If you can walk, you can cross-country ski—or so goes the adage. Every source I came across in preparation for my first foray into cross-country professed the same wisdom. I mastered walking at age one and was on downhill skis at age five, but cross-country seemed like a different animal.
Fans of the sport boast that, in comparison to downhill, cross-country is gentler on your body—and your wallet. There are no lift tickets to buy, and the equipment is not only less expensive, but simpler and less clunky. For the extremely athletic, the sport offers vigorous aerobic conditioning that can burn hundreds of calories an hour. For the rest of us, it can be a relatively easy, though still stimulating, low-impact glide through winter’s sparkling serenity.
Perhaps cross-country’s best trait, especially in New Jersey—where downhill resorts are scarce—is that you can cross-country anywhere there is snow: a formal trail, an open field, even your own backyard.
Still, I was apprehensive and opted for instruction before I set out. On a blustery morning, my sister and I bundled up and drove to the High Point State Park Cross Country Ski Center in Sussex County, at the northwestern tip of New Jersey. As we drove, the temperature dropped—roughly a couple of degrees for every 300 feet climbed. With an elevation of more than 1,600 feet, High Point is the highest and typically coldest and snowiest spot in the state, with temperatures guaranteed to be at least 5 degrees colder than nearby towns and 10 degrees below New York City.
The Ski Center offers professional instruction for beginners and experts of all ages. For our lesson, I was referred to Hans Petter Karlsen, a former Norwegian cross-country standout and biathlon racer and the center’s current director.
“I just came over here for the Olympics in Lake Placid in 1980,” explained Karlsen in his thick accent. Yet his vacation turned into a permanent move when Karlsen met his future wife, Kim. Thirty-two years and three children later, the Karlsens have settled in New Jersey, where the ski conditions are as different from Norway as hamburger is from pickled herring.
“The first time I was here and the snow was gone by the end of March, I wasn’t feeling too good,” Karlsen said. “Something was wrong. I’m used to skiing in April and May, and then in the summer going skiing on the glaciers.”
A member of the 1976 Norwegian National Team, Karlsen is a true child of Norway, where cross-country skiing is practically the national pastime. Though the origins of skiing are unknown, a 4,000-year-old rock carving found in Rødøy, Norway, north of the Arctic Circle, depicts a hunter on skis. For centuries, there was little distinction between downhill and cross-country. Then, in the 1880s, in Norway’s Telemark district, people began experimenting with a new way to carve turns, opening the door for controlled downhill skiing.
Downhill (also known as Alpine skiing) debuted in New Jersey in 1937, when Swiss immigrant Hugo Meury established the now closed Craigmeur, the first official ski area in the state, in Newfoundland in Passaic County. Cross-country didn’t gain popularity in the United States until decades later, when fiberglass skis replaced wood and lighter-weight fabrics replaced wool. In 1982, American Bill Koch brought major attention to the sport by winning the Cross Country Skiing World Cup.
Karlsen was working at various ski centers and with the U.S. Army’s outdoor recreation programs when he began talks with High Point State Park to reopen its ski center, which had been in operation from 1937 to 1964 using slopes that were mapped by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. After receiving input from Karlsen to fully equip the ski lodge with a kitchen, fireplace, equipment rentals and personal and group lessons, the operation at High Point recommenced under contract with the state’s Division of Parks and Forestry for the 1995-96 season.
Today, the ski center commands 11 miles of groomed cross-country trails and five miles of designated snowshoe trails, all marked according to national standards and ranging from beginner to expert.
The day of our lesson, the cozy little lodge in the shadow of the 220-foot High Point Monument war memorial was bustling. At the front desk, Kim Karlsen informed us that her husband was running late with another lesson. We had just settled in front of the fireplace with some hot chocolate when Karlsen’s son Erik offered us snowshoe rentals on the house for our wait.
Similar to cross-country, snowshoeing is reasonably priced, family friendly and accessible—likely the reason its popularity has grown in recent years. Katie Herod, marketing manager for manufacturer Tubbs Snowshoes, says that, according to the latest Snow Sports Market Intelligence Report, participation in the sport increased by 43 percent from 2006 to 2009.
We strapped on the Tubbs snowshoes that High Point rents and trekked out into the wind to explore the snowshoeing trail encircling Lake Marcia. The first 100 yards were awkward, but it began to feel natural as we got into a rhythm using the light aluminum poles Erik gave us to improve our balance and give our upper bodies a workout. Long gone are the days of wood-framed snowshoes with rawhide lacing. Today’s aluminum snowshoes have easy-to-use bindings and sophisticated heel- and toe-traction systems—a necessity in the Northeast’s often wet and icy conditions.
After plodding around the lake and drinking in High Point’s views of the Poconos to the west, the Catskills to the north and the Wallkill River Valley to the southeast, we returned to the lodge.Karlsen, the very picture of a Norwegian skier, with his ruddy cheeks and coordinated garb, was eager to talk.
“It takes years to figure out how to pick the right ski,” he said as he showed off his 10 pairs. Cross-country skis differ based on usage. Classic skis, the most common, are used most often in grooved tracks created by grooming machines. Backcountry skis are intended for ungroomed trails and terrain; their wider base provides more flotation in powder, and their edges give more control in icy conditions. Skating skis, similar to classic, are used with a skating technique, with faster glides and longer distances per stride. Karlsen owns at least two of each kind. One pair, which he planned to take to Norway for an upcoming race, weighs less than 2 pounds.
“I’ll put a little bit of wax on them for the conditions we have out there now,” he said as he picked through his impressive stash of waxes, a necessity for any serious cross-country skier.
“When pressed into the snow, the wax gives you that grip so you kick forward,” he explained. “When you have to make sure to beat a guy by two seconds, you need to have all this stuff.”
We watched as Karlsen meticulously began to scrape what he called the kick zone, the middle third of the ski, to remove old wax and dirt. Then he chose a klister wax, used in warmer conditions or on old snow that has melted and refrozen like we had that day, and spread the sticky substance over the bottom of the kick zone, heating it with a hair dryer to set it. Hard waxes, which resemble stubby crayons, are generally used in colder conditions on fresh, crystalline snow. As the klister set, Karlsen got some of the wax on his glove.
“This is the biggest reason why they started making waxless skis,” he said with a laugh. To drive home the point, he had me touch the sap-like klister, which instantaneously stuck my fingers together. Waxless skis are embossed with a pattern of small plastic ridges in the kick zone to prevent backwards slippage.
Karlsen then set us up with rental equipment. Cross-country skis (ours were waxless) are much lighter, narrower and longer than downhill skis. And unlike bulky downhill boots, cross-country boots feel similar to running shoes, coming up slightly around the ankle to provide support. The only trace of a binding is a small spring-loaded metal bar at the toe.
Finally, we were off. After a few pointers, we headed out into the 25-degree weather. Karlsen promised that we would warm up as soon as we got going.
That proved true. Unlike Alpine skiers, cross-country skiers can glide over flat terrain or go up hills. In Alpine skiing, the key is to keep your skis parallel and close together, transferring weight from ski to ski to turn. In cross-country, it’s mostly striding and gliding.
“Since you’ve been on downhill skis, getting the feeling of gliding is the biggest hurdle to get across,” Karlsen said.
We began with short tentative glides, eventually developing longer rhythmic strides paired with opposite arm movements—just like walking. Karlsen encouraged us to shift our weight, bend our knees and use our poles to take full advantage of ski on snow.
The icy conditions limited the number of trails accessible for us beginners. This winter, Karlsen hopes to add snowmaking guns at High Point. Of course, snowmaking requires not just equipment but cooperation from nature. Temperatures must remain below 32 degrees for several consecutive days, and for this upcoming winter the Farmer’s Almanac’s predicts above-normal temperatures and wet and slushy precipitation across most of the Southern and Eastern United States.
I soon learned another benefit of cross-country for the beginner: There’s less falling, and when you do go plop, the falls tend to be softer and it’s easier to get up.
Satisfied that we had the technique down, Karlsen encouraged us to try more challenging up-and-down terrain. But the sun had begun to set, the wind was picking up and the warmth of the lodge beckoned. Exhilarated, entertained and thoroughly exhausted, we decided to call it quits for the day. More challenging terrain? Next time.
Drew Anne Scarantino writes frequently about recreation for New Jersey Monthly.
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SIDEBAR:
The beauty of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing? With just a rental, either sport can be done anywhere there’s snow. Some of the best places in the state include:
❄ Blue Mountain Lakes in the Delaware Water Gap (nps.gov/dewa)
❄ Campgaw Mountain Ski Area, Mahwah (201-327-7800; skicampgaw.com)
❄ Fairview Lake YMCA Cross Country Ski Center, Newton (973-383-9282; fairviewlakeymca.org)
❄ Freedom Park, Randolph (973-326-7600; morrisparks.net)
❄ Galloping Hill Golf Course, Kenilworth (908-686-1556; gallopinghillgolfcourse.com)
❄ Hidden Valley Club, Vernon (201-764-4200; hiddenvalleynj.com)
❄ High Point State Park Cross Country Ski Center, Sussex (973-702-1222; xcskihighpoint.com)
❄ Jockey Hollow Park, Morristown (973-539-2016; nps.gov/morr)
❄ Loantaka Brook Reservation, Harding (973-326-7600; morrisparks.net)
❄ Lord Stirling Park, Basking Ridge (908-766-5955; somersetcountyparks.org)
❄ Mountain Creek Ski Center, Vernon (973-827-2000; mountaincreek.com)
❄ Palisades Interstate Park, Bergen County (201-768-1360; njpalisades.org)
❄ Paulinskill Valley Trail at Kittatinny Valley State Park (973-786-6445; state.nj.us)
❄ Schooley’s Mountain County Park, Long Valley (973-326-7600; morrisparks.net)
❄ South Mountain Reservation, Essex County (973-268-3500; essex-countynj.org)
❄ Stokes State Forest (973-948-3820; state.nj.us)
❄ Thompson Park, Middletown (732-842-4000; monmouthcountyparks.com)
❄ Washington Crossing State Park, Titusville (609-737-0623; state.nj.us)
❄ Wawayanda State Park, Passaic County (973-853-4462; state.nj.us)
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