Backcountry Nordic Skiing – Long Draw Road

The meeting time and place will be communicated to participants a few days before the trip, but expect to meet in north Fort Collins about 7:15 am for the ~90 minute drive to the Trailhead.

*** Please only sign up for this Trip if you are registered for the NoCo Group Intro to Backcountry Skiing Workshop.  You can register for the Workshop using this link for the January 22, 2025 evening Classroom Session ***

This is the first of two optional Field Days associated with NoCo Group Intro to Backcountry Nordic Ski Workshop.  

This first Field Day will primarily be a skills day, you can skip this day if you are comfortable with all the skills listed below in a backcountry setting, but we will be in an area with a variety of terrain difficulty to choose from, so skiers of all levels should be able to have fun and challenge themselves. We will break into sub-groups with low instructor-to-student ratios and based on experience and skill level to cover the following:

• Basic nordic ski skills in the backcountry: diagonal stride, kick-and-glide.

• Uphill techniques: herring bone, side-step, traverse, use of kicker skins.

• Basic downhill and turning techniques: snowplow, stem christie, side-slipping (we won’t be teaching telemark techniques, but bring ‘em if you get ‘em).

• Getting back on your skis efficiently after a fall in deep snow, on steeper slopes, and other awkward situations.

• Hazard avoidance and basic extraction techniques.