I went into day 2 of cross country skiing feeling like I may have under estimated how hard cross-country skiing actually is. Reflecting on my experience of day 1, I realized that I had jumped into a pair of skis naively believing that I could figure this out with basically no understanding of the skills that were actually required to do it well. I literally had no idea how to turn or stop… which when I think about it is kind of terrifying. So my goal was to be more intentional about how I approached going down hills and to get a feel for how the skis were moving underneath me.

The day didn’t start off quite the way I had hoped, I still went flying down the very first hill and fell at the bottom. Not sure whose idea it was to put a hill at the beginning of the trail but I would guess that they probably don’t remember what it was like to learn to cross-country ski! Despite falling on my butt right off the bat, I did manage to make my way around our route without any additional falling.

As the day progressed I definitely felt more and more comfortable on the flat and slight inclined portion of the trail. At times I actually felt what it was like to be gliding on the skis rather than just shuffling along. I could feel myself intuitively picking up one foot and then the other almost as if I was running. Slowing myself down was starting to get easier too. By picking up one foot slightly and pressing with the opposite toe, I was able to make tiny turns with my skis in a pizza slice shape as I carefully made my way down the hills and around the corners. I even managed to make my way down most of a hill with one ski in the track! Huge win!

Now that I have done a couple days of skiing and have a sense of what I’ve signed myself up for, I think I will likely do a lesson in the next week or two. To really understand what it takes to turn and stop effectively I’m going to need the help of an expert! Stay tuned!