Well, this might not be received well by some: our upper Midwest weather the last few weeks has been forking AWESOME…for cross country skiing! We’ve had THE BEST snow and weather conditions for cross country skiing in FOREVER! I know, I know, some people are probably saying: “ugh, are you forking nuts? This weather sucks!!! Snow and cold???”. To which I would reply: “why yes, I am forking nuts (but we already knew that)!”.
Yes, I am totally nuts…about skiing. I LOVE to ski! My anticipation of a skiable snowfall. The incredible transformation of nature into a winter wonderland/playground following a snowfall. My giddiness when strapping on my skis and playing in the snow. My silent journey through the woods with just the sound of my skis gliding over the snow. My being at one with the snow and nature. My partnership with winter that helps me through many cold days and long cold nights. A measurable enjoyment (for me) during a time of loathing for most sane humans. Do I ever hate winter? Hell yes, but only when there’s no snow (those cold, gray, damp, no-snow days in March and early April are KILLER for me…good time to go to Disney World!!!).
Mom and Dad got me onto cross country skis very early in life: five years old. Cross country skiing was a fun and affordable thing for us to do as a family (downhill skiing was cost prohibitive). And living in Wisconsin gave my family and me awesome opportunities for cross country skiing!!!
I started out with wax free (fish scale) classic style cross country skis. As I got a little older my Uncle introduced me to the art and science of waxing classic cross country skis. And WOW, what a difference there was when waxing skis! Hot waxing the glide areas of the skis. Looking at temperature and snow conditions and finding the right kick wax to place in the kick zone (propulsion zone) of the skis. And the payoff: effortlessly striding up hills (rather than sliding backwards down hills) and reaching glide speeds that I never could with my wax free skis. I was so hooked!
And as I got even just a little bit older I discovered skating style cross country skiing. No more kick wax…just glide wax. And oh my new found speed! And that mesmerizing skating rhythm and cadence and power…all while being one with nature and winter.
Mom and Dad were always incredibly supportive of the things I loved to do. And they helped guide me to a way to do competitive cross country ski racing through a local ski shop as my high school didn’t have a cross country ski team (during the winter I was on my high school’s swim team…I was a completely shitty swimmer but it helped keep me in shape for cross country skiing). Mom and Dad got me outfitted with a great new pair of skating skis, boots, and poles. And, for Christmas, Mom and Dad surprised me with a cross country ski racing suit. But as I was getting ready for my first race nature had other ideas: no snow. RAIN even. All of my meets were either cancelled or moved three to four hours north. Mom and Dad were encouraging me to press on with my cross country ski racing dreams but my gut said otherwise. I couldn’t put that burden on my Mom and Dad. So I thanked Mom and Dad (incredibly) but I returned the racing suit and put my skis in a closet with the hopes of better snow days ahead (yeah right, enter global warming and the end of consistent snow around the area where I lived). And that was the end of my cross country ski racing dreams.
Enter downhill skiing. Ski hills make their own snow! And so I went downhill skiing for the very first time as a senior in high school with some friends of mine after our last final exam before Holiday Break. Hey, I know how to ski, right? Oh, umm, how to I get to the top of the hill? Oh, yeah, the ski lift. Well, let me just see how people do that. Hmm, OK, I think I can get myself onto the ski lift. OK, yeah, I’m on the ski lift! Wait, how the fork do I get off this thing? It looks like people are just disappearing from the lift at the top of the hill. What’s going on up there? How am I going to do this? Do I just drop off? Quick decisions to make!!! Looks like I push off the chair and duck!!! And I don’t know how I did it but I did it…I made it off the chairlift in one piece. Oh, and how do I get down the hill? Well, here goes nothing!!! And I made it down in one piece! And so I was hooked on another form of skiing: alpine downhill skiing.
Downhill skiing was EXPENSIVE and was only a once-in-a-while thing for me. I still had my cross country skis but finding the time (and transportation) to go cross country skiing was tough to come by in college and especially in dental school (though in dental school I lived near Como Park in St. Paul that had great cross country skiing). And then I started practicing dentistry and time/energy became even tougher to come by. But when I moved back to Wisconsin I bought a condo that happened to be right down the street from a great little ski hill AND…I finally bought some (used) downhill skis. And oh the fun I had with my downhill skis. For many years I would get a season pass and stop at the hill on my way home from teaching. It was awesome!!!
But life can certainly send us in unexpected directions. Extensive neck surgery back in 2014 meant an abrupt end to my downhill skiing. I couldn’t take the risk of falling and hurting my neck (I worked so hard to heal after my surgery). So…MANY years of NO skiing. Could I cross country ski? Sure. But cross country skiing was and continues to be inconvenient and inconsistent. To do my skate style skiing I need to drive at least 45 minutes to an hour to find meticulously and expertly groomed trails. PAIN, especially when time is hard to come by. Classic style cross country skiing? Sure. But by the time I’ve scraped old wax and applied new wax my window of opportunity to ski closes (and wax free cross country skis have historically sucked). So, in a nutshell, the more barriers there are between me and that which I want to do the more I won’t do it. Too much bother for me to cross country ski.
But technology changes with the times. And new innovations in wax free cross country skis have resulted in skin skis: a strip of mohair glued to the bottom of classic style cross country skis used in lieu of kick wax. Sign me up!!! And so I bought a new pair of skin skis. And ya know what? Those skins work AS GOOD as kick wax. What’s more is skin skis are being used by more and more classic style cross country ski racers. Skin skis are for REAL!!! And ski preparation/maintenance with skin skis is super easy/quick. Five minutes of skin de-icer and glide wax application and I’m out skiing. No more crazy amounts of gloopy wax that takes so much time to place AND remove. Forking mess everywhere!!! And with classic style skiing I can find trails close to home AND EVEN blaze trails throughout my backyard and out into the adjacent farmer’s field. Instant winter bliss even after a full day of teaching. Forking awesome!!! I can (and do) enjoy winter and I look forward to snow!!! Winter is playtime and it doesn’t bring me down. Granted, snowbanks along city streets are big, ugly, dirty, and depressing. But right outside my back door (and in local parks) is my pristine winter wonderland and that’s where I long to be swooshing and gliding through the snow.
And that’s probably enough for Sunday February Twenty First, 2021. Stay safe, stay healthy, keep the Faith, and please help your neighbors. We’re all in this together. We can go the distance. Don’t stop believing.
Doc's Writing Refuge 