We can host another beginner ski Saturday at 2:30 pm. This will be a “stay in the back forty close to home” style unless you all convince me otherwise. We can work on hill climbing and descending and other basics, close to home base, in spring ski conditions - it supposed to be warm! We have 2 feet of snow, so don’t worry about it melting! RSVP please! ;-)

Later in the day …. We had 8 skiers for this one! Best entry level turnout yet! Raylene and I as ‘coaches’, Brenda and Jordan, Laura and Will and also jane with her friend Alison. The air was warm and so was the snow. We skied around the back forty and polished our skills.

Six of us here at Canaan Rd for the entry level “BikeSki” ski outing today. Dan, Christi, Laura and I skied while Will and his father, Bill snowshoed. We practiced climbing by going up sauna hill, then across porcupine ridge (see http://canaaninstitute.org/bikeskiblog/?p=31), to snowmobile, then lady Slipper (R1) and home on Red Man Run. We worked on kick and glide and poling and downhill braking and control :-)

From BikeSki Outings

We had six skiers for the Saturday entry level outing. After experimenting in the back forty and ’sauna hill’, we endend up splitting intot two groups. Sara and Dan and I did a loop out to lady slipper and home on Red Man Run. Raylene and Susan and Alan hung out closer to home base and worked on hill climbing and descending technique.

The air was cold and little windy with fine mist like snow coming down. Air temperature was bout 10 degrees F. The snow was a tad crusty in the tracks (becasue of warm temps Friday) but was covered by a dusting of fresh powder from Friday night.

From BikeSki Outings

Some details on the Saturday 2:30 pm beginner ski at Mike and Raylene’s home near Hammond Hill on 01.24.2009

This will be our 3rd entry level outing and will be a notch up in difficulty for this Saturday beginner outing — We will try a short 2 hour loop this time. It means climbing the big hill behind our property, but not coming back down it. So we will be away from “home base” for about 2 hours. To clarify: by short I mean in miles - it will be about 3.5 miles with minimal downhills. In contrast; most of regular more advanced outings are 4-7 miles and involve many more hills and often in darkness with headlamps! :-)

Bring a small backpack to stash clothes in if/when you get hot and please carry some water for yourself!

You should have your own xc-ski gear and be familiar with getting in and out of it. :-)

RSVP is requested to attend the beginner ski session. Email me to RSPV and get detailed directions to our home if you need them. Email address here michael@canaaninstitute.org

For more information on previous entry level xc-ski outings click here and then SCROLL DOWN http://canaaninstitute.org/bikeskiblog/?tag=beginner-cross-country

Crispy air this morning at minus -5 F! With fresh pwder coming down now. The snow and skiing continue to be spectacular this year. This week’s BikeSki outings will follow the usual Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday schedule with a couple extra  specil events. On Thursday we invite the Cayuga Nordic Ski Club and the general public to join us. On Saturday we will host another beginner level ski. For exact details like start times and so on, please email me and subscribe to the bikeski email newsletter.

Some details on the Saturday 2:30 pm beginner ski - Weather permitting of course: This will be a notch up in difficulty for the 3rd outing — I think we could try a short 2 hour loop this time. It means climbing the big hill behind our property, but not coming back down it. So we will be away from “home base” for about 2 hours. To clarify: by short I mean in miles - it will be about 3 miles with minimal downhills. In contrast; most of regular more adbvanced outings are 4-6 miles and involve many more hills and often in darkness with headlamps. RSVP is required to attend the beginner ski session. My contact info is on the “about bikeski” page :-)

We had our 2nd Saturday of entry level guidance for classic cross country (see how I am avoiding calling it a lesson). Four new skiers plus me - Raylene was out on a Cornell Plantations project, so she couldn’t be with us. Christi, Dan, Caren and Chris were here. We talked about waxing our “no-wax” skis, different grips for poles, kick and glide, pole placement, asstorted gear and clothing. We did a couple loops around the back 40 (each loop is about 1 mile). We then worked a lot on hill climbing and descending - using “ankle buster hill” behind the sauna as a test strip. Some were skeptical about ever being able to steer on cross country skis … I think I convinced them otherwise. It was bitter cold, but time passed quickly as we arrived back at the shop at 5:00 pm. The new skiers all seemed pleased with their newly aquired skill level.

Sorry for the short notice, but this sort of outing depends on the snow conditions and my schedule. I am free Saturday afternoon to host a beginner ski at 2:30 pm. Raylene will be here to help “coach”. This will not be a lesson. Neither one of us are qualified instructors. But we’ve both skied alot and are willing to share what we can. We will most likely ski on our “back 40″. We own 40 acres here adjoining Hammond Hill. This is hilly enough to gain practice in descents but flat enough for beginners if you stay along the creek that runs through our place. RSVP via email please or to ask for directions. You should have your own gear. Who’s comin’ out? :-)

From BikeSki Outings