Perisher 2014 – Nordic Skiing – Week Five
Sunday 10 Aug 2014. A sunny day in Jindy and snowing on the hill. Light wind, blowing snow and poor visibility. We classic skied the 7.5km. (850kCal) Fairly ordinary underfoot and difficult conditions. This was our shortest time around. Our skills have really improved. Also, we are not stopping as much. Ribs troublesome.
Monday 11 Aug 2104. A light wind and a little fresh snow. We classic skied the 5km and the reverse 3.5km – probably about 8km total. (1,032kCal) Getting easier.
Tuesday 12 Aug 2014. A beautiful sunny day. -7C at Jindy. We classic skied the 7.5 km plus the reverse 3.5km – probably about 10km in total. (1,148kCal) This was our third day in a row. Our technique has taken a big jump up that we cannot really account for. We are getting around almost without stopping and using much less energy. All we can think of is that we are getting the technique to come together. Certainly, we are concentrating on getting glide out of each stride – even a bit. My objective is to get through the next two weeks without falling again. (Usually, I don’t fall – but this broken rib will not like a fall.) So I am being very cautious on the downhills – perfecting my snowplough.
I’m sure I’ve talked about this before. X-country skiing technique is in three categories: going up hill; going along the flats; going down hill. Most XC trails have about a third of each of those terrane types: ie 1/3 up hill; 1/3 flat and 1/3 downhill. (The downhills are usually gentle compared with Alpine Skiing.) On this trip, we have been concentrating on the first two – up hill and flat with classic technique. For going uphill classic, we are using diagonal stride (and trying to get that efficient). For flat, we have been concentrating on double pole. (I note that there has been a significant change to double pole over the last year: bent knees rather than straight legs. People are using bent knee double pole to go up hill.)
