Cross Country Skiing

[jobob]

Ama - give it a try! It'll be fun! You can get the gist of it pretty quickly, enough to have fun schlepping around.

While I was in Bend this weekend following SK around in various bike shops (many of which were also selling XC gear) I was getting a bit wistful about all the fun XC skiing experiences I had many moons ago back when I was in school in eastern MA.

I never got particularly good at it, but it sure was fun, and really great exercise. (But be warned - after the first day or 2 you're gonna be achey! Lots of muscle groups being employed )

Hey skierchickie - very sorry about your DHs job loss. My best wishes to you both.

[SadieKate]

skierchickie -- I'm so sorry. That just plain sucks.

[Aggie_Ama]

Ama - give it a try! It'll be fun! You can get the gist of it pretty quickly, enough to have fun schlepping around.

Can you normally rent XC in a ski town? We really wanted to go to California again for my birthday but New Mexico would probably be cheaper. Food is better in California which is another reason not to go.

Not worried about being sore, they also have snowmobile tours for the days we are too tired to go skiing.

[Aint Doody]

I would say if there's a Nordic area, there would be rentals available. And the rental is way less than for downhill equipment. Be sure to dress in layers that you can easily remvoe. You will warm up for sure.

[Crankin]

You can rent x country skis at most ski touring places. Sometimes, it's cheaper to rent from a store near home.
If I can nordic ski, you can. Just realize that there are hills when you x country ski! This freaked me out when I started, but it was before I started cycling. Now, I love the climbing aspect, but I am still cautious on the downhills. I don't like descending in any sport. My biggest accomplishment is skiing down a black diamond run in Vermont last winter. In the west, you don't have to deal with ice, so I imagine it's a lot easier.
Beginner trails are usually entirely flat, though.

[Aggie_Ama]

Crankin- I think REI or Sun and Ski *might* rent skis but otherwise you are kind of hard pressed in Tejas! We are still muling it over for my birthday, skiing sounds interesting to me. Too bad my birthday is President's Day weekend it is probably crowded. We started to travel for my birthday present a couple years ago but never decide until after Christmas.

[Crankin]

Yes, it might be crowded, but that's prime x country ski season! Once March comes, even if there's snow, around here, it becomes like mashed potatoes once the sun comes out, because the temperature tends to be higher.

[ridebikeme]

Well, this is a late post, but thought that I would pass it for future references. There's ski shop here that it probably one of the biggest(if not the biggest) in the US. They carry alot of current models, but also lots of closeouts as well. They have been in business over 50 years, and are very family oriented and a shop that will sell what you want and need rather than what they have. I think their website is AkersSki.com... listed in Andover, Maine.

Have a great season!

[teawoman]

Went skiing for the first time yesterday...we got a dump of snow this week.
No classic trails yet, but was still fun...and above 0 degrees (celsius) too.

[Di bear]

In the thumb of Michigan's other mitten. Calumet.

I prefer to call it the bunny ear. We live in the bunny ear.

Tech is AWESOME! I've gotten out for three or four skis over the last two weeks - prepping for finals, so not much time or energy. I went snowshoeing yesterday morning at Tech. Wow. We live in such an incredible place.

[Skierchickie]

Okay Di Bear, I'll accept "bunny ear". However, I hope you know this puts Hancock in the bunny ear canal!

Tech has been great! Swedetown is pretty darn good now, too. I'm just eating my lunch now before heading there to beat the next 8-14 inches they're predicting. Sounds like it will probably be wet, heavy, base-building stuff. Then, back to 10 degrees.

Have fun out there, ladies!

[Di bear]

Bunny ear canal sounds about right since we have so much wax floating around here.

[Skierchickie]

Wow - I'm embarrassed to say that went COMPLETELY over my head. Ski wax?

[Aint Doody]

We're having an unbeleivable snow fall here in Eastern ORegon. Several of us went to the golf course today and skied all 18 holes. It was really fun. Even though the snow wasn't very deep at first, if we went through to the fairway, it was still smooth and good gliding. Going back on Saturday and then having hot chocolate & peppermint schnapps in the bar. Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

[SadieKate]

We are sooooooo close to being able to ski from the driveway again. Of course, this is just in time for us to be leaving for SLC.