Help for Struggling Skate Skiers: Why is it so hard?

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2 жыл бұрын

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Is skate skiing harder than you thought it would be? Did you think your experience with ice skating or "skating" on your downhill skis would help with skate skiing, but it's not?
This video explains how a skate ski is constructed and designed to work, which will give you insight into hat it's going to take to learn how to skate ski.

Пікірлер: 64

@bladerunner1458 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the excellent explanation. I’m a Nordic Ski Patroler and I just bought skate skis 20 years ago and figured I could do it very easily. It did not work out like that. After I spent a lot of money on good equipment I had to say to myself how stupid I was to not even try it before I bought the equipment but I felt with my skiing experience I could do anything. The first time I went out was exhausting and did a mile. The next time I was able to go 2 miles. Then I slowly improved. I Read up on it, took some lessons and at the end of the season I was able to do 5 miles. Although I’m slowing down in my older age I am still very capable of doing 15 to 25 miles in a day. I’m still learning and it’s amazing how snow conditions affect performance. Keeps me in perfect shape by working all my muscles and keeps my balance sharp. It’s a perfect sport and keeps you warm in the winter time and helps me look forward for snow.

@davideverett5214 2 жыл бұрын

I Patrol XC in Pennsylvania, and was thinking of buying Skate skis soon.

@dapaulson1 2 жыл бұрын

This is one of the very best presentations of the challenges for skate skiing. The presentations just keep getting better!

@benloper5727 2 жыл бұрын

I picked up skate skiing quite easily, but noticed that I had a habit of dragging my "toe" in the snow. This explained the problem and solution very clearly. Thanks.

@awfan221 Жыл бұрын

Yep, same

@p1u Жыл бұрын

Same here.

@brodaism 2 жыл бұрын

One of the best channels in English to learn xc skiing! Good job!

@missesmew 2 жыл бұрын

Took me a few years and I thought I would never be able to do it, but once you do… lol. It’s the absolute coolest way to spend your winters. Cardio, total body, balance. Their not lying when they say it’s the best workout in the world. Probably half that reason is because of doing it in cool crisp air. Classic is great and what I did the longest but once I got my Madshus ,it’s skate, skate and more skate! ✊🏽👌🏾👊🏾🤘🏾

@aivarabdullin7252 5 ай бұрын

Hello! Can you write more specifically about the length of ski poles for skating, how does their length affect the promotion and technique and speed of movement? Thank you so much for your channel!

@awoodswalkphotography 2 жыл бұрын

Great video and good to know how to stop digging that front tip of the ski into the snow!

@derzkoeradio Жыл бұрын

Wow! It’s all so beautiful! Especially Rossingol

@outdooroutfitters3658 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this!! Very nice video.

@ecycled3d 2 жыл бұрын

What a great video! Thank you.

@layerdballoonswe Жыл бұрын

I remember doing this as a kid and tried it on my classic cl203 rskin and it works on classic too

@GT6mangt 2 жыл бұрын

What a great video. Just signed up at your website! Inspired.

@xanthoptica 2 жыл бұрын

You can tell Kim has been at this for a while. What a great distillation of key issues in skate skiing and their causes. After this, many of the drills in other NSL videos should make a lot of sense. And all in around 4 minutes!

@HS-ob3fz 2 жыл бұрын

Agreed, she has such a deep perception of the mechanics of the sport, it's amazing. She's a great skier but more important she is a great teacher. I just signed up for her online lessons! I have taken lessons at Cypress (I am from Vancouver) and I am grateful for what I learned from the Cypress instructors but I hardly had anyone explaining these details with such clarity!

@NordicSkiLab 2 жыл бұрын

@@HS-ob3fz You guys are too kind. To be clear, Kim is not the demo athlete. Credit for all the NSL demos goes to local athletes.

@alfrede.newman1838 2 жыл бұрын

FWIW I've signed onto the annual video subscription for a few yeats now and is a good way to get in the mood before and reflect back after a good day outdoors.

@CC-md9zb 7 ай бұрын

Excelente metodología y labor docente. Agradecimientos a Kim y a todo el equipo de NordicSkiLab desde España

@NordicSkiLab 7 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@leonid998 2 жыл бұрын

Your videos are (mostly) great and helpful. Thank you!

@MisterSimStar 2 жыл бұрын

Uuuuuhhhhh - her skating technique is brilliant!!!

@pantx0 Жыл бұрын

I'm new to xc ski but I am a speed skater and I found it quite easy to to make the transfer to xc ski. On the first day I went xc skate skiing I was able to do 9 miles in about one hour at Gatineau, QB. I did find peculiar the swing of the skis specially with the attachment from the toe bar and the loose heel. I am not an expert but I think inline skating in the summer could be very helpful if you are looking forward to skate ski in the winter, specially if you need to work on your balance.

@pantx0 5 ай бұрын

Darned good questions; you even had me thinking and back tracking to analyze! Traditional speed skating is a little like hockey where the blades are fixed to the boot; including the heel. In modern speed skating clap skates blades have the heel loose from the boot and this allows you to toe push as you would do in skate ski; with fixed blades if one toe pushes, the blade gets stuck in the ice and you can even crash. Balancing on one foot and pushing to the other foot by weight transferring to the other leg is a skill needed for both skating and xc skate but I would say it's just a different "feel" because of the length of the ski. The length of the ski just makes it a unique movement that is even hard to replicate by rollerskis. I think in general any type of skating that one can do, will exercise that skill in common with xc skate which is that transfer of weight from one leg to the other and also work a long glide after the push. For me, even One Skate/ V2 was rather easy to do and I owe it all to skating (most of my skating is Inline Speed skating). Too bad I picked up skate skiing so late in life (at age 58) otherwise I think I could have been very competitive. @vibratingstring

@paulblichmann2791 Ай бұрын

Biggest difference, you eliminate up-down motion in skating but you have it in skiing to work the poles and the camber. And skiing is a simpler motion, V-ing only, powering inside edges only.

@joykosmerl3947 7 ай бұрын

This is exactly what I needed! The tip on how not to “walk” the skis!

@xnoelle25 Жыл бұрын

I just want to know how to get around the resort

@user-wl8mf6vs3d 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for videos! I can surely distinguish one problem in my skating techniques, that I can't cope with. When I did my first steps in it, I was strongly addicted to performing offset strides only on the left side. And now I really don't know how to "break" this neuromuscular connection and to make strides on the right side as well as on the left :(

@NordicSkiLab 2 жыл бұрын

Leave your left pole in your car and only ski with your right pole. You’ll figure it out

@user-wl8mf6vs3d 2 жыл бұрын

@@NordicSkiLab thank you very much! I am very grateful for your attention! Expecting the ski season with strong impatience, but it is not enough snow yet. Wish you to enjoy an excellent winter!

@hypothalapotamus5293 Жыл бұрын

I think that this video is close, but lacks an important point. Ice skates, roller blades, and downhill skis will strongly turn inwards when angled to one side. This produces a self righting behavior similar to how you right yourself on a bicycle (though with a bike, the handlebars are used to instinctively adjust the turn radius.). The absence of rockering in skate skis(compare that to the curve of the figure skate at 2:12, which gives the skates a pretty short turn radius when angled) makes holding the glide very difficult, as an angled skate ski will still more or less go in a straight line (there is no self-righting effect). The difference in skate technique for self correcting skates vs non-self-correcting skates is most visible in the in-line speed skaters' double push, where both of the skates are to one side of the skater's center of mass at several points in the skate motion. A skate skier would fall over nearly instantly if attempting a similar technique. I'd personally recommend renting skate skis before buying. One skate requires weight transfer that is both precise and confident. Offset has greater margin for error, but is potentially very tiring.

@annoyed707 4 ай бұрын

It's especially challenging for flat-footed non-skaters who've done a lot of classic skiing.

@paulblichmann2791 Ай бұрын

Youve already skated dozens of miles from your turns.

@alfrede.newman1838 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome, this sort of explanation is exactly what I was trying to find. In my case I could ice skate and downhill ski (back in the 50's and 60's) almost before I could walk but now as a senior trying to pickup nordic, I found classic was a lot easier to grasp than skate. It seems last season I forced myself to relax while skate skiing, listened to what my body felt was natural when skate skiing and everything including balance and gliding seemed to click. One question on equipment .. there's lots of focus on ski brands/profiles, but is there a good source for boot (classic, kate, combo?) reviews? Yes ... the ski hits the snow BUT the boot is on your foot and TBH I am very skeptical of the sales people you find in most ski stores selling anything to do with Nordic equipment. Many thanks ... this is an awesome video.

@user-wl8mf6vs3d 2 жыл бұрын

In my opinion, Fischer Carbonlite ski boots is a golden middle according to the price and quality. But, if you are not limited in money, Alpina Elite 3.0 will bring you a lot of pleasure.

@oliviabn2084 2 жыл бұрын

All of the biggest brands (Fischer, Rossignol, Alpina, Madshus, Salomon) make great boots, and all make what is now known as a pursuit boot (combi boot). I would recommend finding the brand that fits your foot the best, and then purchasing a skate or pursuit boot. Buying second hand on places like facebook marketplace is a great way to save money on good boots as well.

@alfrede.newman1838 2 жыл бұрын

@@oliviabn2084 Many thanks Olivia, just one stuctural question ... ex. Fischer RC5 Skate versus RC5 Combi boot, or any combi ersus skate boot in general, whats the real structural difference between a skate & a combi boot? They seem to look the same? Many thanks again.

@alessandrodelachenal4070 2 жыл бұрын

@@alfrede.newman1838 IMHO It Is Always Better to have separate boots and skis, both for Classic and skating. The Forces exerted in those techniques are very different and with unsuited apparel you waste any best effort...

@stevendeckert6373 Жыл бұрын

@@alfrede.newman1838 They're not the same-combi boots are much more flexible in the sole, and the cuff is more flexible and also lower on the boot in a combi boot vs a skate boot. If you want to skate, get skate boots. If you want to classic, you can classic ski in classic or combi boots.

@user-ju8xk7tp6b 2 жыл бұрын

Hi. Could you say , What height poles should use in the Skate ski?

@ianholmquist8492 2 жыл бұрын

I prefer my skate poles around chin height (significantly longer than my classic poles)

@inesschweizer5070 2 жыл бұрын

danke

@user-ju8xk7tp6b 2 жыл бұрын

Turn on subtitles , please.

@NordicSkiLab 2 жыл бұрын

KZfaq autogenerate subtitles. I'm unsure why it generates them for some videos and not others.

@Rizzzler69601 7 ай бұрын

I joined my schools team and went skiing twice then raced a 4k, 😀

@shawndecastro8457 2 жыл бұрын

The terrain in these videos is really flat. Where I ski it's not that flat for that long it's constant elevation change. So maybe it's not you it could be the terrain. It's not easy to learn to one skate in constant elevation change.

@shawndecastro8457 2 жыл бұрын

Most people don't have the right wax to one skate. If your not gilding easy your not gonna one skate. Most of these athlete's have pros waxing their skis.

@andrejporedos1513 2 жыл бұрын

it is very easy top learn. I do it by myself. It takes 15min every second run and it makes sliding significantly easier.

@stevendeckert6373 Жыл бұрын

Wrong. I can V2/one skate and one year I skied all season without waxing my skis. Didn't know any better. Wax is less important than ski fit and quality of ski flex, and grind and base condition. If all those are correct, then think about the wax.

@paulblichmann2791 Ай бұрын

Why so hard? Because its damn exhausting! It's interval-level effort just to maintain glide. Really gotta hold back the pace early in sessions, because it feels good to go fast but you'll fry your legs in 10 minutes.

@BertGraef 2 жыл бұрын

Hill and deep or cold snow and very cold temps. Its all ways going to be hard, no matter what.Adjust your pace, and dont be afraid to take a breather. Your not training for the winter Olympics. Enjoy the scenery. You dont need expensive equipment. When we started skate sking after Bill Koch invented it in the early 80s , hell, we all just skated on classic equipment with unwaxed skis for a few years until skate equipment became available. We did the one legged marathon skate thing on classic tracks for miles before any groomed tracks were available. Glide wax and brushes and scrapers ??..... We had nothing. I remember using car wax on my skis .People these days are spoiled and have no clue.

@zer00rdie Жыл бұрын

You really don't need this type of ski to learn how to skate.

@Marty00011 2 жыл бұрын

well, it's not

@ianholmquist8492 2 жыл бұрын

It's exactly like ice skating. No idea what you're talking about. With an hour of trial and error you can get the basics down.

@whocares_bear Жыл бұрын

She literally never said that.

@ianholmquist8492 Жыл бұрын

@@whocares_bear it was the first thing she said

@whocares_bear Жыл бұрын

@@ianholmquist8492 What she said: "I thought it would be more like ice skating OR skating on my downhill skis BUT those skills DIDN'T seem to transfer" Better turn up your hearing aid.

@ianholmquist8492 Жыл бұрын

@@whocares_bear right. And i was saying i found it to be exactly like those things. Turn up your understanding aid

@whocares_bear Жыл бұрын

@@ianholmquist8492 I thought you were being sarcastic when you said "It's exactly like ice skating" as in "yeah right". And no, it's really not. I have ice skated and roller bladed and after 5 times my skate skiing still isn't smooth. It's a whole other system. The skis way longer and balance is a lot harder. Also, there's no uphills and downhills in ice skating so stop being silly.