The gap in knowledge, skills, and experience separating pros from beginners is a mighty big one, but this gap can be significantly reduced if you take the time to learn the five cross country skiing techniques below.
Reminders
Cross country skiing is a demanding sport. Make sure that you’re in excellent condition before trying it out.
Don't attempt to learn any of the techniques below without the supervision of an adult – if you’re a minor – or a professional if you’re still relatively new to cross country skiing.
Make sure that you’re practicing in terrains or areas that are clearly marked for beginners.
Five Ways To Go Uphill
One of the most interesting aspects of cross country skiing is how it enables you to go uphill on your skis. There are five ways for you to do so.
Straight Climbing – You can only succeed in straight climbing a hill or slope if you have firm control of your skis and the ground. The basic position for this is with keeping your head up and your eyes straight ahead, back straight, and your knees bent. As you start to go up, use only one leg to move forward and remove the snow in front you. When your leg goes back down, it will have a more secure place to move.
Keep a firm grip on your poles, and never forget that they’re there to help you push yourself up rather than pulling your weight up. Simply put, it’s you who should carry your weight and not the poles!
Traversing – This uphill skiing technique is slightly more difficult to master than straight climbing. It’s best used slopes with long and steep heights. The edges of your skis play a very important role when traversing uphill. In straight climbing, the whole ski is used to help you secure your footing as you ski uphill. In traversing, you use the edges of your skis to help you navigate on areas that wouldn’t be normally conducive to skiing.
You’ll understand how traversing works better when you’re on the snow and you’ll do things step by step.
Sidestepping – This uphill skiing technique on the other hand is best suited for slopes with steep but wide properties. Your starting position for sidestepping will be to place your feet widely apart, making them form an open V. Keep your poles just slightly ahead of your toes.
To start moving, plant your uphill pole about eighteen inches ahead of you. Make sure that you have a secure grip on both of your poles. When your uphill pole is firmly planted on the ground, let your uphill leg and ski follow suit. When all of the weight has been transferred to your uphill leg, that’s the only time you should move your other leg then lastly your other arm and pole.
The important thing to remember when sidestepping uphill is the order of movement: uphill pole, uphill leg, downhill leg, then downhill pole, and the cycle goes over and over again. Make sure that your arms or legs don't move simultaneously because you’ll easily lose your balance. It has to be moved one by one!
Herringbone – This uphill skiing technique resembles a herringbone, hence its name. Allow the edges of your skis to face to the side for your starting position. Continue to hold this position as you move while keeping in mind to turn your ankle in so your ski will have a firmer grip of ground underneath. If the slope turns steeper or sharper, adjust your feet by placing them wider apart. Remember however to avoid bending at all costs because this will make you lose your balance.
Kick and Turn – This technique is quite similar to traversing with a few notable exceptions. Firstly, your skis should adopt a perpendicular positioning to prevent you from slipping backwards. Secondly, similar to sidestepping, you’ll be using the edges of your skis to help you climb up the slopes.
Although all of these techniques seem pretty hard to follow, you’ll just have to practice them regularly and you’ll surely get the hang of it sooner than you think. The techniques discussed above are just some of the few that could help you look ten times better than you really are. Just keep practicing, and you’ll continue to look more impressive on your feet.
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