Tag Archive for: Jonathan Weisel

Jonathan Wiesel

Nordic Skiing Terminology

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XC, Nordic, Touring, Cross-Country. What’s What?

Touring is Nordic is XC. Credit: Dynafit

If you’re new to the sport, you’re going to find people using terms that may be a little confusing at first. Here’s an explanation of most of the jargon you’re likely to meet.

  • Nordic skiing is the catch-all term that includes classic technique, skating, ski touring, telemarking, even jumping and biathlon… In all these cases, your boot’s toe is fixed to the binding and your heel is free to lift up, as opposed to the fixed heel in downhill (or alpine) skiing. Nordic skiing is about a jillion years old; downhill is a relative newcomer.
  • Grooming lets you glide on top of a solid, consistent base that’s been prepared by snowcats or snowmobiles pulling special attachments. Groomed trails are used by both classic skiers and skaters.
  • Cross-country refers to skiing on machine-groomed surfaces – track for classic skiers and compacted snow for skaters
  • Classic technique (also called diagonal stride). You’re moving straight ahead instead of skating.
  • Skating is a relatively new technique (was introduced to racing in the early 1980s) involving an ice-skating like motion of arms and legs, thrusting out to the side. It’s dynamic and relatively exhausting.
  • Ski touring means skiing on ungroomed snow, whether it’s playing in your backyard or day-long treks in the mountains.
  • Track skiing (for classic skiers) means skiing in precise machine-compressed grooves, with snow compacted on both sides of the track for planting your poles.
  • Telemarking is an elegant and practical descent and turning technique.
  • Ski joring means being pulled, usually by a dog, though I’ve also been pulled by a horse, reindeer, and VW bug.
  • Biathlon refers to skiing and target shooting, usually with a rifle.
  • Kilometers are how cross-country ski trail lengths are measured. A km is a little over 1/6th of a mile. Skiers get more of a kick out of saying, “Hey, I skied 10 km today!” than “Well, I skied about 6 miles.”
  • Nordic Combined naturally enough refers to the blending of ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

 

Jonathan Wiesel

Track Vs Tour

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Groomed Vs Bushwhack? Both Have Positives.

Classic diagonal style goes down easy on groomed trails, also essential for breaking trail. Credit: WebCyclery.com

For the past 50 years or so, there’s been a generally amicable debate whether cross-country skiing on machine-groomed trails is preferable to making your own way o’er the fields and through the woods. The argument has a lot of angles, including “Free vs. Fee” and “Pristine, Silent, and Serene vs. Speedy, Social, Service-based, and Secure”.

Clearly, you don’t have to choose one over the other – they’re both delights (and the world’s best exercise), in somewhat different ways. The thing is, as my increasingly complaining bones and joints frequently announce, groomed trails for classic and skate techniques have more and more going for them.

One huge differentiator is that if you want to take up the sport, you’ll be smart to start with one or two lessons from a professional instructor at a cross-country ski area, learning and practicing efficient movement. Undesirable options are learning by yourself off-track (I know someone who tried to do that while consulting a printed manual – results were not pretty, and the manual got soaked) or getting often-incoherent suggestions from a friend while floundering in unpacked snow (‘nuff said).

Whether you’re a long-time practitioner or a newcomer, groomed trails make things easier, faster. For classic style/diagonal stride, you’re riding on a consistent, packed surface, with your skis guided forward in compressed, parallel tracks. (It takes some effort to get lost that way too; whereas I’ve been known to ski in circles in fresh snow, totally convinced I was moving in linear fashion.) Gotta love it, especially if you have balance or vision issues, as I do.

Almost as important but often not noted, your pole tips are digging into packed snow and no further; while breaking your own trail, the entire basket may sink, throwing off your balance and helping you to get up close and personal to the snowpack. And as many of us have discovered, getting up in deep snow is challenging (though your instructor can show you best techniques there too).

Skate skiing has its own techniques and gear. Credit: HuffPost Canada

Skate skiers (for downhill skiers, skating can be easier to absorb than classic style) need a packed surface even more than diagonal striders. Two or three inches of fresh snow even on a machine-packed trail are enough to catch an edge and tip you over. It’s nearly impossible to skate in ungroomed snow except for glorious spring crust-cruising (not the same as skiing on ice – you can set your edges), which gives you a solid, consistent surface – crust lets you go almost anywhere, speedily zipping along. Euphoria!

One of the delights of cross-country is that you can evolve from a groomed trail skier to an off-track tourer (fields, forests, hill country, parks, golf courses…). You’ve developed good classic technique in the tracks; you know how to make your legs do the work and your arms help out – now you can apply those skills in a quieter setting, with shorter strides but still good balance.

Cross-country areas have services – anything from plowed parking to lodges with food and drink, heated bathrooms (also heaven on a brisk day!), rental, retail, even overnight accommodations. Groomed trails may have signs, maps, possibly ski patrol, probably snowshoeing – and if you’re wild for something different, increasingly there’s fat biking available.

If you’re taken by the charms of overnight tours, there may be Forest Service cabins in your area (bring your own food, clothing, sleeping bag…). And finally, for true adventure, there’s snow camping (bring your own stove too). Touring with a pack in fresh snow can be truly character-building (been there, done that, I happily leave it to today’s kids – but there was a time before groomed trails…).

Jonathan Wiesel

Out-think Your Feet With XC Lessons

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It’s Not Like Walking. But Not Complicated To Learn.

Lessons make a difference. Credit: White Pine Touring

In the early 1970s, in a visionary but totally wrong-headed move, the fledgling Nordic ski industry declared that, “If you can walk, you can cross-country ski.”

Retrospectively, it would have been a lot more helpful and realistic to say, “If you can walk, you can learn to cross-country ski. And it takes only a single lesson from a professional to learn how to glide.”

Those were times when an alpine resort manager pigeonholed skinny skiers as, “Guys who head into the woods Friday night, and come out Sunday without having changed either their underwear or their $5 bill.” We were on the defensive – and dang, it’s tough to fight clever stereotypes!

Those were also the days that New Englander John Frado, who designed a lot of the best trails in North America, coined the hilarious phrase that’s the title of this article. And boy, was he right, because you’re going to become a better skier, use less energy, go further faster, and have more fun sooner if you start the sport with instruction. (And by that I mean ideally not just one lesson, but one, followed by practice, then another. And so on. Believe me, this approach works!)

Cross-country can be filled with grace – not just the dynamism, incredible self-discipline, and athleticism you see at the Olympics, but true beauty. Or it can be an awkward downer.

So here are half-a-dozen tips to make skiing euphoric, quickly.

First, please do something the Nordic business has never been able to, and come up with more endearing descriptions than “lesson,” “instruction,” “teaching,” and “ski school.” Who wants to go back to studies when you’re out to have winter fun?

Next, don’t even think of learning from a loved one – instead, learn from a ski professional. There’s always an uncomfortable level of stress and self-consciousness if your instructor is also a relative, or your sweetie. Too distracting; and incidentally, your kids or grandkids are likely to absorb everything depressingly faster than us oldies. But once you can glide, that’s the moment you discover that cross-country becomes incredibly social, skiing side by side with friends and family.

Third, learn to ski at a cross-country area or club with machine-groomed trails, where the compressed tracks will guide your skis. (More on this in a future article—promise!) Two outstanding resources on places to go are https://www.xcski.org and https://www.xcskiresorts.com/, which introduce you to marvelous places in both the U.S. and Canada.

Fourth, your ski pro needs to explain, early-on, how and why to hold your poles properly (my very own cliché: reach for the sky up along the shaft, then shake hands through the grip). Grabbing the poles tightly and ignoring the straps means you’ll be upright, stiff, walking rather than gliding, and a lot more fall-prone. Oh yeah, and wear gloves to avoid cold and abrasion.

Fifth, if you’re renting equipment, check to see if your instructor uses the same skis you do. It kinda levels the playing field.

And finally, think about a second lesson – or a private lesson – that concentrates on the whole range of descent techniques on these narrow skis that don’t have metal edges or heels held down, while you’re using footwear akin to sneakers. Wedge turns, step and skate turns, parallels, telemarking, traversing with kick turns, side stepping… – they’ll all get you down that hill.

And as I found even in my prideful youth, sometimes you just have to take your skis off and walk down. It’s all legit!

As we said, fun lessons. Credit: Mazamas

Jonathan Wiesel

Snowshoes: From Wood To Metal To…Foam?

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There’s Always A Better Way. Foam Is Light, Strong, And Long-Lasting.

Crescent Moon Eva snowshoe.

As a long-time, single-minded Nordic fanatic, snowshoeing used to seem pretty tame – kind of a melding of on-snow recreation and utility, with not much maneuverability and no glide.

Aging knees and mature perspective (or an approximation!) have changed this some, along with vast improvements in snowshoe materials and design, from wood-and-animal hides to aluminum-and-synthetics. Newer products aren’t as pretty as the natural materials, but they’re tougher, lighter, longer-lasting, have easily adjustable bindings, and come with metal crampons that can grip in crust and up (as well as down) hills. Also, rodents don’t chow down on them in summertime.

It’s always interesting to see how technology evolves. In the Nordic world, we’ve seen the introduction of groomed trails, synthetics in skis, skate skis, manmade clothing, waxless bases, boot/binding systems… All that’s led to more fun, faster skiing, better support, easier turns, warmer toes and tushies – virtually a different world.

And in snowshoeing, we may be seeing an equivalent revolution with the introduction of foam snowshoes: the Evas. (Thus far, the only foam manufacturer seems to be Crescent Moon Snowshoes in Colorado: www.crescentmoonsnowshoes.com.)     

Got to be kidding, right? Foam? It’s gonna fall apart in the cold, crumble into small pieces under your weight.

Nope.

I’m a 195 pound guy who’s waded around wearing Evas in a foot of fresh Montana powder as well as heavier crud; managed a 180 degree jump (no good reason, I was just curiousJ); even backed up for a couple of yards without damaging self, ego, or equipment.

Among the things I like about these ‘shoes is the weight (3.5 pounds per pair); ease of movement (you can walk, you can run… and they feel like an elongated extension of your foot, due partly to a “rocker” design, plus they’re only 24 inches long); self-explanatory bindings; flotation (the entire base is in snow contact); good insulation from the snow below; and a lot more. Even sidestepping is easy; and the price is right at $159.

I’m also delighted by the Crescent Moon sense of humor, which describes the Evas as looking like “the love child of a running shoe and a burly snow tire.”

The Evas became available in 2018, so there’s been a chance to test their longevity – has to depend on amount of use and abuse, I suppose; but figure for most of us, several years. The one weakness I found initially was that the multiple plastic cleats and lugs didn’t grab as well as metal on crust, especially on sidehill. (On the other hand, I’ve slid sideways downhill on the old wood ‘shoes, and slipped on crust with modern metal/synthetic snowshoes too.) Happily, the company now gives you the option of inserting metal cleats, which takes just a couple of minutes.

I haven’t used the Evas in more than about 14 inches of fresh snow, but Crescent Moon suggests using them on trails rather than in deep snow. My guess is that it’s not good for the foam ‘shoes to step around on abrasive surfaces like sidewalks or road crossings (yep, done that with my aluminum snowshoes – not smart then either).

And if you have any questions or concerns, call owner Tanner Dunn at 303-494-550 and ask about… yes, plans for biodegradable snowshoes! I’ve suggested to Crescent Moon making them edible as well, so if you’re stuck in the woods you’d at least have a ready food source; but so far that hasn’t been incorporated into design. But ya never know!

Lightness and improbable strength are features of the Eva.

Jonathan Wiesel

Keeping Your Ski (And Other) Pants On

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OK, That Sounds Salacious But It’s Not.

Who knew a belt could be so important? Credit: Jeltbelt.com

I kind of collect belts, from the 50-year-old hand-stitched inches-wide leather style with ornate Mexican silver buckle; to a contemporary pseudo-leather critter with multiple off-set holes; to a futuristic version (my favorite!) that grips, flatters, goes through airport security without setting off alarms, comes in colors – and keeps my pants up in all circumstances thus-far encountered. Now, that’s versatile!

Back in July, 2017, after moving to Montana (still gotta get the dog, battered pickup, and rifle rack to feel like a native), I started exercising and leafing through local magazines, simultaneously. The exercise dropped my shorts a size; the editorial introduced me to the Jelt Belt (https://jeltbelt.com/), an ingenious product that’s fun, socially and environmentally responsible, yet totally practical – so many positive qualities that it gives renewed faith in the entrepreneurial mindset. And it fits my new almost-size-34s as well as the previous 36s.

I’ve always liked leather belts. They’re handsome, can slide reasonably easily through loops, even smell rich when they’re new – and you can commission designer buckles. But it can be tough to punch extra holes as time goes by and waistlines expand or contract; and if you don’t have belt loops, they’re slick enough to slide up and down, with consequent droopy pants.

With fabric belts, you can often pierce the material with the buckle prong, but again they’re often on the thick and wide side. Like leather, they generally have metal buckles, so you may need to remove the belt (and put it on again) while going through airport security – not fun if you’re literally running to make a flight.

Enter the all-synthetic Jelt Belt: tough, adjustable, stretchy, with a grippy inner-surface gel. Endearing from an environmental perspective, they’re made of yarn from recycled plastic water bottles; while part of sales goes to organizations supporting veterans wounded in combat, environmental causes, and kids. New belt lines are being manufactured in Montana rather than China.

Jelt Belts are slender rather than thick or wide (4 sizes plus an adjustable version), but they hold very snugly. You can order for adult jean sizes 22-40. They come in different colors (I’m partial to the River Turquoise and Denim Navy Blue; kids get fun shades too).

Maybe more importantly than aesthetics, buckles in four sizes are quick-release. I’ve even learned to release and re-buckle one-handed (let your imagination run wild, but so far they’ve been very mundane uses). Buckles are low profile – flat, actually – so there’s no bulge under your shirt or sweater. Skiing, golf, running, walking, climbing, socializing, they seem right for every occasion.

Okay, you want to know about the name. The belt was founded by Jennifer Perry, thus it’s Jen’s Belt, which evolved into “Jelt Belt.”

Why a belt for skiing? Whether you take a fall or are skiing in a storm, the Jelt keeps snow out of your pants. (I once entirely lost my pants sliding downhill after a fall, face first, on my belly – wouldn’t have happened with a Jelt Belt.)

I plan to become a collector of the Jelt Belt subset of belts, perhaps display them in chronological order of acquisition. And the price? Figure from $32 for adult belts, less for kids’.

Jonathan Wiesel

Changing XC Skiing Stereotypes

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“Aren’t Groomed Trails Free?”

Grooming is more complicated and expensive than most people think.

There are at least three unfortunate stereotypes that are really important to the cross country ski world:

“If you can walk, you can cross country ski”

“Oh, it looks like so much work!”

“It’s free, right?” Meaning: Well, I heard it was free, so I expect it to be free.

Okay, a lot of cross country skiers and not-yet-skiers take all three for gospel, but here is an xc ski area operator’s view of these stereotypical views:

First, if you can walk, you can ski. But “it takes time – and at least one lesson – to really improve, glide, and enjoy skiing more.”

Second, it’s a lot of work. “Well, it’s a lot of work if you ski a marathon, but what most people do is ski at their own pace for a couple of hours and still have tremendous fun and get some exercise and fitness while they’re doing it.” New cross country ski equipment performs better (glide easier, get better grip on uphills, and have better overall control) and allow skiers to be more efficient and save their energy.

Third, it’s free right? A response to the trail fee question is that there’s no free lunch. This answer is more complex than the others because there are a lot of groomed trails maintained by clubs, communities, states, provinces, federal agencies, etc. where there’s no formal fee. Also, skiers have the option of breaking their own trails.

Appreciating Trail Grooming

Grooming is something that’s not only misunderstood by the public but also sometimes goes unrecognized. Lo! Pristine tracks and corduroy appear in the morning because grooming occurs mostly at night. What you didn’t see happen, you may not appreciate.

First, grooming has huge value, makes skiing—and especially learning— easier than breaking your own path. Grooming is expensive, and running an over-snow vehicle is just the most visible part of the cost. Even “no-fee” groomed trails aren’t free. They cost someone time and money.

Groomed trails typically aren’t just old logging roads through the woods and usually don’t just follow golf course cart paths. Area operators can tell you that it can be expensive to develop the best routes, create trails, and keep them in great shape for the public to enjoy. Selecting the best paths at golf courses without damaging grass isn’t simple either. More than 230 golf courses in North America now have machine-groomed trails.

The cost of trail grooming includes machinery (purchase, maintenance, fuel, storage, payroll, depreciation, replacement), land use fees (purchase, lease, taxes), signage and marking, insurance, parking lot construction and snow clearance, perhaps warming huts or yurts, ski patrol, lighting, snowmaking , etc. Ah yes, and there’s the cost of creating some trails.

Methow Trails Example

According MethowValleyNews.com, grooming at Washington’s Methow Trails—cited as the largest XC ski area in North America—is estimated to cost $6,400 for an average night of work. Think about clearing trails, trimming trees to make a wider canopy to allow snow to land, minimize debris on the trails, and to help skiers to avoid branches, angling the surface to complement the sunshine or avoid the wind and so on. Maintaining trails covered in wet snow is very different from dry snow. Icy conditions present a completely different challenge of grinding the surface and setting tracks.

It takes about a gallon of diesel fuel to groom one mile of trail according to Methow Trails. The snowcat blade allows a skilled operator to harvest snow moving it around so it covers the trail where needed. The operators could also use a bucket on the snowcat to collect snow and deposit it to uncovered spots.

Trail groomers can be responsible for maximizing every inch of snow, provide more consistent conditions and deliver more skiable days. As you can see, it’s not a simple task. But it’s one that is often unrecognized and under appreciated.

So hats off to the trail groomer and their cross country ski trails.It’s certainly worth the cost of the trail pass!

Beautifully groomed trails make the xc experience accessible and easy for all, especially beginners.