March 28, 1968
Whether moving uphill, downhill or sideways down a steep slope, with my feet firmly anchored to a suitable pair of skis with plenty of good snow under them, I’m just about as happy as anyone can expect to be in the wintertime.
The little tricks that must be mastered in order to make downhill skiing a thriller-diller fun event constitute a helpful asset to the hopeful cross-country skier, although such previous experience isn’t at all necessary to a cross-country beginner.
In learning to cross-country ski, you start out on the level. When you have learned to fasten on your skis and stand erect, firmly grasping your ski poles in the approved manner, without having once fallen down in the process, then you’ve taken the first successful step in x-c. A few cautious steps to test your balance on this strange and uncertain foundation, following this first experiment with a short glide after each step then going over a few bumps and down a short gentle slope, and you’re on your way as a cross-country skier.
Soon you feel stable enough in your new medium to experiment with making step turns to send you off in a new direction, as compared with the twisting, bobbing turns necessary in faster downhill skiing. In a short while – without having passed through the terrifying experience of that first breath-taking start down a packed ski slope – you find yourself skimming along easily over the snow, walking uphill with no back slipping, having applied the proper wax (another little trick you’ve picked up along the way) and gliding down slopes of your choice, no longer with the fear of falling, but with a wonderful feeling of exhilaration.
Then comes your first tour with other cross-country fans, and you feel pretty proud as you adjust your equipment, shoulder into your light pack (containing your waxes, lunch, and a few other small items that you might need on the short trip) and prepare to follow the leader over an easy scenic course previously agreed upon and scouted out beforehand by one or more of the advanced skiers of the group.
The official Oregon Nordic Club, that was formed two years ago, besides holding several meetings during the skiing season, arranges ski tours for the members (and anyone who cares to tag along) and holds x-c ski races 2 or 3 times during the winter, some of them entered into by top racers from Europe as well as our own. These are interesting and instructive events, and if you don’t enter any of the races you can ski all over the place on your own or with the other non-racers.
Always before we’ve held the races at Lake of the Woods, but our last such event of this season was held up at Crater Lake, and that location proved to be the ideal spot. Our club president, Bill Pruitt, laid out the racing course and it was a honey. About two miles long, it started right near the lodge on the Rim, forming a big loop with a diversity of dips, turns, and inclines to negotiate, now in and out among the big conifers, occasionally breaking out into a treeless opening with a long undulating glide, then up the corresponding grade under full steam, and so on around to the finish line – snorting spray, dripping sweat, and with a glow that only such a joyful and stimulating experience can produce – that and the hopeful expectancy of taking home one of those pretty gold-plated trophies.
