Intro to Backcountry Skiing

Learn the gear, maintenance, safety and entry level techniques for cross country skiing.  XC Skiing is a great way to enjoy the wilderness with a little more skill and finesse, yet still a wonderful way of beating the ever rising resort lift ticket fees and crowds.  There will be two classroom and three field sessions for the XC Ski class.  Attendance at all sessions is required to earn the badges.  The classroom sessions will be in Colorado Springs and the field sessions will be 2 to 3 hours from town.  Locations TBD.  The cost is $85 for members for the classroom sessions and handouts and $185 for non members.  There are also rental costs from local gear shops if you don't own the gear and a Nordic Center trail pass for one day.  XC Ski classroom dates are 02 and 04 Jan from 6:00p to 9:30p in Colorado Springs, and the field dates are 07, 14, and 21 Jan all day.  A general fitness level to go on full day ski trips with a lot of practice time is required for the field sessions.  The first classroom is the same as the snowshoe class.  The focus of this course is learning efficient balance and weight transfer to manage an efficient kick and glide, so the target audience is beginner cross country skiers.

Agenda:

Class1

     Handouts, Sources of information for planning, Avalanche Awareness, What to wear, What to bring, Winter hazards, Conclusion - what to think about

Class 2

     Equipment types and variations, Application of each equipment type, Gear care, Techniques for ascent and descent, and group travel

Field Session 1

     Nordic Center to learn balance and weight transfer on Classic Track gear.  Several drills will be demonstrated and practiced to develop a strong ability to efficiently move on snow.  Possibly spend afternoon building turning and stopping skills.

Field Session 2

     Packed road to practice endurance, turns, and stopping with cross country NNN-BC gear.

Field Session 3

     Packed trail to practice endurance, turns, and stopping on backcountry cable binding gear (or whatever is rentable now)