On Skiing
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25 January 2021
When you don't know alot about sking, there is just skiing. Then maybe you watch the Winter Olymics as a kid and discover there is whole bunch of events. It seems to be divided into two large categories though: downhill & cross country. Upon venturing into the skiing world as an adult I initially thought in this dicotemy, but upon learning a bit more it seems there are really 3 categories:
Slalåm - this is what we commonly think of as downhill skiiing. One takes the lift up the hill at the resort and then comes down the hill at great speed. A particular design of ski called ???? is used for this, which locks the boot down at both the front and the back. Still a bit terrifyingly out of control at this I am.
Langrenn - this is cross country skiing on a premade track, often a well used path with two grooves that have been formed by and for such skiing. For this fellesski are used, which attach only at the toe and are quite thin and long. If you go off piste, that is, off the beaten path with these they'll typically just sink into the snow. Sometimes this is known as "nordic skiiing".
Telemark - in English this is sometimes called backcountry skiing, and basically is everything off piste. Fjellski are used, which are wider to site atop unpacked snow and have metal edges to cut through it. I have not tried these skis yet, but have experienced failure off piste with the others.
Every year it seems I'm learning about skiing for the first time because one day of training just doesn't stick. By the end of the day I generally feel like I sort of have the hang of it again, but then another year passes and I forget it all. This year I'm trying to change that. The last three days I've gone out on fellesskiene in the Hallingdal region of central Norway. Spending several hours travelling 10 kilometers or more a day I feel like I'm getting a pretty good handle on it, although if I don't concentrate on what I am doing then I lose my balance and fall. So clearly there's more work to be done. Fortunately snow is soft and at -15 C I'm wearing a few layers of clothing, so falling at langrenn doesn't hurt so much.
Mr. Nisse
