Nordic Fox Ski Club

Cross Country Skiing - Info You Should Know

Conditioning

What can active outdoor people do in the winter? Running, biking, are ok but cross-country, or Nordic skiing is the best choice. I hear: It’s too much work. It’s too cold! Isn’t it expensive?  I don’t know how to wax.  All silly excuses for missing an incredible sport.  Running is harder than even the effort put out by most competitive skiers.  Recreational skiers go at an easy pace and just enjoy the experience. If you want to be cold while skiing, you have to go downhill, or Alpine skiing.  I’ve never been so cold as when I sat on a chairlift and was lifted up into the piercing wind coming over the top of the mountain.  There’s nowhere to go!  Just freeze.  In Nordic skiing you have to worry more about getting too warm. Which is not a problem if you wear the proper clothing.  You can try Nordic skiing by renting complete equipment for $10-$11 at two local places: Arrowhead Golf Course on Butterfield in Wheaton or Camp Sagawau on Rt. 83 just east of the intersection with 171 (Archer) in Palos Forest Preserve.  If you decide to buy equipment, you can get decent boots, skis with bindings, and poles for $200-$300.  In the same vein, waxing can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it.

Cotton is rotten (in wintertime).  It holds moisture and you’ll get cold.  Leave you blue jeans at home and go out to a good sports store.  You need this type of clothing for any active sport you do in the winter. You probably already own all you’ll need if you have been out biking or running after September.  Improvements have been terrific in the past 10 years.  The new fabrics “wick” moisture away from your body and into the next layer that is made of a material that will continue the process.  Polypropo-lene is the generic type of material but you will see many brand names such as Capellene or Coolmax which are variations, all of which perform well.  Caution: After you wash these garments, let them dry in air.  If you must use a dryer, NEVER, NEVER use a softener that will clog the pores and hurt the wicking ability of the material.  Goretex is a well-known material for outer garments which, I think, has some problems getting rid of the moisture.  You can end up with a layer of frost on the inside of the material.  In the bad old days wool performed the wicking function but can’t hold a candle to the newer fabrics.  You hear people talk about layering. This has several advantages. If you get too warm, you can take off a layer or two. The air trapped between the layers provides an insulating function, keeping in the warmth. I rarely use more than three layers. From 15-25 degrees I use a good long sleeve undershirt and a thicker top layer. If it’s much colder or windy, I put on a vest or jacket.  Fleece is a great material that keeps you warm on the coldest days.  For guys, a pair of insulated, windproof underwear is essential.  ESSENTIAL!  Lycra tights are the best performers for the lower extremities but many opt for a looser pair of wind pants.  On colder days long underwear made of the same materials, in addition to the insulated briefs mentioned above, are used.  Gloves, socks, hats all of man-made materials are available.

Skis, bindings, boots and poles. Wax and waxing equipment if you ski more than twice a season.

How do classical skis work? They have camber, which refers to curvature in the ski. When you stand on the skis, this curvature lifts you off the snow. By putting all your weight on one leg you compress the camber out of the middle of the ski leaving it flat but without pressure on the snow. So on either one or two feet you will glide across the snow having only the front and back of the ski (tip and tale) in solid contact with the snow. To bring the middle of the ski down onto the snow you have to dynamically push straight down onto your ski. The middle of the ski is different from the tip and tale in that it is prepared, not for gliding, but to “grab” or “grip” the snow to allow you to exert a force and propel yourself forward. Occasionally snow conditions are such that the grip is less than ideal and the skier appreciates the importance of this feature. So called “waxless skis” have a pattern cut into the base under the binding. When this pattern is pressed into the snow, the snow holds onto the ski while the skier’s forward motion converts this downward force into a backward push, and because the grip is retained, the skier is propelled forward. Skiing technique requires that the heel stay in contact with the ski as long as possible to retain this grip. Thus we teach skiers to push off with their heel rather than the ball of the foot as in walking or running.  It’s important that the ski match the skier’s ability and weight.  With too much camber, the skis will slip. To little and the skis will drag instead of glide.

In warm conditions (32°F +), waxless skis sometimes perform best. Below freezing “waxable skis” are superior. These skis have no pattern in the base; rather grip wax is rubbed onto the grip zone (under the binding) and corked in. This process takes about a minute per ski and can be done out on the trail. The wax grabs the snow more effectively than the waxless pattern and, more importantly, it does not slow the ski during the glide phase. As the temperature falls, harder waxes are required to achieve maximum grip.  Thus if the temperature changes when you’re out on the trail, you may have to rewax.  Shady stretches can behave differently than sunny spots.  As mentioned above, when grip is poor the experience suffers. But while there are sophisticated waxes that cover every few degrees of temperature, the beginner can get by with a warm and a cold wax. The break temperature is around 20°F. I recommend waxable skis, even to beginners, because the performance is noticeably better and will encourage the skier to stay with the sport.

You still have to wax waxless skis! I’m referring to glide wax that allows the ski to slide over the snow with a minimum of drag. It is used on all kinds of skis, whether Nordic or Alpine (downhill) or snowboard. There are paste-type waxes such as Maxiglide, but it is best to use paraffin waxes that must be melted into the base. This does add complications to ski preparation since an iron and a ski vise and various tools are required. If you ski only a couple of times a season, I recommend the paste wax. Or you can have a ski shop prepare your skis at the beginning of the season and leave it at that till spring. After the season it is important to get a protective layer of soft wax onto the base to protect it from oxidation that is the ruination of good glide. In general, for warm conditions, softer wax works best while colder snow requires harder waxes for good glide. Thus the same rule of thumb applies to both glide and grip wax. Both wax types are color-coded and the normal progression from warmest to coldest is yellow (above 32F), red (around 32), blue (18-28), and green (below 18). Exact temperatures are marked on the wax packages. Suffice to say that waxing can get as complicated (and expensive) as you want.

There is another type of cross-country skiing that began in the 1980’s called skate skiing or freestyle.  It looks and feels like ice or roller skating or roller blading.  It is faster than classical skiing, uses different equipment and requires a little more energy.  Being faster, it is the most popular style with racers.  Some choose to start with this style, especially the younger skiers but 95% begin with classical. Briefly, skating skis are shorter, poles are longer and boots and bindings are stiffer.  Skis are glide waxed over the full length.  Equipment cost is comparable for both styles.  The balance of this write-up refers to classical skiing.

Bindings are screwed into the skis to provide an attachment mechanism for the boots.  There are a few different styles, some older, and of course the boots and bindings must be compatible.  The two in vogue at this time are the Solomon SNS and the NNN (New Nordic Norm).  Both are effective but the Solomon is more popular.  These systems are superior to earlier equipment in that they provide a more solid attachment of the boot to the ski. Although the heel of the boot lifts off the ski (unlike the clunky Alpine boot-binding systems) the attachment at the toe is much stiffer and there is a rib running under the boot to provide leverage for the skier to turn the ski on downhill parts of the trail.  There are step in bindings (called “automatic”) which run about $35 and manual bindings which are $50-65. The latest incarnation of the SNS binding has a wire bale that clips to the boot in addition to the toe attachment point.  These “Pilot” bindings are an attempt to give more stability to the ski as the skier flies down the trail.

Poles should come up to the midpoint of the skier’s mid-shoulder.  You may have to go longer or shorter by a small amount since poles come in 5 centimeter increments; this is not a big deal.  At 6 feet tall, I use 155 cm. length poles. Women generally would use 135-140 cm.  Cost for adequate poles is $15. For lightweight racing poles you can pay more than $200. Less expensive poles will have straps that you adjust to be just big enough to put you palm and thumb through. The fingers grasp the pole and the thumb goes over the strap. As you pole backwards you release the pole and relax your fingers. The relatively tight loop keeps the pole stable and returns it to you grasp as the pole swings forward during recovery. A newer strap type, found on models costing about $100 and up, wraps around the palm and is secured with Velcro. This arrangement allows for more efficient use of the pole.

Ski boots have come a long way in the past decade. They are comfortable, warm, light, and expensive. Expect to pay $70-$140 for entry-level boots and $200 up to $350 for upper level and racing boots.

Your warm season bike riding will stand you in good stead when you get on skis. Biking, more than running, will develop muscles used in Nordic skiing. Of course all forms of exercise are important and only couch-potatoing is not recommended. In the health club, strength training is very important for your general health and for skiing. Do it! Stair steppers develop the ability to climb those hills and improve balance. Balance is vital for skiing. It has a two-fold payoff in that it allows the muscles of your body to relax except those that are required for skiing, and when you’re in balance the force you apply goes into progress down the trail rather than keeping you upright. One thing that I do while stair-stepping is to not hold onto the bars. When I first tried this I could only go for a few steps without loosing my balance. But by staying with it I was able to teach myself to stay over the steps for the entire session.

The most ski-specific exercise you can do in the fall is called Dry-Land Training. A write up on this is attached. Roller-skiing is a more advanced method of ski training.

Cross-country skiing gives me a feeling like no other sport. It seems to me to be attuned to the human physiology in a unique way. Ice skating and rollerblading have some similarities, especially to ski-skating, but don’t have the same appeal. I guess it’s the snow. With the other sports, you are restricted to a pond or a paved trail. In Nordic skiing we have groomed trails that in a way restrict us but you always feel you can jump off the trail and head off through the woods. Back-country skiing involves exactly this. It’s making your own trail, going wherever you wish because the snow’s everywhere. But even back on the trail, you are gliding past a beautiful wonderland whether in the woods or out in a meadow. Snow covers all ugliness with a pure blanket of white. It’s not the gray slush that accumulates in the streets. It assists our travel, rather than hindering it. So many people learn to hate winter because of the cold and inconvenience. Their “Cabin Fever” is self imposed. When you are a skier, you come to look forward to January and February. It becomes the best time of year. Sometimes I think I’d like 12 months of winter, but I probably wouldn’t appreciate skiing nearly as much as I do because the season is so brief.

I was a downhill skier for 15 years and frequently found myself out on the edges of the area looking for trails through the woods, exploring. If you have the inclination to see what’s around the next corner or over the hill then you are made for this sport. Kick and glide, almost effortlessly flying down trails of white, clumping up a steep incline, cresting and then zoooooom, down and around a corner. I just can’t express the joy I feel. Get out there and love it like I do!