Types of cross country skiing and preparation.
The term cross country skiing covers a number of different skiing styles including traditional and skating styles.
Skating skiing uses a similar movement as in roller skating, it also involves the skier double poling (pushing on both poles at once). Skating skis are shorter than classic skis and have a smaller camber (see definition below) meaning no kicking wax is needed. This type of skiing has become more popular in modern times as skiing is no longer a necessity when it comes to transport, it is also much faster than classical skiing and due to the fact you don’t need to wax your skis it is simply easier and quicker to get out on the snow.
Within the header of traditional or classical cross country skiing there are again many different types of styles and types of skis that are most suitable for each style.
Racing or track skis are thin and stiff with weaker bindings they are used for fast gliding and track skiing.
Touring skis are thicker and allow the user to have more control and stability, they have rounded ends and either end is wider than the middle section of the ski which allows for easier turning.
Back-country skis/Mountain Touring skis are the widest out of the 3 types, they also have metal edges. The metal edges allow for better control in icy conditions they also help when skiing on steep terrain or out of tracks.
(Nordic Skier, 2016)
Structure of the ski.
One similarity between all the above types of skis is that they only have one binding point with is at the toe of your boot, which means your heel is left free to move up and down.
There are 3 sections to the ski, the tip, kick zone and tail. The kick zone contains the binding for your boots and stretches one boot length either side of your boot. The tip and tail are gliding zones.
On the underside of the ski there is a grove that runs its whole length, this is important as when snow is wet a vacuum can be created between the snow and the ski which prevents the ski from sliding smoothly. The grove allows water to run down the length of the ski and escape meaning you can glide with ease. (Mechanics of Sport, 2016).
Camber:
A ski’s camber is the section of the ski which does not touch the snow when it is place flat and only either end of the ski will touch the snow. This part of the ski will only touch the ground when weight is placed one it (see picture below), this means the whole length of the ski will be in contact with the snow giving the skier more control (Mechanics of Sport, 2016).
Waxing Your skis.
After spending only 5 days cross country skiing I have learnt that waxing skis is an art form!
Firstly the ski is split into 2 sections the gliding zones and the kicking zone. On the gliding zones you put glider and the kicking zone you put gripping wax as a base and then the wax of the day.
The wax of the day needs to be applied every time you go skiing and an extra layer is sometimes needed while you are out, if on a long day trip. There is a large range of waxes that suit different situations when choosing the wax of the day according to Swix (2016) you need to consider the air temperature and the snow conditions. Within snow conditions you have to think about whether the snow is new or old and dry or wet. The waxes range from hard to soft. Hard waxes should be used for cold dry snow while soft waxes should be used for wet and warm snow.
Once you have chosen the wax of the day and drawn it on the kicking zone you use a piece of cork to warm the wax up and melt it so it forms a smooth surface on the bottom of the ski. This should be done using long smooth motions in the direction you will be skiing (from tip to tail), even though they are smooth motions they should be done with force behind them or you will never heat the wax enough. This can be time consuming if you have not had much previous practice so some people tend to use a heating iron to melt the wax opposed to the cork. This method is much quicker and can result in a smoother and more even spread of the wax.
There are alternative to waxing your skis. One alternative is to use ‘skins’. Skins are a synthetic replica of animal skins which in the past have been used on the bottoms of skis. Their purpose is to provide better grip on the snow as they allow the ski to slide forward but not backward. When ascending a slope and then will be removed when descending a slope. They normally have a hook at the tip which loops over the end of the ski and the there is a sticky adhesive on the rest of the skin to attach it to the ski. You can get modern skis which have the ability to attach skins just along the length of the kicking zone (Evo, 2016).
Day 1
On our first day we only had a half day of skiing as we had to travel up to Evje. Therefore our afternoon consisted of a crash course in cross country skiing. We were taught the basics that we would need to allow us to cover some distance in the next 4 days.
The first thing we needed to learn was how to turn.
The first turn we learnt was a STAR TURN. This basically involves you stepping your skis around without crossing them, until you face the direction you wish to go.
The second turn was a KICK TURN. This turn can be useful if there is limited room to move or when you are zig zagging up a slope. You place one pole behind the tip of your skis and the other behind the tail meaning your core is now twisted so it’s at 90° to the direction your skis are pointing. Lift one ski and turn it 180° so it is going in the opposite direction to the other. Then lift the 2nd ski and turn it to face the same direction as the 1st.
We then had a bit of fun and tested out power and balance by seeing how far we could turn by just jumping and turning our skis.
After doing a few small circuits practicing our turns we skied to the pressed tracks where we worked on our balance and control of the skis when going down the hill. We did lots of short exercises such as doing as doing small jumps while skiing, skiing on one foot, sliding alternate legs forward, touching our feet, knees then reaching up. This resulted in us also practicing HOW TO GET UP when we inevitably fell over. You must turn your skis so they are perpendicular to the slope or fall line, you then get your weight over the skis and crouch then stand up (sounds easy).
As all these exercises took place on a downhill section of track we also had to learn how to get back up the slope without taking off our skis. To do so we learnt a technique called the HERRING BONE. To do this successfully your skis must be angled in a V with the point of the V down the slope. You also must dig your skis into the snow by using your inside edge and flexing your ankles and knees inwards. You then step up the slope using your poles for assistance. It is important that you keep your weight over your heels and do not learn forward as this will cause you to slide back down the slope!
The next skill we attempted to master was the SNOW PLOUGH which can be used to control your speed when going downhill. This is where you put the tips of the skis together but do not cross them, you then bend your knees and apply pressure on the inside edge of the skis. Your hands should be held out in front of your body and your weight again should be over your heels and not leaning forward.
The next skill to learn was TURNING ON THE MOVE. The simplest way to do this is to look where you want to go. You should also not look down at your skis or feet if you do so you are more likely to end up on the floor where you are looking. Another example of looking where you’re going is if there is a lone tree on a slope and you look at it and think “I don’t want to hit that” you will hit it as you are focusing on it! During this type of turn your weight is on the outside ski (in relation to the way you are turning) while the inside ski leads the way.
Finally we learnt 2 techniques to help us when moving on flat ground. The first is DIAGONAL STRIDE. For beginners this can seem like you are just walking on skis however with practice it becomes more like gliding than walking. You must push with one ski transfer your weight to the other ski and glide then repeat. While this is happening your pole on the opposite side to the push is used. When learning this technique it is useful to exaggerate the movement at your hips and twist and push them forward to get the maximum amount of glide. Having a long glide means you conserve power that would be used if you just ‘walk’ on your skis.
The second technique is DOUBLE POLING. This technique is powered by your upper body. It involves planting both poles in the snow simultaneously and then pulling your body and skis forward you then move the poles forward again while you are gliding. The pulling power is said to come from your core and not just your upper body when you bend at the hips and lean forward.
Day 2
This day began with a ski tour off-piste and through quite deep snow. In my mind this session had a guided discovery style of teaching and learning. We had been given the basic skills yesterday and were putting them into practice today. Taylor (2006) explains how guided discovery style of teaching allows students to use problem solving skills to experiment and find their own solution to a problem or challenge, which is then fine-tuned by the teacher through the use of feedback.
As a novice I found this approach very challenging due to the fact I have little experience in in this sport or any similar sports meaning I lacked any knowledge of skills that could be transferred to this situation. I also found that no immediate feedback was given until later in the afternoon. In my eyes this led to me experiencing a large amount of failure and knockbacks during the morning including becoming fatigued from picking myself up every time we moved on the flat or downhill. I found this had a negative impact on my motivation levels during the morning.
The afternoon focused more on techniques we looked at more advanced skills as well as how to stop and other methods of turning.
One skill we looked at was TELEMARK SKIING. The telemark position puts the skier’s centre of gravity closer to the ground which results in a higher stability, it also gives you greater control and balance as your skis are taking up a larger surface area being spread apart than if you were skiing with them next to each other. It is useful in powder snow when you are unsure if there are any lumps and bumps ahead as you are more balanced. You can also use telemark turns to move yourself across the fall line and therefore come to a stop.
In this position your upper body should be upright with one leg in front and one trailing behind, you should be in a position similar to a lunge. Your weight should be mainly over the front ski and your hands out in front of you with bent knees meaning you lower your centre of gravity.
SNOW PLOUGH TURNS. When doing a snow plough turn you should have one ski flat on the snow and the you should be using the edge of the other. If you edge your left ski you will go right.
Day 3
Today consisted of a shorter tour of almost 10km due to bad weather. If we had skied on the top of the mountain as we had the previous 2 days we would have experienced high winds, snow and very cold temperatures nearing -20 degrees Celsius, therefore we stayed in the valley in the town of Evje.
On this day I saw much more success and for the first time managed to successfully ski down hills and even began to understand the process of gliding on my skis instead of shuffling along. As I experienced some success early on in the day I feel this gave me a confidence boost and therefore increased my motivation levels resulting in an enjoyable day. I also had the opportunity to ski at the front of the group and therefore was able to observe the instructors technique and try and apply it to my own skiing.
The main learning point I gained from today was to keep my weight over my bindings and almost slightly forward when going downhill rather than panicking and leaning backwards (this resulted in me falling over more times than I can count!).
Day 4
Today we had the opportunity to navigate in true winter conditions. For most this was extremely challenging 
as you can imagine the majority of features are buried under the snow! This meant the most useful feature to us on the map were the contour lines on the map or the ‘lay of the land’. This combined with compass bearings made up a large part of our technique. Along with the lack of features it was difficult to navigate while skiing as you cannot check your map as frequently as when walking, along with being unable to ski on a compass bearing due to unskiable slopes or forested areas blocking the way. I think that this form of navigation will take a large amount of practice to perfect.
Another challenge we had to work as a team to overcome was when Connor who was at the time breaking the path through the snow skied onto powder snow which was concealing an inlet to the lake, consequently he ended up with legs in freezing water. While Connor was helped from the water we had to gather any waterproof bags we had and spare socks for Connor the change into. This confirmed the importance of everyone having spare clothing in their day bags, a fact we had been told the day before in our morning lecture.
As a group we had to decide on the best route back to the bus from where we were. Our decision was to abandon our intended route and retrace our tracks from the morning. This would mean we would not need to navigate and therefore stop every so often; we would be able to keep moving at a reasonable pace to keep Connor warm.
On this day we also spoke about any animal tracks that we saw while skiing. On this trip we saw Hare, Fox and Elg tracks. Below is a picture of Elg tracks. An Elg is a huge moose like animal. In this picture their tracks are very long, this is because as they pick their foot up and move it forward their toe drags along in the snow.
Day 5
Day 5 again consisted of a short tour in the morning at Høgas, followed by practice of step turns and Telemark turns to end the day.
Today we also looked for possible natural shelters which often come in the form of Fir, Pine and Spruce trees. These trees which all have needles on their branches collect the snow in huge clumps on their branches which then droop down touch the floor to make natural windbreaks. If you look under the branches near the trunk of the tree there is often a space big enough for one or 2 people to be comfortable and sit or lie down inside. To make the shelter more weather proof you should cut any branches on the inside off the trunk and place them on the outside to help build up the windbreak. More snow should then be shovelled onto the branches to make the wind break thicker.
References:
Evo. (2016) Alpine Touring Tips and Backcountry Basics: How to Skin. Available from: http://www.evo.com/guides/alpine-touring-tips-backcountry-basics-how-to-skin [Accessed: 12/02/17].
Mechanics of Sport. (2016) Skis. Available from: http://www.mechanicsofsport.com/skiing/equipment/skis.html [Accessed: 11/02/17].
Nordic Skier. (2016) XC ski styles and sizing. Available from: https://www.nordicskiersports.com/cross-country-ski-styles.html [Accessed: 11/02/17].
Swix. (2016) Lubrication Tips. Available from: https://www.swix.no/Tips-guider/Smoeretips [Accessed: 11/02/17].
Taylor, B. (2006) Coaching. In: Ferrero, F. (ed.) British Canoe Union Coaching Handbook. Great Britain, Pesda Press. 7-48.
XCZONE. (no date) Fundamentals of XC Skiing Technique. Available from: http://www.xczone.com/techvid.pdf [Accessed: 11/02/16].