Any XC skiers out there?

[DWPress]

We've received over 150" (380cm) snow this year so far along with the cold temperatures a lot of the US has experienced in recent months which has made premier ski conditions. Here in N MI the ski hills are a joke but opportunities for classic and skate are literally out the back door for me. Last week was my son's 15th birthday and I scored him a great set of barely used classic skis and boots which, combined with the Olympics, has turned him (us) into backcountry monsters. I get him back here after school, we have a snack and then ski til dusk but in the past week our distances and stamina have really improved. I live on a small river in a valley so pretty much anywhere we go is an incline but the ride home is a blast!

We have an annual 28K XC ski race here, looks like we'll both be competing next year. There's a 30+ year gap between us, so far I'm holding my own but gotta say he's kicking my ass!

I'm sure there will be comments about despising snow. That's your prerogative, some of us love it especially when we can glide over it at speed.

 

[DWPress]

Is it too early for the Northern European love to come through? We also have a wood fired sauna we fire twice a week after homework....

 

[smygolf]

I did it alot when i was younger, kind of meditative to go km after km.
My Dad did Vasa loppet 10 times, i had an aim to do it at least once but i never did it.

Now skie once or twice every year.

 

[DWPress]

Really? There are no winter sport enthusiasts out there? All stuck in the sweet spot at the MLP cozied up in front of space heaters (for you northern ilk) or AC (for you southern heathens) enjoying your favorite mellow tracks?

After a 4 day warm up we got snow again last night that was wet and stuck to everything but temps dropped to the 20'sF (-6.5C) today and will stay there all next week with light accumulations daily. Back country paradise.

The ski mountaineering events in recent days have been a total blast to watch. We do that, but with classic skis and repurposed old velcro neoprene wader boot (fishing) gravel guards for skins and head up the hills. I had a full telemark rig 20 years ago but now saving up for some skate skis for next winter.

 

[EJ3]

Really? There are no winter sport enthusiasts out there? All stuck in the sweet spot at the MLP cozied up in front of space heaters (for you northern ilk) or AC (for you southern heathens) enjoying your favorite mellow tracks?

After a 4 day warm up we got snow again last night that was wet and stuck to everything but temps dropped to the 20'sF (-6.5C) today and will stay there all next week with light accumulations daily. Back country paradise.

The ski mountaineering events in recent days have been a total blast to watch. We do that, but with classic skis and repurposed old velcro neoprene wader boot (fishing) gravel guards for skins and head up the hills. I had a full telemark rig 20 years ago but now saving up for some skate skis for next winter.

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I have an 83 year old cousin in Tennessee that has 80 acres & he was out on his skis and also out on his dirt bike in the snow on his rolling property in the last few weeks.
We got a whopping sprinkling that did not fully cover the lawn grass but it stayed 2 days. (Here it usually only snows at all every 7 or so years).
I drove my wife 200 miles north in our 2024 2" lifted Subaru CrossTrek Touring Edition to find 8" of snow to play in for about 30 minutes & drive back to the Charleston, SC area. I used to drive a lot to actually go snow skiing (my first experience was when I was 5 in Innsbruck, Austria. I managed to knock my 2 upper front teeth out. But it was OK after the tooth fairy found me).
I quit doing it about 35 years ago, the drives to get to snow and mountains became too much of a pain in the butt.
They don't call this area the flat lands for no reason (and as opposed to being called 'hillbillies', natives here are known as 'flatlanders').

 

[Tom C]

CC ski is an excellent work out. I grew up in Minnesota, and got some cross country skiing in when I lived there. In Minneapolis, you can go to a park and ski a groomed trail all season. I live in Missouri now, so not much chance of skiing here at all.
It’s wonderful you have something like that to share with a fifteen year old. It can be hard to find common ground when they are that age. And it will benefit him all his life, if he keeps up with it.

 

[BigFKahuna]

Years ago I helped teach in the Jackrabbit program, along with that did numerous XC ski trips to the mountains as well as locally. Classic for me, I never really enjoyed skate. I remember skiing to work in excellent snow conditions, getting to work faster than my neighbour in his car, and then the next week (after a warm chinook wind) biking on dry pavement. Just to make this "audio adjacent" I never wore ear buds while skiing, the swish of the skis and sounds of silence on the trails was melody enough.

 

[DWPress]

2024 2" lifted Subaru CrossTrek Touring Edition to find 8" of snow to play in for about 30 minutes & drive back

I have a 2016 Crosstrek with manual trans - with a set of proper snow tires the car is nearly unstoppable and almost too fun to drive in snow.

In Minneapolis, you can go to a park and ski a groomed trail all season.

I've been there! What a wonderful resource to have so close to a metropolitan area. I mis-figured earlier, there's actually a 40 year spread between me and my son and yes, he's still kicking my ass!

I never wore ear buds while skiing, the swish of the skis and sounds of silence on the trails was melody enough.

Amen to that! I used to do work with kids in Outward Bound programs here in MI's UP - not in the snow though.

 

[DWPress]

Today's adventure, got my stepson out for the first time.

 

[Wesseling Audio Lab]

We've been Skiing and snowshoeing. Silent Lake Provincial Park and Haliburton highland Trails that is run by volunteers.

 

[DWPress]

Looks like nice groomed tracks and beautiful terrain!

 

[DWPress]

Well, supposed to get up to the mid 40's here today which could ruin on our XC skiing adventures. My son and I got out last night and I got out this morning after taking him to school. Absolutely perfect at the moment though it takes a bit for the dog to thaw. Found an off grid neighbor with a disc golf course set up in the hills!

 

[jgd]

We live in Green Bay, WI and we actually had enough snow this year to xc ski locally. My wife and I traditional xc ski. Our 12 year old daughter and 7 year old son are in the Bay Nordic Ski School and skate xc ski. At the end of the season, our daughter won the 4 plus mile ski race against 150 children, both all the girls and all the boys. I am really proud of her determination, grit and grind it out attitude and effort. She saw tv coverage of a local woman who competed in the 2026 Olympic biathlon and I think she thought if she can do it so can I.

 

[DWPress]

She saw tv coverage of a local woman who competed in the 2026 Olympic biathlon and I think she thought if she can do it so can I.

Exactly! I think watching the Olympics really inspired my son to get out every night with me and we have a blast. So great that you have a ski school nearby to help ingrain good practice and congratulations to her for her win!