Thanks so much for the kind words! And glad I can inspire you :) I hope you're also having a great start to your summer.

Thanks, Greg! It was really fun :)

Hey Becky! I agree, not a bad problem/excuse to have - haha :) It appears that I'll be getting back to a set summer work schedule starting next week, so hopefully I'll have some time to produce at least a little more content moving forward. For the past few weeks I've only had one actual day off as we're getting the summer resort at which I work prepared for the season. Always a bit of a hectic push right at the beginning. Anyway, despite doing a lot of volunteer work at various outdoor events in Tahoe over the years, I have yet to help out with the Tahoe 200 ultramarathon. I've met people who've run it before, and it sounds awesome, so I may have to look at volunteering one of these years :) Do you run it or volunteer with it? Thanks for tuning in, and for the kind words :)

First off, good to see your doing A.O.K. Second, you bought a 400mm lens didn’t you??? Indeed it must have been a penny. The firewood takes me back in time. I dunno about you, but I feel soar looking at you work those logs. I’ve been bad in the strength training dept, always been doing the endurance workouts. I hope to change that soon. Anyways, Thanks for sharing the roller ski segment. My budget to buy a pair has been questionable, esp since I have inline skates. When I saw you step turning, I said “That’s another good reason to have a pair”. Since you have the fisher, why not get the brake accessory for the downhills? Anyways, nice views. I enjoy seeing the variable terrain and west cost geology. Cheers. E

@@ecphotographer Hey EC! I actually bought the Nikkor 300mm F/4 as it was moderately affordable on my budget. And, honestly, I wanted something less than the 500mm (max) that I had been using because oftentimes it's just too much zoom, particularly when walking around the forest or in thicker foliage. And I've only used a prime macro lens before, so this was a first taste of a telephoto prime :) Yeah, I was pretty sore after lifting all that wood! But I'm glad I got it. Not sure of what I'll do when I get older though. haha! I had considered buying the braking system by Fischer, but it just seems like a lot of extra stuff. And, it might encourage me to descend hills that I otherwise wouldn't on roller skis. I also like the idea of learning to evaluate/choose appropriate terrain for the gear in which I'm running. In all reality, though, I mostly want to use the roller skis for maintaining single leg balance and a little cardio workout. As always, thanks so much for the kind words and nice feedback :) p.s. I am having a lot of fun with that new lens. A lot faster than my kit lens, and it yields really crisp shots!

@@JaredManninen It always feels good when you can see great results and say to your self that your money is well spent.

@@ecphotographer Agreed! I was reminded last night my appreciation for a shorter lens when I used the longer for a specific bird scenario, but completely lost the shot because I had so much zoom. I just couldn't keep the bird in frame as it swooped directly over the top of me. Alas, everything is a work in progress ;)

Thanks for the kind words :) Yes, I'm skate skiing rather than classic in this video. In a lot of respects, I equate roller skiing with skate skiing more than classic as the technique lends itself better to the gear. I don't own a set of classic roller skis yet, although I will probably eventually invest in a set. But I'm not a huge fan of classic roller skiing because the mechanism that's used to prevent the roller skis from rolling backwards is a type of stop system. The mechanics of that device essentially prevent the wheels from rolling backwards. And this artificial application of a "grip zone," in some cases, can lead to poor form. Because skate skiing is 100% technique-based (i.e. no grip zone to help you go forward so if you don't know proper technique it's super hard to go forward), I see roller skiing as being much more similar to skate skiing. The wheels essentially roll in both directions so, again, if you don't technique it's hard to go forward. Like I said, I'll probably buy a set of classic rollers skis in the future. But, for now, I'll skate ski roller ski :) Thanks again for tuning in and commenting!

@@JaredManninen I see what you mean about the roller skiing mechanism which is being used to approximate the grip zone. Let me add my perspective as I've been inline skating (rollerblading) for a bit more than a year now. I took this up mainly to get used to the feeling of sliding around given that I'm learning to ski as an adult. You can also carve turns with inline skates. The wheels are shaped in a way that they have the equivalent of edges which allow for parallel turns. I was having so much fun doing inline skating that I decided to take it up as a standalone hobby. The skate skiing method of pointing the feet in a v-shape is a beginner level stride when it comes to inline skating. It is useful for acceleration and going up slopes, but not so much for maintaining speed. There is an intermediate level stride where the supporting foot points straight ahead and the other leg goes out to the side for the push. This stride is more useful for maintaining speed. I've been trying to learn this stride and I'm nearly there at this point. It was quite challenging for me for a while as I realized that I didn't have good single leg balance with my left leg and also I was having a hard time keeping the weight centered on the supporting leg (again left) as the pushing leg goes out to the side. This stride feels more similar to classic skiing because the supporting foot points straight towards the direction of motion and you can also glide as the pushing leg recovers. The shorter wheelbase of inline skates allows for such a stride, so I think it may probably not work very well with rollerskis. There are a lot of fun things you can do with inline skates. My focus for now is on developing an efficient stride and be able to skate a small distance. I just wanted to add my thoughts about striding from an inline skating perspective.

​@@Krishna_Marri That's interesting about the rollerblade techniques. I've only tried them a handful of times way back in the mid-90s. But I fell once or twice and decided that was enough for me! haha :) I don't ice skate either which I'm sure is a slightly different technique, as well. This is all why it can be a mixed bag for people coming to xc skiing, though, specifically to skate skiing. I would say that half of the people who have experience in adjacent disciplines (rollerblading, ice skating, skating on alpine skis) can pick up the basics of skate skiing relatively quick. On the other hand, the other half of the people I work with become completely baffled by skate skiing. I think this boils down to the individual because some people find it harder to make small modifications to body movement (after they've been performing a certain movement for so long) than other people. Sometimes it's just a lot easier to learn from step one rather than trying to break an old habit. And I think that's why a lot of coaches in any sport/art would prefer people to come to them without any experience. Again, working with a blank canvas can just be a lot easier than trying to undo years of habit. All of that said, skate skiing (on snow or with roller skis) definitely sounds different than inline skating. Unless you're double poling or straight lining it downhill, you're always going to be skiing in a v-shape. The rule of thumb, however, is to be as narrow as possible but as wide as necessary. Wider for uphill, more narrow for flats. But there's no way to keep them parallel and still be able to glide and push off (while using proper technique). You always have to commit complete weight to the push-off ski, just like in classic, but in skate skiing it's a lateral push-off. And you're actually gliding on the ski when pushing off in skate skiing, whereas with classic skiing the push-off ski technically comes to a stop when you set the grip zone. That later part is one reason why skate skiing is an inherently faster style of xc skiing. Long story short, I'm just trying to keep all of the roller skiing as close to on-snow skiing as possible so that it's a seamless transition between the two. Thanks for the insight, and for contributing to the conversation. I appreciate it!