I tried a new thing!
I have been Cross Country skiing a handful of times, and each time I have really enjoyed it. Each time it feels harder than it should. I have always enjoyed alpine skiing, and coming from that I always think that XC skiing would be easier. Silly me! But it is something I have always wanted to get into. For starters, I love hiking though snowy woods; the textures, sounds and feel of it all are just so very unique. Adding skis to the adventure seems like the ideal mix. I have tried several times to get into actual backcountry skiing, but that’s a whole other ball of wax… there’s a lot more gear there, more training (which I quite enjoy), any many more hazards to keep track of. Not that all that is bad, I just haven’t committed the time and resources there yet.
So skinny skis… I am enjoying that they are lighter, you don’t go into as steep terrain and don’t end up carrying as much gear. But be safe! Always be aware of your terrain and hazards! I also very much enjoy the idea that it’s closer to a more traditional form of skiing. I haven’t purchased any yet, but I am very close to pulling that trigger. For this adventure, I just rented skis and boots from the nice and knowledgeable folks at Salida Mountain Sports and had fun for an afternoon.
Again, I feel generally like I can ski reasonably well (I can get down the mountain in a way that I can enjoy), but coming back down the forest service road on these skinny skis was something else all together. Felt like I had never skied before! But soon I wised up that I could just zig zag my way down through the fresh snow and trees and had a much smoother time of it.
At the end of the day I was feeling muscles in my legs that I had forgotten I even had. And I had a blister on my heel from the rental boots… So I’m looking forward to having my own gear and to getting out and going farther. Another way and another place to get my camera into the backcountry.
