Return to Ski Article Index  | Basics for Beginners  | The Right Skis  | Cross Country Skiing  | Downhill Skiing  | Skiing Fitness  | Bringing the Family  | Clothing and Gear  | Where to ski  | Safety  | So You Want to Race?   Cross Country Skiing Four Basic Lessons about Cross Country Skiing Cross-country skiing is one of the most exciting types of skiing. Keep in mind however that this particular sport is neither for the faint of heart nor for the physically challenged. Cross-country skiing takes a lot of courage, skill, and perseverance. Rest assured however that each achievement you accomplish in this sport will always make your efforts worthwhile! Novice Skiers Always Need a Teacher at the Start This is a fact. Even if you’re used to learning things by your own or from reading a book, you’re sure to need an expert at one point to teach you a technique or two. In most cases however, three lessons are all that’s needed for any individual to successfully ski on the beginner slopes. Having additional lessons after that is entirely your prerogative. Do You Need Additional Lessons? To determine the answer to this, you’ll have to ask yourself more questions. Ask yourself if you have a goal in mind. If there’s something else that you wish to learn or improve on, then definitely you need more lessons. If, however, you’re already satisfied with your present skills, then maybe it’s time to simply relax and enjoy the gentle slopes at your ski resort. Ask yourself if you’re still having fun. Having learned the ropes in skiing, you found it incredibly satisfying the first few times you managed to complete the easy courses alone. Ask yourself now however if you’re still having fun doing the same thing over and over. If not, it’s time to move on to whiter and tougher pastures and have a skiing tutor help you out. If you’ve decided to change skis and you find it particularly difficult adjusting to your new skis, maybe just one extra lesson would do just to help you adjust quickly but properly. Skiing without Poles This is purely an exercise to help you maintain your balance. Let your legs do all the work. The only job for your arms is to help you keep your balance. Don’t allow them to move too much! Learning How to Diagonal Stride Diagonal stride is the first move or technique you’ll have to learn when cross-country skiing. In spite of its name, you’ll not be actually moving in a diagonal direction when doing this. Rather than your feet, it’s actually your arms that are making a diagonal motion. As your left leg goes forward, your right arm swings back and the same opposite directions are made by your left arm and right leg. The diagonal stride is similar to a sequence of kicking and gliding on skis. The best and safest way to practice making the diagonal stride alone is trying it out on an even or flat area first. Then, you can try doing it on a gentle slope if you’re feeling more confident. Experts however are able to make the diagonal stride even when they’re going uphill. Learning How to Glide Gliding is easier or tougher than it looks, depending on how you perceive it, so the best way to learn this technique is by simply keeping an open mind. The proper starting position for gliding is having your knees and ankles bent slightly. Make sure however that you keep your upper torso straight. Keep your hands and poles in front as you make a gliding motion, remembering to put all the pressure of your weight on the gliding leg. Continue doing this until the movement stops feeling jerky and awkward and gradually becomes natural. Learning How to Double Pole This is also one of the basic techniques in cross skiing. There are two types of double polling movements you can make: one with a kick and another one without. To go double polling, just swing your arms – while holding the poles of course – forward in a simultaneous movement. To double pole with a kick, just make sure that you have firmly planted your poles on the ground. As you make a single forceful kick, swing your poles to the front simultaneously. Double polling with a kick is basically used when you find it hard to switch to a diagonal stride or plain double polling. The lessons in cross-country skiing don’t end there. In fact, that’s only the beginning. If you wish to learn more about cross-country skiing, all you’ll have to do is practice and practice some more. Whether you do it by yourself or with a tutor, however, is entirely up to you. Have fun XC skiing!   5 Cross Country Skiing Techniques to Turn You from Beginner to Pro The gap in knowledge, skills, and experience separating pros from beginners is a mighty big one, but this gap can be significantly reduced if you take the time to learn the five cross country skiing techniques below. Reminders Cross-country skiing is a demanding sport. Make sure that you’re in excellent condition before trying it out. Don't attempt to learn any of the techniques below without the supervision of an adult – if you’re a minor – or a professional if you’re still relatively new to cross country skiing. Make sure that you’re practicing in terrains or areas that are clearly marked for beginners. Five Ways to Go Uphill One of the most interesting aspects of cross-country skiing is how it enables you to go uphill on your skis. There are five ways for you to do so. Straight Climbing – You can only succeed in straight climbing a hill or slope if you have firm control of your skis and the ground. The basic position for this is with keeping your head up and your eyes straight ahead, back straight, and your knees bent. As you start to go up, use only one leg to move forward and remove the snow in front you. When your leg goes back down, it will have a more secure place to move. Keep a firm grip on your poles, and never forget that they’re there to help you push yourself up rather than pulling your weight up. Simply put, it’s you who should carry your weight and not the poles! Traversing – This uphill skiing technique is slightly more difficult to master than straight climbing. It is best used on slopes with long and steep heights. The edges of your skis play a very important role when traversing uphill. In straight climbing, the whole ski is used to help you secure your footing as you ski uphill. In traversing, you use the edges of your skis to help you navigate on areas that wouldn’t be normally conducive to skiing. You’ll understand how traversing works better when you’re on the snow and you’ll do things step by step. Sidestepping – This uphill skiing technique on the other hand is best suited for slopes with steep but wide properties. Your starting position for sidestepping will be to place your feet widely apart, making them form an open V. Keep your poles just slightly ahead of your toes. To start moving, plant your uphill pole about eighteen inches ahead of you. Make sure that you have a secure grip on both of your poles. When your uphill pole is firmly planted on the ground, let your uphill leg and ski follow suit. When all of the weight has been transferred to your uphill leg, that’s the only time you should move your other leg then lastly your other arm and pole. The important thing to remember when sidestepping uphill is the order of movement: uphill pole, uphill leg, downhill leg, then downhill pole, and the cycle goes over and over again. Make sure that your arms or legs don't move simultaneously because you’ll easily lose your balance. It has to be moved one by one! Herringbone – This uphill skiing technique resembles a herringbone, hence its name. Allow the edges of your skis to face to the side for your starting position. Continue to hold this position as you move while keeping in mind to turn your ankle in so your ski will have a firmer grip of ground underneath. If the slope turns steeper or sharper, adjust your feet by placing them wider apart. Remember however to avoid bending at all costs because this will make you lose your balance. Kick and Turn – This technique is quite similar to traversing with a few notable exceptions. Firstly, your skis should adopt a perpendicular positioning to prevent you from slipping backwards. Secondly, similar to sidestepping, you’ll be using the edges of your skis to help you climb up the slopes. Although all of these techniques seem pretty hard to follow, you’ll just have to practice them regularly and you’ll surely get the hang of it sooner than you think. The techniques discussed above are just some of the few that could help you look ten times better than you really are. Just keep practicing, and you’ll continue to look more impressive on your feet.   How to Ski Downhill with Style There are many ways for skiers to go down. You can do it the professional way by executing fancy turns as you navigate your way down the slope. You can do it cautiously by taking things very slowly and virtually making what’s intended to be a ten-minute trip downhill into an hour-long journey. Or, you can do it in an extremely embarrassing way by neglecting to learn the basic downhill skiing techniques and resorting to screaming and dodging all the way to the edge. If, however you wish to learn how to ski downhill properly, there are several methods that you can choose from: Basic Downhill Technique – Let’s start with something simple. Assume the basic stance by keeping your skis approximately twelve inches apart from each other. Remember to keep your knees and ankles slightly bent. Keep your head up and back straight. Make sure to remove any snow clinging at the back of your skis because this could make you lose your grip and balance. Now it’s time to move. With your hands slightly ahead of you and the poles back but slightly off ground, allow yourself to let go. As you go down the slopes, use your poles to give you a push only when necessary, and make sure that one of your skis is slightly in front the other. If you need to make a left turn, bend towards that direction while putting your right foot forward and vice versa. This basic technique is best used for gentle slopes and easy terrains. As you find yourself getting nearer to the end, you’ll automatically find your body going lower. That’s normal, however remember to keep your arms outstretched in front you. Snow Plow or the Wedge – If you’ve mastered the previous downhill technique, it’s time to move to something slightly more challenging: the snowplow technique. This technique will not only help you go downhill safely but also allow you to adjust your speed accordingly. This technique is also called the wedge because your skis have to adapt a wedge-like position. Keep the edges of your skis just half a foot apart from each other. Besides the notable difference in your feet’s positioning, everything else remains the same. You still need to keep your head up, look straight ahead, and so forth. To go downhill, you’ll have to turn your ankles inwards so that your skis will be able to dig down. This action is what allows you to control your speed. Step Turn – If the snow plow allows you to control your speed, the next downhill skiing technique we’re about to discuss is what will allow you to make crucial turns or direction changes as you go downhill. To facilitate learning the step turn technique, find a slope that’s well packed, even, and with no steep curves. The starting position is still the same. To make a right turn, put your left ski slightly in front. Then, lift up your other leg and afterwards push your left pole slightly nearer to the right. This will make your whole body turn to the right. As it does, make sure that your left ankle turns inward while your right leg pushes off. Only after this and when your right leg has gained enough distance should you put it down. Push your arms in front once more together with your left leg. Lastly, move until both your left and right skis are parallel with each other once more and both of your poles are ahead you. Sideslipping – Thankfully, this technique is easier to achieve than sidestepping, although it will require you to execute a small trick. To sidestep, you’ll first need to place your feet sideways. While going down, you’ll have to make sure that your skis are still partly facing sideways. At the same time, they also have to be positioned in such a way that you can exert the necessary force to help you slow down. Skiing downhill - albeit easier than skiing uphill - is definitely scarier because we have to contend with our fear of heights first. Still, as long as you make a conscious effort to trust in yourself and keep your control of your poles and skis relaxed but firm, there’s no way for you to fall flat on your face when you reach the end of your slope. Good luck on your way down!   Cross-country Skiing Part 4: Fun in the Snow Now that we’ve discussed the technical aspects of Cross-country skiing, let’s explore how to have fun! When people want to have fun in the snow, skiing is the ultimate choice for most adventure-seekers. Skiing refers to the pursuit of moving smoothly over the snow with the use of fiberglass or wooden boards with metal frames known as skis. They are fastened to the feet using straps known as ski bindings. Before, skiing was used to transport people from one place to another in areas covered with snow. But after quite sometime, skiing was transformed into a remarkable winter sport. Cross-country Skiing Concept One of the most popular forms of skiing is cross-country skiing. It is a well-loved winter sport and is being enjoyed by many people in various countries with big boulders of snow in areas such as Canada, United States, and Northern Europe. This type of skiing is one form of skiing that takes account of Nordic, Ski jumping, and the Olympic style of cross-country skiing. Cross-country skiing is also known as Nordic skiing. In many snow-covered countries around the world, skiing is simply cross-country skiing. Here, people consider it more as a hobby and not so much as a sport. Hobbyists define cross-country skiing as something that provides them various trails with different levels of complexities and time-spans. On the other hand, some people consider it as a sport. Sports enthusiasts consider cross-country skiing a complicated sport with movements that are easier said than done. Whether regarded as a hobby or as a sports event, cross-country skiing involves movements that trigger the utilization of some of the major muscles in the body. No wonder why cross-country skiing is also viewed by fitness enthusiasts as one of the most effective ways of burning more calories in just one session. To commence cross-country skiing, Skiers are situated at the top of a steep slope or slopes that have 15% or more inclination. This kind of arrangement will trigger the gravitational movement of the skier to glide smoothly in the snow down to the finished line. Cross-country skiing is normally held at ski resorts, where snowfields are already packed down to smoother surfaces. This initiates smoother and safer glides down the slope. However, for people who wish to experience a tougher and bumpier game, backcountry skiing is recommended. Also known as off-piste skiing, backcountry skiing is normally done in remote areas, situated at moderately high altitude. People who are engaged in backcountry skiing are usually those who go in for harder trails with abundant tracks of unmarked or unsullied snow, also known as powder. Adventurous people love deep powder skiing more than the usual backcountry skiing because of the challenges that they provide. With a steeper slope and a courser trail, deep powder skiers are in for the most exciting part of their skiing lives. With combined strength, skills, and the proper tools, deep powder skiing can be considered as one of the most exciting form of skiing. For a more sophisticated and smooth skiing adventure, trail skiing is the ultimate choice. Trail skiing lets people enjoy the activity without having to exert so much effort. With a well-groomed surface, trail skiing can provide smooth gliding in the snow minus trail breaks and different snow situations. This type of skiing is highly recommended for beginners since the extent of difficulty is easier to manage. For those who want to experience a grand vacation with a twist, hut skiing is recommended. With hut skiing, you can enjoy the cold, mountain breeze as you doze off to sleep in a remote hut in the mountains. Ski resorts take time to prepare in providing vacationers with the best country style services right at the comforts of your rented hut. Once rested, you embark on your skiing adventure as you trail along the smooth tracks of snow in close proximity to your hut. Thereafter, you can relax and call it a day off back in your hut and enjoy another warm session of hot chocolate with a lovely bonfire right before your very eyes. With hut skiing, you doubly enjoy the activity because of the comfort that a cozy hut can give you as you rest after each skiing session. With all these types of skiing, winter will never be the same again. However, experts recommend skiing with a backpack. Backpacks are remarkable skiing buddies, providing you with spaces for your belongings. Most backpacks used in skiing are made of lightweight material, thereby, providing comfort all throughout the track. If you are planning on overnight camping trips after skiing, it is best to use overnight backpacks. These types of backpacks have bigger spaces for your overnight camping needs. Indeed, cross-country skiing can be an exciting adventure for you and your family to enjoy. Just keep these facts and get the most out of cross-country skiing adventure.   Return to Ski Article Index  | Basics for Beginners  | The Right Skis  | Cross Country Skiing  | Downhill Skiing  | Skiing Fitness  | Bringing the Family  | Clothing and Gear  | Where to ski  | Safety  | So You Want to Race?