Boy, do I wish I could get back on the skinny skis! As Obienick said, classic technique is a total body workout. Skating is an even better cardio workout.
X-C, especially classic technique, makes you feel like a metronome when you get in a groove. Keep your arms STRAIGHT all the way from pole plant to when you push off at the end of the stroke.You hold your hand HIGH at the beginning of the stroke and have your hand down by your KNEE when you push off at the end of the stroke. You get a stronger push and you avoid involving your chest muscles so you don’t get as tired. This applies to waxless skis too.
The legs: I’m sure you’ve seen the “forward lean” classical position. It’s actually an optical illusion. The only time you straighten your leg is at the end of your kick, when you’re pushing off with that ski to propel yourself forward. When you do that kick, you transfer your weight to your OTHER ski, which is DIRECTLY BELOW YOUR BODY and with your KNEE BENT to keep your center of gravity low and stable. You actually want to keep your head as still as possible as you load up on the weighted, knee-bent ski and prepare to thrust yourself forward with it. So you concentrate on keeping your knee bent on your weighted evenly balanced on the ski underneath you, and when you give it a good kick you straighten your leg at the end of the stride. So your weight should always be centered over a bent knee. See? Forward lean is an illusion.
Another little trick equally applicable to wax or waxless: If you’re worried about grip going uphill, give the snow a firm slap with your ski at the beginning of your stride. It helps the waxless scales or the wax grab the snow. But don’t do it too hard. If you do, the ski vibrates and you actually produce LESS grip, not more. The only thing real hard slaps are good for is to scare other skiers to get out of your way!
I have a venerable pair of Asnes 210 cm all-wood beauties. Pine tar base. WAX! I don’t understand why people are afraid of wax. Just read the label. Then if you want more kick, go to a softer/higher-temp wax. If you want more glide, go to a harder, lower-temp wax. It’s also common (at least it was in the Jurassic) to put on a harder wax and then put 18″ - 24″ of softer “kicker” wax under the foot. Gives you more grab going uphill but you still get the glide going downhill. The only downside is that when you come down a hill and are slowing to a stop, the Kicker wax can grab and you end up doing a face plant. Have to be on your toes for that!
If you are in doubt about which wax to use, start with the harder/lower temp wax. You can put softer wax over harder wax, but you CAN’T put harder wax over softer wax. You have to scrape off the softer wax first.
Part of the reason people dislike wax skis is that the wax wears off plastic-base skis so quickly. You can go all day on one coat of wax on pine tar! Well, maybe re-wax at lunch, especially if the temp has changed.
Without checking, I bet you could find excellent all-wood skis on ebay or sites like that. The graybeards you meet skiing will be envious. But put new bindings on ’em.
It is so cool to be out on the deck on a crisp fall day, propane torch in hand, a small can of pine tar on the table next to the skis, your wife trying to be inconspicuous as she watches through the window. Ah, the smell of pine tar. You use the torch to heat it up, then wipe the excess off with a COTTON rag. Don’t go nuts with the torch or you’ll singe your ski. And don’t let the pine tar run down the sides of the ski. It’s sticky after all. (OK, it’s not as sticky as klister, but we can’t have a discussion of klister here because we try to keep it G-rated. It’s impossible to put enough emphasis on how sticky klister is without swearing. Short summary: If x-c conditions are so wet or icy that you need klister, go downhill skiing. Survivors of klister will laud your good judgment. We also have support groups….)
The pleasures of x-c skiing are quite different from alpine. Zooming down an uncrowded downhill trail is a Zen-like experience. You are there, focused on that moment, playing with gravity, the g-force when you make a turn, varying snow conditions and terrain. The views are wonderful, and there is the camarderie of stopping and comparing notes with your friends. Cross-country is about appreciating your winter surroundings. You see wildlife, guaranteed red squirrels and bubbly, songful chickadees. Tracks of rabbit, deer, perhaps moose. Who knows what you’ll see. Mice? A fox? Owls are unusual excect at dawn or dusk, but you might find the remains of a meal one had with a rodent. There is the endless beauty of the woods in winter. Nature never makes a straight line. I once found a place after an 8″ snowfall where a partridge had buried itself in the snow to spend the night, and before I came along, it burrowed to the surface and flew away, leaving two perfect wing prints on the fresh snow. You’d NEVER see that downhill skiing. Right now it’s the dead of winter. But starting next month there will be subtle signs that spring is coming. Buds swelling on the birches an poplars. Brooks just starting to loosen up at the edges. And people you meet x-c skiing are friendly. They want to share their stories, where they’re from, where they’ve skied that day, where they’re planning to go, asking how far it is to get there since you just came from that way. You thank each other for breaking/smoothing out the trail. Compare that to chairlift rides with strangers. X-C is a warmer experience in more ways than one.
Sorry to be long-winded. I haven’t posted here for awhile, but I’ve been lurking. I’m signed up for Maine Adaptive Sports this Friday. I’ll be the middle guy of the 3-man synchronized-skiers group on the bunny slope. The Maine Adaptive volunteers are amazing. They do everything except wipe my nose. Everybody! Get out there and appreciate winter for me!
