Frisco Nordic Center

I spent much of Sunday at the Frisco Nordic Center in the first of three field days in the CMC’s Backcountry Ski Touring School (BSTS).

I’d spent some days at the Summit county nordic centers over the past few years, but always just figuring things out on my own with no formal instruction.

Five of us and two instructors spent the morning in the open field getting comfortable with the skis. Starting out without poles we worked on balance and form, trying to get more glide out of each step. Slowly we started adding in the poles for extra propulsion.

After a short loop around the trails to warm up we went inside the nordic center’s building to enjoy lunch. We were also joined by an increasing number of skiers who had taken part at the day’s Summit Tour which ended here. Skiers in costumes crowded around enjoying beer and soup and listening to an accordion player.

We headed back outside as the building’s maximum occupancy was exceeded for some lessons on short hills. We practiced stopping and slowing down with snowplows and turning with step turns. With a half-snow plow we worked on speed control while going downhill in the tracks and skiing parallel outside the tracks.

We finished up the day with some final balance drills, trying to glide with only one ski on.

Our next field day will be at the Loveland ski area, learning to negotiate hills on skinny nordic gear. The last field day will be a backcountry ski tour.