I interviewed White Pine Nordic Center director, Rob Lang, to put together some advice about to how to get started with cross country skiing (often abbreviated as XC skiing, and also called Nordic skiing).
This allows you to try classic skiing and skate skiing, and decide whether you want to pursue one or the other, or both - before committing to buying the appropriate gear for either discipline.
Trying classic skating first can be a nice way to get started because it is similar to walking and running, with all your motion aligned in your direction of travel. Once you try classic skiing, the introduction to skate skiing is a little easier.
For both types of cross country skiing, keep your knees bent, ankles flexed forward, and your weight centered over the balls of your feet. This helps with balance and control while skiing.
Lessons are a good way to get started. Then go out and practice on your own a handful of times to work on what you learned in the lesson. Then repeat the process by taking another lesson to learn how you can move forward from what you've been practicing.
Periodic waxing is important for your ski bases because it keeps them from drying out and becoming slow and sticky. A good rule of thumb is to re-wax approximately every 50 kilometers, or if the weather conditions change. You can learn to wax your skis yourself (it requires waxes, specific equipment, a work space, and time), or ski shops can do it for you.
Rob would also like to mention: if you're near Park City, come to the White Pine Touring Nordic Center where we have experts on hand to answer questions, rentals and lessons to get you started, and a store full of soft goods and hard goods to cover your Nordic skiing needs.
Kendall Fischer, jans.com content manager
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