Day One

For one week we were all sent an hour up North to learn to Cross Country Ski. The idea being we would have a one week intensive programme before being sent into the Nordic wilderness to play ourselves. Quite daunting stuff but extremely exciting!

The first day started just after noon and was just a taster for us to get to know what it felt like being on the skis. The majority of the class (myself included) had experience on downhill skis but little to no experience of cross country. If your wandering if downhill skiing will help you with your cross country skiing, I would say still expect to spend a lot of time with your face in the snow

The first lesson was waxing. The way the ski moves across the snow is all dependent on how you wax your skis and can make an easy journey almost impossible if applied wrong. If your ski doesn’t stick to the snow effectively you will struggle to grip on the uphill and slide out of control on the downhill. In contrary, if you apply to much or the wrong wax, you will stick to the snow and find it very difficult to travel downhill at speed.

We started on flat terrain and learnt how to go forward. The idea being that you swing your arms and transfer weight from one foot to another almost like skating. The effect should look like your gliding along the snow gracefully. I looked more like I was angry at the snow and marched across aggressively. To get used to traveling forward and going at pace, we did some relay races. It was after these races that my confidence started to diminish. With the pressure of everyone watching, I choked and continuously performed badly. Unfortunately, this would be a trait that would last throughout the week.

After (sort of) mastering the flat space we moved onto a gentle downhill slope. When going downhill, the ideal way to have the best balance is putting one foot slightly in front of the other, knees bent and body to remain upright. The more exaggerated the movement, the more likely chance you will have of being successful. The group on the whole did well and the rest of the afternoon was spent, trying out others areas and practicing our basic skills.

The coaching method used throughout the day was demonstration, we would watch our instructor perform a move and then we would follow. This was beneficial in learning exactly what we should look like on skis but someone like me who takes a little bit longer may have benefited from some self-discovery time to practice skiing without feeling the pressure of holding the group up. Having said this I left the day with a sense of hope.

Day Two

The following day was sparkling sunshine. We drove up to Evje, an area full of prepared ski tracks. The day consisted mainly of working on ski technique. We started on the prepared tracks

, going over the gliding technique and warming up. After this we moved onto turning, downhill and uphill. To practice these we moved off the prepared tracks and into deeper snow as this was the sort of terrain we would be mainly skiing on. Going uphill was fine but tiring. One technique to get uphill is herring boning. This involves using the edge of your skis to dig into the snow and stop you sliding. It is highly effective but also exhausting and should only be used occasionally if possible.

Going downhill was more challenging. Especially going downhill and turning. The problem with cross country skis is it is very hard to stop which although is highly comical can also be problematic. I managed to fall on my face on an icy prepared track and give myself a nose bleed. After this incident I found it very hard to stay motivated and keep a smile on my face. Luckily our instructor chose to stop for a break and after some food and drink I felt a lot better. This is definitely something I will do to help boost moral in future with groups. Just a five minute break made me feel less shaky and willing to continue.

Day Three

Unfortunately the weather for the rest of the week wasn’t meant to be very nice so the excursion that was planned for the final day, was done on day three. The aim was to reach the summit of a hill. It was around a 10k round trip and would be a fairly tough journey. Although there were prepared tracks, our instructor wanted us to find our own way and use our navigation skills to get us there.This was useful as many in the group were new to navigating and I have no experience navigating in the snow. It is very difficult to see what the terrain entails w

hen everything is covered in white. Is it a large flat space or a lake? Also the maps we were given had a lot less detail than I am used to so it was a nice challenge trying to pick our trail and figure out where we were.

The day started well as we had strong navigators in the front and they quickly got us going in the right direction. However, due to being inexperienced we had to stop a lot to look at maps, change navigators and this ate into our time. Also, we reached a point where we needed to go over terrain that was too steep and as a result had to go back and round. After lunch our instructor decided we didn’t have enough time to reach the top which was a shame but it did give us time to ‘play’ and practice our technique for a while. For around 45 minutes I continuously took myself up hills and skid back down them. This is exactly what I needed and although

I spent a great deal of time picking myself back up from the snow, by the end I was feeling a lot more confident. However, at some point during this time I must have fallen badly on my wrist and while it was fine going downhill the pressure of going uphill was pretty painful and I struggling to hold my ski pole. Doing various adventure activities, you get very used to sprains, bruises and cuts. Probably because of this and not wanting to seem like I was making excuses for being a poor skier I continued. This was a mistake but I will touch on that later. The rest of the day was sore but uneventful. We practiced turning on steep, uphill sections and ‘takking’ down. Which is taken from sailing and means crossing the slope and turning rather than speeding straight down. Another, way of slowing yourself down on slopes is by ‘snow ploughing’. This is done by turning both skis inward at the toes. This is a common method when beginning to ski downhill but I found it very hard when cross country skiing.

Day Four

On day four we drove to a different area of prepared tracks. The weather was overcast and grey but luckily for us not snowing and visibility was fine for navigation. Once again, the aim of the day was

to get to the summit of a hill, practice navigation technique and of course practice on our skis.

The day started well. Everyone took it in turns navigating stages and as a group we were getting quicker, working well together and navigating effectively. There was a path that led directly to where we wanted to go but that wouldn’t have bettered our skill and let’s face it would have been a bit boring so we veered off the path and used it more as a ‘handrail’ to get us where we wanted

to go. This is a technique in navigation where you use a feature e.g. a stream, path or wall and follow it to guide you toward your desired destination.

Our journey led us to the bottom of the steep hill we were meant to be climbing and we started making our way up. This was probably the most challenging aspect of the day, as the snow was deep and there was a lot of foliage to avoid. In order to ascend the hill effectively, we had to use different techniques that we had been practicing throughout the week. We ended up needing to follow the path to the top due to their not being another way up. The rest of the way was tiring but not especially technical. Unfortunately, the weather was too grey to get a good view but we all felt pretty accomplished.

The second half of the day was the roughest for me. Due to the strain of going uphill, my wrist had nearly doubled in

size and after the adrenaline of getting to the top of the hill had subsided, the pain was started to affect my mood and performance. To make matters worse, it would all be downhill and very steep. Luckily, my instructor asked me to follow him down and picked the way down the mountain for me. As a method of teaching I believe this was the right thing to do at the time. Without guidance it would have taken me a long time to get back down and although it may have been beneficial for me to practice, I was in pain, it was cold and the rest of the group would have been held up. It took me longer than anyone else to get down and like a domino effect. The minute I started falling, I couldn’t stop. It was embarrassing, painful and my lowest point.

Day Five

As expected the weather on this day was terrible. It was snowing, cold and visibility was poor. We drove up to Evje, the area we had visited earlier in the week and the aim of the day was to learn about emergency shelters in the snow and do some avalanche training.

In the morning, our instructor found a suitable area and taught us about two kinds of emergency shelter. The first commonly being called ‘a scrape’. This is when you dig into the side of a slope and make a shelter big enough to fit your body inside. If you have time you can dig upwards or sideways and make yourself a step. Here you can sit and wait out the storm. An important thing to remember about this shelter is to put your skis in an X on the right of the entrance. This means that if someone comes looking for you, they will be able to see where you are and start digging to the left to find you. The other shelter is called ‘a coffin’ and the clue is in the name. You dig down into the ground and make a hole long enough for your body to fit inside. You then dig an entrance leading back outside at one end. When the hole is long enough, cover with a role mat, your skis and cover with snow. It is important when digging this shelter that the top is narrow enough to be covered with a roll mat. In the afternoon we did some avalanche training with transceivers. It was fun and informative. A great way to end the week.

What I learnt: 

• Many different techniques. Although, it took me a bit longer than the others. I can successfully go uphill, downhill, turn around and move around efficiently.
• What to do if I am stuck in a snow storm and need emergency shelter.
• Correctly waxing skis is very important and makes a huge difference to how your skis travel across the snow.
• After spending the following weekend popping painkillers, having my wrist on ice and looking like I was slowly turning into the hulk I realised I should have backed out on day four. The day did nothing for me except demotivate me completely. I should have listened to my body.
• Although it was a tough week, cross country skiing is absolutely brilliant and I can’t wait to get outside and play some more!!