I decided to learn cross country skiing for one simple reason: I’m a coward. Not only am I a coward, I’m a vain coward. I never learned to ski as a child and now, in my early forties, I just don’t fancy the broken leg that I’m sure would be the inevitable result of sliding too fast down a slippery piste. It’s not just the potential danger of downhill skiing that puts me off: I just can’t face the humiliation of repeatedly falling on my backside with all those confident seven year-olds whizzing round me, proving there’s really nothing to it.
But skiing has its attractions – sunlight on snow is the stuff of fairy Christmases, and I wanted my share of it. So, a few years ago, I decided to learn cross country skiing and I now wait for the first snows with eager anticipation.
“Cross country skiing? Isn’t that incredibly hard work?” If I had a pound for every time I’ve been asked that question, I’d be a rich woman. So, in answer, yes it is quite demanding, but no more demanding than aerobics and certainly a lot less than, say, a game of tennis. You can master the basics in a few hours and after that all you have to do is go out and play!
I chose a course over a long weekend, which promised to get you competent in a short time. By the time we arrived on Friday, it was already mid afternoon. With the short winter days, we weren’t going to get much skiing done. Nevertheless, we were kitted out with boots, skis and poles and taken out to the track.
Cross country equipment is different from that used for downhill: The skis are long and narrow and have to be able to go up-hill as well as down. The boots clip in only at the toes allowing the foot to move freely up and down and you “walk”. Experienced skiers treat the bottom of the skis with wax to provide grip to stop them sliding backwards on uphill sections. Personally, I prefer touring skis, which have grips moulded into the base – You’ll never reach the Olympic team using these but if your waxing technique is less than perfect, they’re ideal.
High speed grannies
The basic technique of cross country skiing proved surprising easy to master. In fact, it was quite like skating. Within 20 minutes I was chugging along quite well. I wasn’t going fast – practised old age pensioners shot past me, yelling encouraging comments- but I was moving forwards. By the time we lost the light, after about an hour and a half, we had all got the hang of it, more or less. If you like instant results, this is a great feeling.
Next day, we had a longer session. Everything seemed simple enough until we came to our first hillock. Here I learned that I’m not very good at waxing! I slid backwards; had another shot; slid backwards again; had a third go, and finally kicked off my skis and walked. A few people managed to waddle up the slope on their skis but most gave up.
At the top of the slope, we put our skis back on again and found that what goes up must come down. A very, very gentle slope lay in front of us. It looked harmless enough but I quickly gathered speed and realised I had absolutely no idea how to stop. I directed myself towards a snow drift at the side of the track and flopped into it graceless but completely unhurt. Other members of the group followed suit until we had all crash landed in deep, soft snow.
Ducks
However, by the end of day two, we had completed a few circuits of the track, mastered the basic techniques, fallen over a lot and not hurt ourselves at all. Over the rest of the weekend, we got the hang of going up-hill – although we still looked like outsize ducks - and got a lot of confidence about moderate downhill slopes.
The problem with snow in the UK is that it is infrequent and unpredictable. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to snatch a few weekends each year to go out and play. The great thing about cross country skiing is that you can have a lot of fun with very little practice. And because it’s not as well known as downhill skiing, you get to see pristine snowy scenery away from the crowds and bustle of the pistes.
Cross country skiing courses are available from Adveture Scotland www.adventure–scotland.com who run courses “whenever there is snow” – usually from the end of January to early April, in Aviemore or in Braemar, both in the Cairgorms. Adventure Scotland run courses over a long weekend or tailor-made courses mid week if you can get your own group together.