours, and sometimes after work.
I use a pair of "backcountry touring" type skis. They are a little wider than touring skis with a full metal edge and a fairly stiff boot. Not enough to do turns down the mountain, but OK for bushwacking and ungroomed snow.
Cosmo
The trouble with XC skiing in southern PA is that the parking spots are rarely plowed out. Usually I head to the cabin in northern PA or up to the Syracuse area for a couple of weekends each winter. Though last winter there was better skiing near home (either going right from home or powering up into a parking spot with 4x4) than up north - or around Boulder where I also went for a few days last winter...
garlic08
01-24-2011, 18:45
The trouble with XC skiing in southern PA is that the parking spots are rarely plowed out....
In the Cascades in WA and OR they have a permit system call the Sno-Park where you buy a pass for your car, and that pays for the highway dept to plow trailheads. Pay to play, fair enough.
At one of the popular THs in near Berthoud Pass in CO, a mining company plows and maintains the TH probably in some kind of reciprocity agreement with the county.
I tried to ski at Rabbit Ears Pass during one severe winter storm and I could not find a place to park, either. The snow berms were four feet high and the plows could barely keep the highway open--it was about 1.5 lanes wide. A couple days later the hwy dept had all the parking areas plowed out.
Most other areas in CO the county or state plows clear the THs as they get time. Some of those THs bring good business to the area in the form of apres-ski burgers and beers.
The next problem with XC skiing in southern PA is that we might get XC skiable snow only once every 3 to 5 winters so no such system is able to be devised in the interim. :D
aquaman1208
01-24-2011, 22:51
Just spent last weekend xcountry skiing on the tug hill plateau with the ADK. Had a nice fall and held everyone up for five minutes trying to find a pole in two feet of snow. This weekend at Alleghany State Park. Getting pretty good at crashing going downhill.
Aquaman