Luxury Ranch Includes Gourmet Food And Outdoor Sports. I’m a winter guest (or “dude”) ranch specialist – ski at them, write about them, consult with them, love them. Which is a little ironic because when you think “ranch,” you probably also think “horses!” – but I’m a wondrously inept horseman, whatever the season. I’ve been lucky enough to visit maybe[Read More…]
Joining A Race Without Training? Hey, It Could Be Fun. In this strangest of times, I think back to the great and diverse and sometimes unorthodox adventures I’ve had cross-country skiing. And although I haven’t competed often, there was this one time, some years ago… As I understand it, you’re supposed to train for a major race. Seems sensible, right?[Read More…]
From Wooden Skis, Wax, And Pine Tar Bases To High Tech Equipment in 50 years. Since the time that wooden skis were found in a peat bog in Sweden dating to 2,000 BC, there have been many milestones that brought XC skiing to where it is today. In the USA, the forefathers of cross-country skiing include people like Snowshoe Thompson,[Read More…]
States Of Euphoria The week before Christmas, 1980, I drove west from Cody, WY, through the rugged Absarokas, over Togwotee Pass, dropping into the northeast corner of Jackson Hole, then south to the town of Jackson. Deep fresh snow covered the landscape, with occasional bison, moose, and coyote tracks crossing broad meadows. The road parallels the Snake River. So do[Read More…]
This Might Be The Season To Get On Skinny Skis. [Editor Note: This article first appeared in XCSkiResorts.com.] Getting outdoors, going at your own pace, enjoying and sharing an outing with a friend or family member of any age, and getting some winter exercise are all good reasons for older folks to try XC skiing. You can have a purpose[Read More…]
SPECIAL EDITION: MAKE MORE TRACKS! Focus On Nordic, Snowshoeing, Fat Biking: Rationale, The Market Forecast, Videos: How To XC, Snowshoe, Fat Bike, Hidden Gem XC Resorts, Lesson Advice, Mystery Nordic Star, Trail Preferences. There’s more to winter besides downhill skiing. This issue will explore additional ways you can Make More Tracks. Let’s be clear at the top: We love Alpine[Read More…]
Ocean Of Volcanic Lava Offers Awesome XC/Snowshoe Experience. “[It is an] area of about 60 miles in diameter, where nothing meets the eye but a desolate and awful waste, where no grass grows nor water runs, and where nothing is to be seen but lava.” (Washington Irving, The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, 1868 ) Some things leave a lasting impression.[Read More…]
Catch Early Snow in West Yellowstone. If you head to West Yellowstone, MT, in late November, you can visit the early winter cross-country ski epicenter of North America: the Rendezvous Ski Trails. There are a bunch of fall camps in the Rockies – including Silver Star, BC, Crested Butte and Steamboat Springs, CO, plus Mt. Bachelor in Oregon – but[Read More…]
XC Skiing And Snowshoeing Are Perfect Forms Of Recreation For The Pandemic. Based on activity with walking and bicycling last spring, many people in the snowsports business are anticipating a surge in XC skiing and snowshoeing this winter. If alpine ski areas are restricted in ways that lead to excessive waiting such as the amount of time waiting to acquire[Read More…]
XC, Nordic, Touring, Cross-Country. What’s What? If you’re new to the sport, you’re going to find people using terms that may be a little confusing at first. Here’s an explanation of most of the jargon you’re likely to meet. Nordic skiing is the catch-all term that includes classic technique, skating, ski touring, telemarking, even jumping and biathlon… In all these[Read More…]
Groomed Vs Bushwhack? Both Have Positives. For the past 50 years or so, there’s been a generally amicable debate whether cross-country skiing on machine-groomed trails is preferable to making your own way o’er the fields and through the woods. The argument has a lot of angles, including “Free vs. Fee” and “Pristine, Silent, and Serene vs. Speedy, Social, Service-based, and[Read More…]
It’s Not Like Walking. But Not Complicated To Learn. In the early 1970s, in a visionary but totally wrong-headed move, the fledgling Nordic ski industry declared that, “If you can walk, you can cross-country ski.” Retrospectively, it would have been a lot more helpful and realistic to say, “If you can walk, you can learn to cross-country ski. And it[Read More…]
There’s Always A Better Way. Foam Is Light, Strong, And Long-Lasting. As a long-time, single-minded Nordic fanatic, snowshoeing used to seem pretty tame – kind of a melding of on-snow recreation and utility, with not much maneuverability and no glide. Aging knees and mature perspective (or an approximation!) have changed this some, along with vast improvements in snowshoe materials and[Read More…]
Fat Biking Is A Combo Of XC and Cycling: What A Workout! Fat bikes, dubbed the “Hummers of the two-wheelers’ world” in the Wall Street Journal are proliferating where there are more than 150 cross country (XC) ski areas that have fat bikes available to use on snow covered trails. These specially-made bicycles that accommodate ultra-wide tires that can be[Read More…]
The Venerable Inn Has Historic Roots In Ski History. The Woodstock Inn & Resort is one of Vermont’s true gems for travelers. It offers warm New England hospitality amidst an atmosphere of country elegance and year round recreation. Resort facilities include the new 10,000 square-foot Spa, the Resort’s Nordic Center, Suicide Six alpine ski area, the Resort’s Golf Club, and a 41,000[Read More…]
The Hub Of The New England Nordic World Is In New Hampshire. We excitedly planned a weekend trip to Jackson, N.H., because it is a true Mecca for Nordic skiers. This is the quintessential New England Nordic (XC) skiing experience with the covered bridge, white steepled church, brookside trails, and the accompanying village with all of the trappings. Many of[Read More…]
You Do. Take A Lesson From A Pro. The vast majority of cross country (XC) skiers do not take XC ski lessons, but rather they start with friends or family, who are usually not trained to teach XC skiing. So, who needs XC ski lessons? Most of us do! Starting with the basics, a XC ski instructor can help a[Read More…]
A Little Planning Goes A Long Way To Ensure A Positive Experience. On a winter trail outing near my home, I ran into a neighbor and her granddaughter on snowshoes – and it was not going well for them. The kid was whining and uncomfortable and she headed back home (nearby) by herself. Grandma kept going and since she is[Read More…]
Skis, Dogs, Bikes. It Must Be Crested Butte. It sometimes feels like not much of the American West remains unspoiled, but the town of Crested Butte, CO, comes mighty close. It’s a ski town that used to be a mining community (gold and silver, then coal). Somehow it’s kept the serenity (population is pretty steady at around 1,700) and retained[Read More…]
What To Wear: Ditch The Parka. Often on the cross country (XC) ski trails the clothes that many of the uninitiated wear are malfunctioning…that is, they are dressed for downhill skiing wearing insulated ski jackets and pants, alpine ski gloves or mittens, and ski goggles. XC skiing is a form of recreation that involves moving and thus lighter clothing is[Read More…]
Try Before You Buy. Many XC ski areas conduct demo days to give skiers an opportunity to test drive the newest XC ski equipment. It’s a day when product suppliers’ branded tents and flags are flapping in the wind and company reps stand guard armed with knowledge of their wares. You might participate in a demo because you have outdated[Read More…]
Not XC’s Poor Cousin Anymore. Back in 1971, when I transferred winter affections from downhill to Nordic skiing (due to a spectacular fall in Austria, that racked up one knee and stripped off my nifty French-made Fusalp ski suit– but that’s another story), I tried snowshoeing too. After all, cross-country skis and snowshoes were both made of wood and quite[Read More…]
An Old Idea Updated With High Tech. The cross country ski waxless “skin” bases, use inserted mohair strips on the ski bottom, which are extremely effective for all temperatures and snow conditions. It is high performance waxless base technology for the classic skier, who prefers to use a waxless ski. The ski strips are like small climbing skins and they[Read More…]
OK, That Sounds Salacious But It’s Not. I kind of collect belts, from the 50-year-old hand-stitched inches-wide leather style with ornate Mexican silver buckle; to a contemporary pseudo-leather critter with multiple off-set holes; to a futuristic version (my favorite!) that grips, flatters, goes through airport security without setting off alarms, comes in colors – and keeps my pants up in[Read More…]
What Are The Vails and Aspens of XC? Ask the general public to name an alpine skiing “Mecca” — described as a location where people, who share a common interest, yearn to go — even those who don’t ski can come up with at least Aspen or Vail, if not Killington and Sun Valley. But mention the Gunflint Trail or[Read More…]
