Mixing it Up on Cross-Country Skis

Early spring can be a good time to break out the cross-country skis. There's a "been there, done that" feeling to the hills that I call my "mountain home." And driving to the gym for a workout loses some of its appeal when the sun is out and the temperature has warmed up a bit.

So over the last few weeks I've taken old the old skinny skis. They're so old that nobody makes those kind of bindings anymore. But I do like the fact that they're easy to get into and out of--easier than some of the new bindings that I tried one day last season. The cross-country boots aren't necessarily more comfortable than snowboard boots, but they're even easier to don, since they are glorified shoes, though with not as much padding in the soles.

But those skis. Oh my. They're fine for straight glides on flat terrain, though they're probably quite slow. Still, sliding down a slight hill can give me a sense of not-being-in-control. Unlike a snowboard, skis allow (and sometimes seem to force) you into doing a version of the splits. Time to get back to the gym and hit that adductor machine! I could feel that I had been working my inner thighs with some of those desperation snowplow moves.

A second adjustment of stepping off the snowboard is that the skis are so much longer. Downhill skiers have adopted the parabolic shape of the snowboard, but cross-country skis--or at least the relics I am using--are straight, and long.

I never learned how to make turns on straight skis, so the length of the skis leaves me in an awkward state. Granted, the "turns" I am making on the cross-country skis are barely noticeable on downhill skis. But then again, these aren't downhill skis. There are no edges!

So taking out the cross-country skis almost--though not quite--brings back the delight and frustration of being a newbie, and the question of what the experience of downhill skis would be like after being exclusively on a snowboard for four seasons.

More on that later ....