Crossing Lake Louise on skis
- Claire Ottaviano
- Feb 14, 2016
- 2 min read
Me to my Australian friends: "I went cross country skiing today".
Friend: "Oh cool you went skiing".
Me: "No I went 'cross country' skiing".
...pause to listen to figurative crickets chirping...
Thought I'd share my experiences of cross country skiing seeing as no one from home, including myself when I got to Canada, has any idea of what cross country skiing is.
My first experience of cross country skiing came when we took our toboggans up to the Lake and noticed these two perfectly groomed parallel tracks in the snow.
Not knowing what they were we carelessly stepped on a few...maybe even rode toboggans over them... which we now know is a cardinal sin over here.
We found out they are 'cross country' ski tracks.
Unlike traditional downhill skiing, cross country skiing can take you over hills and even frozen lakes, pretty much it's like hiking, with skis on your feet, and the coming down is a lot more fun!
My first experience was on New Year’s Eve 2015, before I started my 1.30pm shift for the evening I headed to the rental shop to get some skis, poles and special shoes and headed to the trail behind our house with a friend.
Typical me, because I do everything the hard/clumsy way, I tried clipping into the skis on a slight decline... the first foot in is okay with your other foot planted on the ground, but what do you do when your first foot is in the ski and you take your other foot off the ground....bye bye Claire down the hill with a bum landing.
Took a little bit of getting used to but really it only takes a few hundred metres to get the flow.
You simply glide your feet forward, lifting your heels and pushing with a forward momentum with your legs.
The first trails we conquered, the Bow River and the Campground trails, are fairly flat with only some slight ascents and one very mild (but at the time scary) downhill.
My second attempt at cross country skiing saw me hit the 'tramline' trail. Not so fun as the whole way up is...well... up! As a novice it was definitely a challenge! My three cross skiing companions were flying but I struggled a little with my skis, after swapping with one of the girl’s shorter skis it was much easier so I think I'll go shorter next time.
Lake Louise has heaps of cross country ski and snowshoe trails that offer some of the most amazing views of the mountains (see ski hill in the above picture). We have a few more to tackle and just a few more months of winter snow to do them in!
In summer the trails turn into hiking trails even more popular with tourists.
If you want to try cross country skiing it really is for anybody. At around $20-30 for skis, poles and shoes it really is an affordable whole day winter activity.
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