Basic Ski Course

Location: Syrtveit, Evje

February 3-7 (Monday-Friday)

Introduction: 

Our field trip took place around 70kms North of Kristiansand in the mountains of Syrtveit, Evje for 5 days of skiing.  Our overnight base camp was just down the road at a whitewater rafting centre owned by Tim Davis called ‘TrollActiv’.  The accommodation was amazing and had just recently refurbished.  Both Tim and Simon were also very friendly in helping us get ourselves sorted out and comfortable for the week.  Despite sensational living conditions for the 4 nights, our actual cross-country skiing took place around a 20-minute car/van ride up into the hills.  We were driven there every morning by Tim and Ketil Østrem who would then stay with us the rest of the day as skiing instructors to help us improve our skills and gain more confidence in our own ability.

 

What does the Recreation Act tells you for use of this area?

Skiing on snow during winter will cause no harm to the environment.  It is a totally natural activity that does not result in motor noise or pollution to the snow or the surrounding environment.  Due to this low level damage, skiing is permitted on both cultivated and uncultivated land unless specifically sign posted to avoid.

 

Skiing Technique:

Over the course of the week, it was quite interesting to see how we learnt new ski techniques everyday and it was fantastic to watch all of our abilities improve in such a short period of time.  Tim was the primary instructor who provided us with the information for the five days but Ketil was definitely very helpful as well.  The two of them taught the group about moving along by either the classic kick and glide method, skating or double-poling.  All of these were used over the week for the backcountry skiing and the track skiing but were taught along the way so we could progress in small steps.  We began the week by practicing to shuffle and walk around without ski poles.  Once Tim thought we needed a new challenge, he lined us up in groups to practice some running with skis on in relay races.  After he was happy with our ability level in this, he allowed us to pick up our poles and we began the real ski technique lessons.  Not only did Tim and Ketil teach us the basic techniques of moving around but they also taught us different ways to ascend hills, decline down hills and turn too.

• Classic (Kick & Glide):

The ‘classic’ ski method, or the ‘kick and glide’ technique, is the most traditional method of cross country skiing.  You push your back foot down to the snow, kick your front foot forward by sliding the ski along the snow and then push off with your back foot to glide forward.  You then bring your back leg forward and repeat.  This can be managed without ski poles but if you are to use poles, it’s a lot like running where your hands are working opposite to your legs.  It’s important to remember that when using ski poles, you should have the pole roughly the height up to your armpit.  When you go to hold them, it is best to slide your hand up through the loop and then grip the handle so that as you push off using the pole, the strap will fall down nicely by your wrist, in a perfect position for the handle to be grasped again.  When using this method, you will get the most glide from your skis when they are flat on the snow and not leaning on one of the ski’s edges.  I picked this up quite well and felt myself improving more everyday.

• Skating:

The ‘skating’ ski technique was a lot harder for me to learn and it wasn’t until practicing after the trip at Evje did I find myself able to skate.  We were told that skating on skis is a lot like skating on rollerblades or ice skates, which gave me false hope as I can skate quite well on skates.  Tim was fantastic in teaching us how to skate as he explained the basics, then demonstrated, showed us poor examples and then recapped again before allowing us to try it ourselves.  Even then when we tried on our own, he was still shouting out individual advice to help everyone the best he could.  In order to skate, you must fix your back leg and slide the front ski forward along the snow.  As you do so, it is important to keep a nice line from your ski up to your nose and put all of your weight on the front foot, allowing your back leg to lift and move forward simultaneously as you begin to glide.  You then bring your back foot forward and under your body, ready to push forward again as you push off on your other leg.  I had difficulty in putting all of my body weight in the correct line over my front leg and pushing off on my bag leg as I felt it would slide out every time I push down on it.  I was not sure whether this was due to the icey conditions or my low level of ability but I did not improve over the course of the week in skating.

•  Double-Poling:

‘The double-poling’ ski technique is a lot less technically demanding on the body than the other two methods, however it does require good core control and a rhythm.  You put the ski poles into the snow either side of you, roughly in line with where your heels are.  You then bend your knees, crouch down and pull yourself forward by pushing down on your ski poles.  As you begin to move forward, you must extend your knees and just to spring in time with you taking your poles out of the snow.  Bring the poles forward and repeat this action until you are moving forward at a nice pace.  Manuel helped me perfect my technique in this method as he noticed I was not springing my knees at the correct time and was wasting energy by just standing up rather than making it an explosive movement.  However, it is slightly more physically demanding on the body and it is not one to use when attempting to ascend up a hill.

•  Herringboning:

When attempting to ascend a hill, it is possible to move up small slopes using the classic method and use your poles to help you run up quickly.  When attacking longer hills or steeper hills, you can either skate or use the ‘herringbone’ ski technique.  Herringboning is a lot like walking up the hill with your toes pointing out to the sides so you make a big V infront of you with the skis.  Simply lift one leg up infront of the other and walk up, making sure you point your toes out and keep that angle.  To make herringboning more efficient, you should try to push your knees together and turn your ankles over a little bit so you push the inside edge of your ski into the snow.  This will create a better grip with the snow and allow you to walk up much easier.

•  Snowplowing:

When travelling down a hill as a beginner it is best to make a pizza infront of you with the skis and really point your toes inwards.  Much like the herringbone, if you can push your knees together and create more edge with your skis by turning the bases of the skis up slightly, you will act a lot more like a plow by pushing more snow and slow down quicker.

•  Chinese Snowplow:

Exactly like the classical snowplow, you begin with a pizza shape infront of you and your weight roughly in the midline of your body.  As you slide down the hill, push more weight onto one ski and you will feel that ski dig into the snow more.  This will create a larger plow that side and cause you to turn off slightly to the other way.  If you repeat this, you can easily make ‘S’ shapes in the snow, without having to turn your body away from the direction you wish to go.

•  Parallel Turns:

The ‘parallel turn’ is another method used to descend a mountain and stems from alpine skiing.  Rather than creating a pizza shape, keep both skis parallel and begin sliding down the mountain diagonally.  When you wish to turn, lift up the ski closest to the bottom of the hill, turn it to face back against the way you are travelling, shift your weight and then lift the other ski up so it is now parallel again with the newly angled ski.  Repeating this will create a clean zig zag in the snow rather than an S, but requires a lot of balance and control that was difficult for me in the early stages.

•  Telemark:

The ‘telemark’ turn was not easy for me to learn.  For the telemark position, the skier should have both skis pointing the same way and one foot slightly infront of the other.  Both knees should be bent but due to more weight on the front leg, the back leg will appear to be bent a lot more.  This is a very stable position when going in a straight line down the mountain and has been used for years as a traditional ski technique.  Even ski jumpers land in the telemark position as it is believed to be the most balanced upon landing.  When attempting to turn in telemark, the skiers should turn their front ski infront of them and kick their back leg out.  For example, if a skier has their left leg infront, they should turn to right and allow their back leg to slide around to keep them stable.  Although I improved my telemark skiing, my telemark turning still requires practice.

    

Above you will see Hayley, Amy & Kevin demonstrating an efficient stopping technique. It works much faster than the ‘Snowplow’ and can sometimes be very entertaining, until you decide to demonstrate it for yourself…

 

Ski Preparation:

To maximize the efficiency of the skis and then the fun and enjoyment from skiing, you must first prepare the cross-country skis specifically to suit certain conditions.  A ski can be divided into the main parts of the binding, camber, glide zone and grip / kick zone.  Each one of these play an important role in the ski’s effectiveness.

• Binding: The metal frame that surrounds and lock the ski boot into place firmly on the ski.  The cross-country ski bindings we use have 3 small pins at the front that you must line up with the small holes in the toe of the boot.  You can then push down on the clip at the front and lock the boot in.  The stiffness of the binding depends on the type of ski and the binding itself is totally different from an alpine ski to a cross-country ski.
• Camber: The natural bend that the ski has.  Telemark skis are fairly flexible in the middle section, which allows the grip zone to become in contact with the snow when weight is applied down.  This grip zone will then create friction allowing the skier to kick off and begin a glide.
• Glide Zone: The ski can be broken up into thirds.  The glide zones make up the front and back third on the ski that is always in contact with the snow.  These must be waxed to provide as little friction as possible so the skier can glide for as long as possible before needing to kick off again with the other ski.
• Grip / Kick Zone: The middle third makes up the grip zone from a bit before the toe, right back to the heel of the boot.  This is waxed up in a certain way to deliberately provide friction and is only in contact with the snow during the kicking phase.  You can identify the kick zone by asking the skier to place their skis down on a flat surface (e.g. floor or table).  They should then clip into the skis and allow their body weight to bend the camber towards the floor.  Now slide a single sheet of A4 paper under the camber and push it to the front and then to the back.  When the paper touches the ski and can no longer slide easily, make a mark and these are the front and back of the grip zone.

 

To prepare the skis for any conditions, a glide wax should be applied to the front and back third of the skis.  Sandpaper should then be used to roughen up the middle third.  A layer of base wax should be applied to the middle third and then smoothed with a cork block or iron.  This should be repeated so the middle third has 5 layers.  Once this is smooth, a kick wax should be applied to the middle third but which wax is dependant on the temperature of the snow.  Refer to http://www.swixschool.com for more information on the different types of waxes and how they are used.  3-4 layers of this grip wax should be applied to the middle third and smoothed out with the same technique.  The quantity of layers is dependant on the length of the trip as the snow will eventually peel off the layers one by one and the longer you ski for, the more layers you should have on.

 

Alternative Ski Preparation Methods:

• Klister – A liquid that should be applied to the ski in a warm room.  Perfect for warm or old snow.  Difficult to get off and can not be present on the ski if you have desire to use skins as it will affect the glue of the skins.

• Skins – Strips of synthetic hairs that run in one direction can be temporarily glued to the bottom of the ski.  As these hairs run one direction, you can travel forward but will have a great deal of friction when attempting to go backwards.  Fantastic for old slippery snow or really steep inclines.  Simple hook on to the front with the metal clip, run it the length of the ski and carefully push it onto the base of the ski.  Ensure the base is dry first.  Once completed, simply peel them off, fold them in half to preserve the glue and pack them away.

 

First Aid In The Field:

On Tuesday after a long day of skiing around and having fun, we returned to TrollActiv to listen to Simon explain some Wilderness First Aid points to us.  The ones most stood out to me were that:

• As with any situation, do the DR.ABC checks.  First identify if there are any more Dangers to the victim, yourself or any others in the group and respond appropriately.   Check the victim(s) for any Response, whether it be something as simple as answering a question or yelling if you pinch them.  Continue the protocol by checking their Airways and Breathing.  If necessary, then use CPR.
• When someone is injured, keeping their neck and spine in a straight line is essential and getting them into the recovery position on their side is a good idea, as long as you can support their head the whole time.  The person that grabs the head automatically becomes the leader in that situation and then commands the rest of the group how to act and what to do in order to ensure this person’s safety.
• If two people are injured and one is yelling for help, it’s the other person you should actually help because they’re not well enough to actually yell and respond.  This decision is sometimes difficult and can go against the natural instinct to immediately help the person in despair.
• If someone breaks a leg, you can use the handle of the shovel as a splint to keep their leg straight.  It’s not all about doing things by the book, but it is about saving lives and being smart by doing the best thing in that situation.
• In Wilderness First Aid, burn the book and do whatever you have to!

Day Pack Contents And Packing

Packing a rucksack for a day trip or an expedition sounds quite similar to how you would pack for a hiking trip.  It is important to keep essential items near the top and balance out the pack evenly.  However instead of putting all of the weight onto your hips like in hiking, it is best to keep the weight as close to your spine as possible because you move you body differently in skiing and it is quite easy to become unstable.  It is also important to consider how certain things can freeze in your bag if you leave them near the exterior walls of your bag.  Tim also suggested to separate the shovel into it’s two sections and put the handle down the inside of you bag to one side and have the shovel blade tucked somewhere down the front.  It is important to keep these consistent when you pack them so it’s instinctive if you must pull them out quickly.  The blade can also be placed conveniently in a way to protect your sandwiches from being crushed up.

 

For a daypack on any trip, it is crucial to take sufficient food and water.  However, on a daytrip on skis through the snow, it is also important to bring some other items:

• Warm water in a thermos so the body can conserve energy without having to warm it up
• Personal first aid kit
• Emergency blanket
• Snow shovel
• Warm clothes
• Spare socks
• Wool hat
• Neck buff
• Warm gloves/mittens
• Wind and waterproof top and bottom layers
• Gaiters
• Ski goggles for snowy conditions or sunglasses for regular conditions
• Ski wax and cork block
• Map case & compass
• Knife
• Whistle
• Rope
• Atleast 1 sleeping bag between two people
• Atleast 1 sleeping mat between two people
• Spot device