Tag Archive for: XC

Roger Lohr

Make More Tracks: A Personal Note At The End Of The Season

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XC Has Grown In Participation. Hopefully, Make More Tracks Played A Role.

Dawn, Appleton Farms, Ipswich, MA. Credit: NSNA

The Make More Tracks Resource Guide and series of articles in each issues since October was conceived to provide readers of SeniorsSkiing.com with information to expand their options in the winter of the pandemic. It was intended to provide info and perspectives about mostly XC skiing.

As someone who dreamed about skiing as a little suburban boy and has skied since high school, I’ve found that mixing my snow sports is a great idea for my body and mind.  It appears on first look that XC skiing is “too much work” compared to riding the lift and pointing down to let gravity take the effort. The fact is that XC skiing can be done at any individual’s pace that is comfortable. You can avoid the uphill trails, you can ski for as long as you like, you can rent equipment at a XC ski area where the trails are groomed, tracked and maintained regularly, and you have many other options with XC skiing. The physical, psychological, and spiritual wellness association with XC skiing are simply undeniable.

Snowy day in the Lincoln Woods.

The folks who produce SeniorsSkiing.com felt that the pandemic would impact the alpine skiing experience.  Even though the vast majority of readers of SeniorsSkiing are not into XC skiing, it was assumed that perhaps this would be the year that alpine skiers would consider trying it. The statistics at the national Cross Country Ski Areas Association tell us that all the XC ski areas saw many alpine skiers trying XC skiing this year. We hope that Make More Tracks played a part for SeniorsSkiing.com readers to decide to try XC and that they had a new and meaningful experience, one that will continue for years to come.

As the SeniorsSkiing.com Cross Country Ski and Snowshoe Editor, I want to thank Mike Maginn, Jon Weisberg, and Jonathan Wiesel for their wisdom and roles in producing the Make More Tracks Resource Guide and article series for the readers of SeniorsSkiing.com.

So, next winter on a sunny day in the high teens or low twenties, consider dressing lightly, visiting a XC ski area and go experience natural outdoors on XC skis. You’ll be glad that you did!

 

Editor Note: Visit Roger’s XCSkiResorts.com to learn where you can stay and XC ski in delightful inns and lodges across the US.

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Question For You 8: The XC Option

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What About Cross-Country?

Let’s imagine that the recovery from the Corona virus doesn’t go as we all hope it will.  And that by the time snow flies again in the mountains, the second wave has landed.  Ski resorts are either closed or postponing opening dates until later in the winter. Or ski resorts are limiting access through a lottery or other ways of restricting access. In other words, no or limited opportunities for Alpine skiing.

And backcountry may be discouraged for senior skiers because of the potential for deploying essential search and rescue personnel when they are needed elsewhere.

Got it?  So here’s the question:

Please write your response in the Reply Box below.

Given your attraction to snow sports and physical activity, if Alpine skiing is cancelled, delayed, or restricted, will you find opportunities to go cross-country skiing in parks, golf courses, open farm fields, even XC resorts?

seniorsskiing

This Week In SeniorsSkiing.com (Dec. 13)

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Nordic Volunteers, Poutine For Calories, Exoskeleton Helps Legs, More Incidents & Accidents, Southern Skiing, Mystery Team, Weather Report.

Early morning finds a groomed trail ready to go. Credit: MDM

This co-publisher of SeniorsSkiing.com loves to cross-country ski. Since we live directly across the street from a 900-acre tract of conservation land, owned and managed by the Trustees of Reservations, we head over the stone wall whenever there is decent coverage.

In former days, we bushwhacked our own trail through the woods until we connected with the network of tracks made by the early birds. (There are always earlier early bird tracks.) And we followed the early bird trail loops until we decided to bushwhack again back to home base.  Fun, but kind of tough for a seventy-five year old, especially at the beginning of the season and deep-ish snow.

NSNA Crew grooms all night for a wonderful trail in the morning. Credit: NSNA

Enter the North Shore Nordic Association. This is an all-volunteer, non-profit, community-based group which forms alliances with large landowners, most of whom are also non-profit organizations or municipalities, to maintain and groom existing hiking and biking trails for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snow skating. For the past four years, NSNA has bought and maintained a collection of equipment through donations from local people and businesses.  Every time it snows, the groomers are out there, usually right after the snow stops falling, often in the middle of the night or early morning.

Your retro-attired co-publisher at the Farms. Credit: AAM

The grooming machines create two ski tracks, one a broad corduroy for skating and two pairs of grooved classic tracks on each side. There are many benefits to having these ready and waiting for a senior skier. It is obviously easier to ski, for both beginners and, well, everyone. The packed snow also lasts longer. The machines also loosen up hard pack to extend whatever snow is down.

The NSNA uses social media to alert folks about conditions every day. The group also maintains trail maps on a Smartphone app.  When we encountered a grooming crew on the trail one morning, the young man took our picture and immediately posted it on the group’s Facebook page.

All this is free for the skier. Enthusiasts and occasional visitors can donate to the NSNA to keep the machines turning. The group is well-run, organized, and community-focused. In the long term, they hope to create a racing league, offer lessons, and run a rental program.

The Point: If you don’t live near a cross-country ski area or resort where trails are groomed and maintained and rental equipment is available, consider forming a group like NSNA. All it takes are people who love to cross-country ski or snowshoe, some willing land organizations or town governments, and some energy to get all this organized.

Trail Masters Update

We have mailed out over 150 Trail Master patches to readers who responded to our Spring Survey as having skied more days than their age.  Most were sent to US and Canadian readers, but there were also numerous addresses in Sweden, Finland, England, and Australia.  Please note because some addresses were not completely filled out in our survey form, we were not able to send patches to all qualified readers.

This Week

Poutine, a Frency Canadian comfort food dish. Credit:Yvette Cardoao

SeniorsSkiing.com Northwest correspondent Yvette Cardozo  reports on a Canadian cuisine specialty at Silver Star Resort in BC. Ever have Poutaine? It’s a hearty meal designed to replace calories lost to a heavy day of skiing.  There’s more.  Ever had a Caesar? Not a salad.  Find out here.

We have a contributor review of the skiing assist aid Againer Exoskeleton.  This device can actually extend your skiing career by supporting your legs and back. Consider our reviewer’s experience here.

What’s the highest mountain on the East coast of the US? If you said Mt. Washington, you’d be wrong.  Mt. Washington tops off at 6,288 feet, but Mt. Mitchell reaches up 6,684. Where is Mt. Mitchell? North Carolina. Surprise.  Co-publisher Jon Weisberg reveals more secrets about Southern geography and skiing in his book review of Southern Snow: The New Guide To Winter Sports From Maryland To The Southern Appalachians. Read more here.

Correspondent Jan Brunvand reports an Incident & Accident that he actually filmed taking place.  His on-scene photos and report are astonishing.  As readers know, we are collecting a portfolio of collisions to see if there are comment threads.  With that information, we hope to influence ski industry practices and policies on managing unruly and dangerous skiers.

Correspondent Jan Brunvand captured an incident in action.

Last week’s Mystery Glimpse photo was Rip McManus in action. We provide a capsule profile of Rip and his impactful but all too short career in the skiing world.  This week’s Mystery presents a jumping team from long ago from Alan Engen’s collection of historic ski photos.

Finally,  Herb Stevens, the Skiing Weatherman, gives us a round up of regional forecasts as well as a tutorial on what a “trough” is. Here’s his story.

Thanks for reading SeniorsSkiing.com.  Tell your friends and remember, there are more of us every day and we aren’t going away.

Feb 1941. Ski Jumper. Can you name them? Credit: Alan Engen Collection