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Cross-Country Skiing

Joni Aker of Fort Worth, Texas, was a tennis player when she began cross-country skiing 15 years ago. Though she’d rarely been on snow, she took to the new sport instantly. “It literally takes only one lesson to enjoy,” says the 58-year-old, who skis at New Mexico’s Enchanted Forest. “I’ve known people who aren’t even willing to try cross-country skiing because of their perceptions that it’s so much work. That’s unfortunate because you can have a great time as a beginner simply by walking the trails with skis on.”

Aker admits that it can be a slippery slope in mastering the technique. “I didn’t know how to turn, how to get up after falling, or how to stop!” she says of her first time on “skinny skis,” which feel different from alpine skis because they’re narrower and don’t have sharp edges. But once Aker learned how to control the equipment, she found herself exploring all of the Enchanted Forest trails and then heading out into the backcountry.

Taking advantage of the long breaks that come with her job as a university professor, Aker skis for a month each Christmas and a week each March; the cross-country sessions, she says, help her manage chronic back pain. “Skiing keeps my muscles stretched out, and that relieves the pressure on my spine,” she says. “Cross-country skiing is exhilarating, and I get an endorphin high from the activity, which helps in my pain management. Plus, it’s simply beautiful in the woods.”

Where to Cross-Country Ski: Some 200 Nordic-ski centers in North America are part of the Cross Country Ski Areas Association (www.xcski.org), which will point you to trails, tips and more, from Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough areas (907-745-9690; www.matsugov.us/RecServices/) to West Virginia’s White Grass Ski Touring Center (304-866-4114; www.whitegrass.com). New Mexico’s Enchanted Forest, for instance, rents skis, and their instructors will teach you how to glide on them through 540 acres of groomed tracks in the Carson National Forest ($40 for pass, rentals and lessons; 800-966-9381; www.enchantedforestxc.com). Try the sport for free at one of more than 100 locations on this year’s Winter Trails Day, January 7 (www.wintertrails.org).

How to Train: If you’re a runner, your endurance is well suited to cross-country skiing. To prepare, lengthen the duration of your aerobic base training by upping your weekly mileage or spending 10 extra minutes a day on the treadmill. Or follow the lead of U.S. Olympic cross-country skiers. Most of their training time is dedicated to endurance work, but this past summer, while training for the Winter Games to be held in Torino, team members did strength work twice a week and intensity workouts three times a week. Their strength work focused on the arms and core, and the intensity work helped develop the cardiovascular system for the bursts of energy required to charge up a hill or across the finish line.

If you live far from snow, a set of classic all-terrain, or CAT, skis (see www.planetxc.com) can help your gliding skills.

Physical benefits: Cardio fitness and a calorie blast: According to the American Council on Exercise, a 140-pound cross-country skier burns 528 calories an hour — the highest amount of any aerobic activity.