Cross-country skiing is the ultimate middle ground.
You aren’t trudging along in snowshoes. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
But you also aren’t whizzing down a busy ski slope. Swish, swish, swish.
Instead, you get in a groove and glide, glide, glide.
Sure, your feet are strapped to extra-long skis and your hands are grasping ultra-long poles. But somewhere in the awkwardness of it all, you can discover a state of wintry grace.
Kelly Keith says she and her husband, Doug Lingenbrink, a “recovering couch potato” (his words), traded downhill skiing for cross-country many years ago.
Now, as members of the Everett branch of the Mountaineers, they teach the activity that has proved more relaxing and more focused on wilderness areas.
“Nobody’s screaming, ‘On your left!’ and it’s not a big fashion show,” Keith said. “It’s just a different atmosphere. It’s also how it feels.”
Peaceful. Unhurried. Not busy.
There are no cranking lifts to catch or dismount. It’s usually cheaper too.
“It’s just so fantastic when you get that glide,” Keith said, sliding rhythmically along the freshly groomed tracks at Lake Wenatchee State Park. “Once you get going in that stride, there’s a meditative component to it.”
It’s also been a great snow year already in the Cascades, better than most areas in the country, with more than a 100-inch base at Stevens Pass.
Even with good snow, of course, there can be difficulties.
Cross-country skiing terrain isn’t all straight and flat.
There can be humps and hills and curves, sometimes a combination of all three, which can be a challenge for beginners who don’t have any downhill skiing experience or a knack for the “snowplow” technique used to slow down.
Even those who have some downhill skills might need time to get used to the longer skis and narrow runs, sometimes closely edged with trees and snow banks.
Part of the difference is the gear.
Instead of being tightly strapped to your skis with heavy boots and bindings, as in downhill skiing, you’ll find your foot is free to move up and down with only the tip of your boot clipped in place.
It’s a great, free feeling, but it can be an adjustment.
“It really takes a lot of finesse,” Keith said. “It takes more strength and control to do it.”
As with all snow activities, conditions can make or break a cross-country trip, said Carrie Strandell, another ski instructor with the local Mountaineers.
She calls it “the fluff factor.” If conditions are crusty and icy, it can be less than idyllic. But if a light dusting of powdery, dry snow has recently arrived, it’s much better.
“Go over there and fluff around,” she said before the start of the Lake Wenatchee trip. “It’s gonna be good.”
Keith recommends beginners start with groomed trails, which typically include two trough-like tracks sized and spaced perfectly for a set of cross-country skis.
They’ll keep you on track and help you maintain your balance, like training wheels, Keith said.
Sometimes tracks are wide enough for two, which makes it easy to chat as you travel.
“See?” Keith said. “Here we are, skiing side by side and talking.”
Though cross-country skiing is a good workout – watch out, inner thighs and triceps – it has a fairly low impact on joints if you take it easy and don’t fall down too much.
“Did you see that couple back there?” Keith said, pointing out a duo, perhaps in their early 80s. “That’s another reason I do this. This is something I’m going to be able to do for a long time.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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