If you love classic XC skiing, do you lament that races these days are nearly all doublepoling? Are the groomed trails that you ski on somewhat flat and fast so that you end up doublepoling most of the time?
If so, try Trail Skiing! It puts the STRIDE back into classic skiing! …A Trail Skiing outing or singletrack race has maybe only 5-10% doublepoling: all the rest is the BEST of classic skiing: pure striding!
…Enjoy!
For instance, if you live around here and want a true classic ski outing, go to Stinchfield Woods! If you ski all the trails there, about 20k worth, it’ll take you 2-3 hours. And you’ll double pole maybe 10 minutes. The terrain is always going up or down so you’re either striding or gliding.
And if we had a race at Stinchfield (which we have had), you’re still striding about 80% of the time. 2 hrs would be a fast full-system lap. …With only 15 minutes of it doublepoling.
Let the canoe-racers have the doublepoling. Sure, it’s fun enough and all. But real classic lovers need to STRIDE well over half the time.
