I have been enthralled with the XC events the past week and think the sport is just amazing. These athletes look like ANIMALS…love it.
I’m heading out to Vail in a two weeks…is this something a reasonably fit person could fool around with or do I need to spent a lot of time to learn the technical aspects to have a fun day? As in I recommend anyone who hasn’t skied at least spend a half day in a class learning some basic skills so they can enjoy the week…is it the same with XC?
I realize it’s going to be hard, but I want to know if I can grab a pair and go out and get in a good lung burn? I realize it’s a different game than the slopes, but with that said I have almost 30 years of skiing bumps under my belt so I’m quite at home on snow.
you might get a good lung burn from terrible form and trying to go fast, but you will likely fall multiple times in the process. Good thing snow is soft!!
Spending one hour in a lesson would not be a bad idea, if only to spend the time picking the instructor’s brain about the various trails and snow conditions.
you might get a good lung burn from terrible form and trying to go fast, but you will likely fall multiple times in the process. Good thing snow is soft!!
Yea I have been watching how sketchy it looks when they go around corners. Looks like the inside ski stays on a single track and the outside pushes the turn? Even THEY look sketchy at times. Should be a fun day. Hope I can get it to the point where I can get my HR up from some forward movement;)
getting moving on classic skis is slightly harder than walking. rental skis is wider and more stable than race gear.
Skating is a little harder. Both are a lot more fun with an hour of lesson. If you can skate your alpine skis then skate XC should be a no brainer.
The one thing about Vail that will get your attention is the altitude! Over 8000 feet at the cross-country area.
We to a whole lot of ice skating. One year we skated at a public session at the Vail indoor rink/arena. It was a whole lot of work.
hee hee I am well aware of altitude. i was at a place called ‘bud lily’s trout shop’ in west yellowstone last summer on a fly fishing trip. we had some time to kill before dinner so i thought i would grab a run. i had forgotten what alti felt like…but remembered real quickly after about 400 yards. heck i’m not sure we were higher than a few thousand feet, but 8K and i will throw a lung on the trail i’m sure.
In the distant past they had a winter triathlon at Avon / Beaver Creek!
Snow shoe up the mountain.
Cross-country ski down the mountain.
Speedskate on the lake near Avon.
Do they have a division called ‘clueless vacation entrants’? I would love to do it for the laughs. I bet I will be walking like a duck for a week. There are muscles involved there that I’m sure have never seen the light of day on this bod. Okay I’m in
I have been enthralled with the XC events the past week and think the sport is just amazing. These athletes look like ANIMALS…love it.
I’m heading out to Vail in a two weeks…is this something a reasonably fit person could fool around with or do I need to spent a lot of time to learn the technical aspects to have a fun day? As in I recommend anyone who hasn’t skied at least spend a half day in a class learning some basic skills so they can enjoy the week…is it the same with XC?
I realize it’s going to be hard, but I want to know if I can grab a pair and go out and get in a good lung burn? I realize it’s a different game than the slopes, but with that said I have almost 30 years of skiing bumps under my belt so I’m quite at home on snow.
Thanks for any tips!
XC skiing is a lot like swimming in that you can flail around a lot with bad form, and get really tired, or you can have good form and go fast with way less effort. It is a good workout either way, but an hour or so with a good instructor will be well worth it. A reasonably fit person should be able to have a blast in Vail.
They are animals. The top tri pros best be glad most skiers don’t care about triathlon or they’d all have less income. Pound for pound they are the toughest beasts on the planet. I’ll throw into the ring with Macca, Crowie, Brownlee, Wellington…the numbers in the lab don’t lie, they are tougher than triathletes pound for pound. Train them all the same, I’m putting my money on the xc skiers.
It can be an awesome workout and I agree that the top XC skiers are some of the fittest people on the planet. I’d recommend a lesson first to get your bearings and learn some basic principles. If you are going to try classic XC skiing, try the no-wax variety. Waxing can be an art form and tough to get right. I think most rentals are no-wax so it shouldn’t be a problem though. For real fun and a supercharged workout, try skate skiing at least once while you are there. I’d wait til you’ve had a day or two to adjust to the altitude though because it’ll get your heart going faster quicker than any hill you climb on a bike. Skating is awesome and the basics are relatively easy to learn if you are indeed used to the snow and have skated on your downhill skiis before. Have fun!
They are animals. The top tri pros best be glad most skiers don’t care about triathlon or they’d all have less income. Pound for pound they are the toughest beasts on the planet. I’ll throw into the ring with Macca, Crowie, Brownlee, Wellington…the numbers in the lab don’t lie, they are tougher than triathletes pound for pound. Train them all the same, I’m putting my money on the xc skiers.
Not sure they could go toe-to-toe with the absolute best in triathlon but they certainly would not embarrass themselves and after some time and sport specific training I am sure would be right up there.
In Canada back in the late 80’s two of the top triathletes in the country were also our two top XC skiers at the time - Pierre Harvey(who’s son has been skiing extremely well for Canada this week) and Al Pilcher. Both men were winning and placing in the most competitive triathlons in the country at the time.
Yea I have been watching how sketchy it looks when they go around corners. Looks like the inside ski stays on a single track and the outside pushes the turn? Even THEY look sketchy at times. Should be a fun day. Hope I can get it to the point where I can get my HR up from some forward movement;)
I’ve been watching the full replays that NBC has put up (thank you NBC) and it was a surprise to see how often the world’s best xc skiers have wobbles… to say nothing of Andy Newell among others, simply crashing out.
don’t try that cornering technique at first, it’s harder than it looks…
definitely take a lesson first. it took me quite a while to get to where I could raise HR from skiing rather than from getting up after falling down…
I was in your shoes two weeks ago, minus the 30 years of experience going down moguls, when I had a chance to try out xc skiing in Minnesota.
Classic at slightly faster than walking pace was a breeze. Now to glide more and to go faster took more skills, mostly balance, timing, and rythm. Going uphill and looking pretty would take longer than one day to master. Going donwhill was a blast. We skied 10 km on a rather flat course, and I barely broke a sweat, mostly because I didn’t have enough technique to go fast, and partly because we stopped often to goof off and to take pictures.
There was an equipment demo that day, so I had the opportunity to try out skate skis. I went out 200 yards and back just to get a feel for it. I was lucky nobody shot me to put me out of my misery - I certainly looked horrendous out there. Going uphill was a joke. Yet I have dreams of looking good skate-skiing… one day. Certainly, people proficient at it looked fantastic, especially the womens.
Give it a try. But don’t expect to break a big sweat your first day out.
