Sunlight glistened on the crisp, white snow
and fluffy clouds raced across the blue sky. What a superb final day for my
three-day cross-country skiing trip, I thought, as I looked out of the hotel
window that morning. But Mother Nature had other plans. As we – myself and two
Italian women – set off on a guided 16km safari a little later, the tracks were
icy and a strong wind had blown up to test our skills. The howling noise
drowned out our Hungarian guide Robert’s instructions, making me feel like
Captain Scott trudging to the South Pole.
The
howling noise drowned out our Hungarian guide Robert’s instructions, making me
feel like Captain Scott trudging to the South Pole.
After several kilometres, we arrived at a
crossroads on the loipe (track) and skied into the trees, where we escaped the
worst of the icy blast. With the wind now behind me, I soon began to zoom along
and caught myself smiling at the quiet beauty of the scenery.
Trails on your doorstep
I was in Norway, staying at the Venabu
Fjellhotell on the edge of the Rondane National Park, about 80km north of
Lillehammer (home to the 1994 Winter Olympics). The traditional, family-run
hotel welcomes guests from all over Europe, enticed by its top-notch guides and
140km of loipe, set in a dramatic mix of flat and hilly terrain, that starts
right outside the door. There’s more than enough variety to keep skiers from
beginner to expert busy for a week and, as the trails crisscross each other,
your safari can be short (7km) or long (35km), depending on the weather. Over
the years, I’ve done a fair bit of crosscountry skiing. I love that it’s such a
good cardiovascular workout that uses your whole body, and it’s great for your
back and stomach muscles. I also revel in being in the wilderness – but one
that’s well signposted! However, as I hadn’t hit the trails for a few years,
I’d spent the first two days of this trip on shorter safaris, brushing up on my
technique with Richard, an American instructor, and the hotel’s other guide.
Sheila
concentrates on perfecting her technique in the loipe (tracks)
Like many sports, the secret is to maximise
your speed with minimum energy. So for cross-country skiing, poles and arms
should be at 90o from your body to help you glide along the track as
effortlessly as possible. ‘Your head is your pilot, your core is your engine,’
explained Richard. ‘When you pull one leg back, your nose, knee and foot should
be aligned while you twist your hip a tad. Your arm goes back for balance. The
other leg and arm go forward to create a long, elegant line and a graceful,
gliding rhythm. Your stride should be no more than 2ft.’ Sound simple? I’m
still trying to perfect it!
I also worked on controlling my downhill
speed. Unlike Alpine skis, skinny skis have no edges, so if you want to brake,
you either do a half or full snowplough. With the half one, you keep your right
ski in the track and the left on the slope (you always ski on the right) in a
partial snowplough. With the full one, you come out of the tracks onto the
slope in a proper snowplough.
Going uphill is all about moving forward
without sliding back. You can either try ‘bopping’ or doing herringbone steps.
Bopping is when you stay in the tracks and make small steps while pressing your
skis down hard for grip. With herringbone, you come out of the tracks and point
your skis’ tips outwards, making a ‘V’ shape up the hill. Richard gave me a
great tip: looking up and ahead will stop you slipping back.
On my last day, I wanted to put my
sprucedup technique to good use – and Robert’s safari proved the perfect
testing ground. As he led us up hill and down dalen (valley), I glided along
the tracks, bopped and herringboned up hills and whooped with excitement as I
raced down scary descents using snowploughs for control. We finally neared the
Rondane, where the tracks levelled out, and were rewarded with breathtaking
views of its snow-capped peaks. Soon we were tucking into a well-earned buffet
lunch, luxuriating in a post-exercise high.
Headwater (01606 720199; headwater.com)
offers cross-country ski holidays in Venabu, Norway, from $1857.9per person.
The price includes seven nights’ full board, return flights from most UK
airports to Oslo, transfers, ski hire, guiding and tuition. For more
information on Norway, see visitnorway.co.uk.
Get fit for cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing uses every muscle
group, and requires muscular strength, endurance and flexibility, so the key is
to build up your strength, stamina and balancing skills and improve your
flexibility. There’s no age barrier to learning, but some level of fitness is
ideal, even if you’re a beginner. It’s best to start training two to three
months before you go skiing. Nordic walking is one of the best ways to build up
your fitness and stamina, toning your arms and shoulder muscles, plus helping
you co-ordinate your arms and legs and practise with poles. Do this twice a
week and include interval training (going fast and slow up and down hills) to
build up your speed and strength. You can also swim or do an aqua class and
alternate this with interval training on the cross-trainer or rowing machine at
the gym.
Which
way now? The choice of tracks is huge so you won’t get bored
