New wave replaces “old school” cross-country ski techniques By Lise Meloche and David McMahon
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ROSS-COUNTRY SKIING has been heading in a direction away from all other skiing disciplines and popular culture in recent years. At one time, being adventurous meant changing your granola mix and committing a spree of fashion crimes in solitude. No wonder some Nordic skiers have a reputation for being reclusive, pedantic, mulish and a bit odd. “Wood is better than plastic,” and “skating is evil,” and other esoteric technical statements fueled holy wars on and off the snow. New ideas were often vigorously suppressed and by the mid’80s, the sport was overdue for a serious makeover. The revolution started with skating technique, equipment upgrades, synthetic waxes and sprint racing. The fallout of changes in the ’80s is only now reaching the mass of recreational Nordic skiers. The lifeblood of the sport is not necessarily the club programs, but the adult cross-training movement, from where the majority of new skiers come. Nordic skiing is now turning a corner and has an opportunity to become trendy again. Let’s look at some things to watch for this year.
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New and revived events The “total skier” model has strong appeal to many, and this has sparked renewed interest in reconstituting all the skiing disciplines. The Nordic Skier-Cross movement (Nordix) is a natural evolution of sprinting in the presence of the current Xgames pop culture and the need for more technical content in races, as popularized in the film, Unlimited. Nordix fuses the power and endurance in cross-country skiing, superb all-mountain skills, headto-head sprinting action and a BMX derby-like course with sporting jumps, pipes, climbs, and high-speed descents with hair-pin turns. Watch out for a Nordix World circuit including North America events, with big prize money, live bands and TV coverage. A new web site should be up and running soon at www.nordix.tv. Putting the X back into cross-country Meanwhile, a number of Nordic snow parks are popping up across the country for fun and skill development. Atomic’s Nordic Cross ski is specifically made for Nordix. It is fast enough to
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sprint on but strong enough to take the landings. Then, there is the concept of “real skiing” outside the bounds of groomed trails and restrictive rule-books. Although they’re not a new idea, “randonnee rallies” or “ski mountaineering races” have regained popularity. The events include long, steep climbs on skins, some climbing or scrabbling, and alpine or telemark descents. They are a clear test of cardiovascular fitness and all-mountain skills. News flash! Wooden skis are not dead. When fixed with modern boots and bindings and complemented with dressed-down attire, many skiers are finding vintage boards unpretentious and forgiving for all terrain. Skating isn’t half bad on long, fat wooden skis. Besides, if you are tired after a hard workout, no one is going to race you when you are disguised in retro gear. Fashion Snowboarding, surfing, mountain biking, kayaking and climbing have all influenced mainstream fashions, so why not Nordic skiing? Although racers will continue to wear Spandex body suits, I think we will start to see loose-fitting, practical ski clothing for training that is wearable off the trail. Warm-up jackets have a lot of potential. Art, music and film Other sports have a culture that is actively promoted through film, music and art. Skateboarding was popular-
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