Here’s a YouTube vid of one of the best XC ski downhills anywhere.
It’s at the Stokely ski resort just north of the Soo, Michigan. This resort has been voted best in N. America. It’s quiet but big.
The first time I stumbled onto this downhill while up skiing there I couldn’t stop grinning for days. It has such a lovely multiple-pitches aspect to it. That’s what I really like in an XC downhill. You go down then taper off, still gliding fast, then drop again…
Man, on days when this trail is icy, it’s REALLY something…
The trail is named after Jackrabbit Johanssen, a guy who basically started modern XC skiing in N. America. He skied until he was 107. (More on him at: www.cccski.com/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=565&lan=1.)
I note that the nearby Soo Finn club, a more sociable mini-resort, also has a wonderful downhill on their Olympic 10k loop. It has a secondary pitch, but quite compressed, in fact you can get air off of it, which is another great thing in the middle of a downhill—the pitch changes so dramatically that you can’t see the downhill face of the following section. Oh yeah!
So here’s footage of a good Masters age lady skier having a great time in a time trial on this famous downhill…
