At times, I feel like my sport has a bad rap. People often think that Cross Country skiing is “nerdy” or for those that are “too scared or timid” to downhill ski. I would like to disseminate some of those myths by providing you with a list of 17 reasons why I think YOU should try Cross Country skiing if you haven’t already. If you’ve already tried it, I would urge you to give it a second, if not third chance if you haven’t already fallen in love with it! Read on down the list and you’ll see why…
- Cross Country skiing is the best FULL BODY workout — arms, legs, core, heart!
- XC skiing is low impact on your body. If you have joint pains or injuries, Nordic Skiing is body-friendly.
- No lift lines!
- You won’t get cold on the chairlift ride up.
- It’s way more affordable than downhill skiing.
- At certain trailheads you can even take your dog.
- It’s peaceful and allows for an opportunity for stress relief and/or self-reflection.
- It can be fast-paced and daring if you want it to (steep hills with big turns on skinny skis and no metal edges!!!).
- Spandex while skiing is fun (but also highly optional).
- Skiing in fresh tracks feels like cutting through silk.
- It’s a great family sport for all ages.
- There are many places to do it – established areas with groomed trails, a neighborhood park, or a Forest Service trailhead.
- There are two totally different techniques to choose from – skate or classic.
- Cross Country skiing is aerobic (it will work your heart!) but it will also work your muscles!
- You can ski and pull a small child in a Chariot (the skiing equivalent of a jogging stroller).
- You will have earned your glass of red wine and cheese at the end of the day!
- XC skiing is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint.
If you’re a cross country skiier, please tell us why you fell in love with the sport!
Holly’s Cross Country Ski Gallery
I love cross country skiing. Holly is right, it is great stress relief and I do an awful lot of reflective thinking while out on the the trails. I’m lucky to live adjacent to a large set of cranberry bogs where I can ski at all times of the day and in all conditions. Today’s ski brought a beautiful sunset and fresh powder!
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Holly & Liz aptly describe why nordic skiing is so wonderful. I live across the street from a nature conservancy. One of my favorite moments is being out in the woods alone, stopping, and just listening. As my mind (and body) calms, I can hear the many layers of sounds that form a woodland symphony. I enjoy the adrenaline of alpine skiing, but for getting into a meditative state – there’s nothing like nordic.
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went XC the other day, harder than i thought but great fun, went with family and friends. finished it off sitting by a fire. Ohio has some great parks to rents skiis and trails to enjoy. will go again, soon.
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Thanks for this! X-country has become my new addiction, esp b/c my husband had a ski accident (alpine) and knee surgery just before xmas – so while we usually spend a lot of time on the mountain, this winter I’m on my own and excited to explore the joys of nordic.
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xc skiing started out as a great way for my husband and I to be outside with our kids. I have so many fond memories of being out and about Alaska skiing with the kids and friends. Now I love watching them race, I love all their Nordic friends, and I love all my girlfriends I made in the APU Nordic program. It is the best way to exercise and clear your mind. Nordic skiing is about the best thing ever!
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x-c skiing, particularly skating, is NOT a wussy sport. With alpine skiing, gravity does the work. In x-c you’re on your own! Ever watched a biathlon, where the racers have to ski like mad, then lower their heart rate enough to target shoot (I am not a fan of guns, but make an exception for this event). Skating on a cold, clear winter day is the best! I LOVE it. (Plus it motivates me to keep in shape so I can enjoy it…..
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p.s. the Steep Ravine pant is the BEST for x-country skiing!
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Love the info…I live in Montana with lots of powder and big, steep mountains. Yeah!
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While I love skate skiing, my favorite is back country touring with my dog. The smooth sound of swish swish as I glide over the tracks I painstakenly set, the sounds of chickadees and nuthatches chirping in the trees. the spectacular beauty of spruce branches heavily laden with snow all for free right out my door keep me enthralled. I ski every day!
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We live in a ski town with three alpine resorts but my two teenage boys and husband and I all prefer xc skiing! They race and love it. Wish my technique was a good as theirs. They are in amazing shape and it helps my husband and I keep in shape as well. Keeps us all from bulking up in the winter for sure. A misunderstood sport. Such a fun activity. Best of all — no lift lines!
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My husband and I are going to try xc skiing for the first time in Lake Placid and I’m wondering what I need to wear. Will a lightweight wool base layer with fleece pants and top be sufficient?
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I love skiing outdoors in a natural setting without any noisy machine (ski lift) or large crowds involved. Getting your body in tune with nature is a wonderful stress reliever.
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I loved reading this. Numbers 1-17 are all the reasons why I’ve decided to try my luck at a new sport. I recently jumped into skate skiing feet first (Well, I guess skis first!) after wanting a new challenge in my athletic life (after competing as a top-tier triathlete for several years) and I’m so excited about it. Feel free to follow along my quest to become an Urban Working Mom and Future Nordic Champion! here: http://urbanskierworkermom.wordpress.com/
Thanks, Holly!…and to all the other active, inspiring women out there!
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My husband and I built a cabin in a small town in the Methow Valley of Washington state. The town is called Mazama. Our kids started cross-country skiing when they were 2 years old and now they are teenagers. We could literally ski out of our cabin and onto the groomed trails of the Methow Valley. The Methow Valley is STUNNING. If you ever get the chance to go – take it! It has the second largest ski trail system in the nation, but it is very peaceful and quiet. You can ski alongside the river, through the trees and up, down and through the valleys. We sold our cabin 5 years ago and moved to Austin, TX. I don’t miss the rain and gloom of Seattle but I do miss our nordic skiing immensely. When the kids head off to college, my husband and I dream of finding a new spot next to the trails – and the kids can come and visit and ski. If you have a beautiful spot – please post it, especially if it’s near Texas (ha ha). I’m not sure anything can top the Methow Valley. http://www.mvsta.com/winter/
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I used to get so depressed during the winter months. I didn’t like the snow & the cold, I felt miserable. Then I decided that if I was going to live in the Northeeast I might as well enjoywhat winters had to offer rather than dread it. So initially I bought used xcountry ski equipment and gave it a try. That was almost 10 yrs and many ski trails ago! I ski as often as my schedule allows during the week. And on the weekends, I have a group of ladies that join me on the trails. I never get depressed during the winters anymore, I am truly too excited about skiing and looking forward to the snow & cold.
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XC skiing is my newest favorite sport since I skied the Tour of Anchorage last year with SF Team in Training. Holly is so right about all it’s advantages. I also snowboard but having XC as an alternative is great. Ever since I broke my arm snowboarding, I am very picky about downhill conditions so now unless we have a perfect powder day, I opt for the much less expensive and better workout of XC. And even though skate skiing may look a lot more cool, my technique of choice is striding. It feels great and the uphill climbs allow me to catch up with my moderately fit skating friends. Try it, you’ll like it!
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I had my first intro to xc skiing when I was about 15 on a glorious sunny (but cold) day in the Trinity Alps in Northern Ca. with a friend and her family. I had always been a down hiller up to then and continue to love that sport, too. I thought it was SOOOO COOOOL that you could bring your lunch and just plop down anywhere and have this fantastic picnic in the middle of nowhere, chat and play then pick up and keep on skiing. I didn’t XC again until my 20′s but then was introduced to skating and found that I could to it fairly well.
Another memory is of a man XC skiing down one of the alpine slopes….He was FABULOUS!! He had to kneel down DEEP to make his graceful technical turns. I’ve tried this (on smaller hills!!) in my adult life and I LOVE the burn and the challenge and the fact that I can ski in both XC and alpine spots!!
I still love it all at 43–the beauty, the isolation, the community, the challenge and the burn!!
XC ON!!!
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Holly, hope you gain one of those extra spots the U.S. nordic team will get — you’ve worked so hard and have earned the right to be an Olympian. Hope to see you on the Anchorage trails and maybe one day get your “Olympic” signature on my Olympics volunteer jacket.
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This is a great article. I usually go snowboarding but I hurt my knee and wanted to do something low impact so I was thinking of cross country skiing.
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Holly you are so right! I grew up classic ski & down hill, and I played volleyball and track all through college. With all running and jumping brought awful knee pain so I could not enjoy running after college ~5k was my limit! I have fallen in love with skate skiing last year! I love the speed and cardio I gt from it. I live 30 mins from the The world famous Birkie Trail! I have signed up for my first Birkie! I can’t wait!!! Thanks for the inspiration and tips!!!
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I started XC skiing again after I turned 40. I decided that I should try to take up the skating technique. I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, and XC skiing has been a great way to enjoy winter and the outdoors. Congratulations, Holly, on making the Olympic team. I hope that this is the best Olympics for Nordic Skiing yet!
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I have been XC skiing for the last 20 years and love it!!!! My husband and I try to introduce everyone we know to the sport for all the same reasons Holly mentioned. We take our equipment on every ski trip we go on. We mix Alpine, snowboarding and XC in our trips. We have been pulling our daughter in a Chariot trailer for the last 4 years, but just introduced her to actually XC skiing on skies this year. I’m happy to say she loves the sport!!! She really got the hang of it fast! She is only 5 yrs. old!
Most of the time we go off trail in what is called Backcountry skiing. This allows us to get into the mountains and be one with nature.
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