Cross-country skiing in Langenfeld

2025-01-05T17:00:00-08:00austria, skiing, strava

Monday, December 30, 2024

I decided to try Cross-country (Nordic) skiing at Aqua Dome. I walked downstairs and rented some Salomon Classic Cross-country skis (25 euros/day) from Sunup Sports.

Salomon Classic 173 cm skis (ski length is based on 80 kg weight)
Salomon (44.5) boots
Salomon poles

One of the Aqua Dome concierges explained where the cross-country trails were located, and I walked around the Aqua Dome (toward the river/stream).

I found several cross-country skiers and followed them north across the bridge toward a large oval with well-prepared cross-country tracks. (The whole area around Aqua Dome has multiple cross-country skiing tracks.)

There were numerous cross-country skiers outside - more than I had expected. Most skiers used the newer skate-type skis and skated quite fast on the groomed surfaces.

I skied 7.42 miles for 85 minutes - not a bad effort for the first day of classic cross-country skiing.

After skiing, I returned my Salomon skis, boots, and poles to Sunup Sports.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

After breakfast, we decided to go cross-country skiing as a group. We walked downstairs to Sunup Sports (in our hotel) and rented 3 sets of Salomon cross-country skis, boots, and poles.

We decided to ski a few miles to the same area where I skied yesterday. We skied 6.3 miles for 82 minutes. Alex had not cross-country skied for 10 years and had to relearn.

By the end of the hour, he started to get the hang of the diagonal stride technique on cross-country skis. The weather was perfect, just above freezing with clear blue skies and no wind.

We finished skiing around 14:00 and dropped off our skis in the bike/ski storage room.

Here is a short video clip of Alex and Inna cross-country skiing:

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

At 14:30, I stopped by the Sunup Sports downstairs and rented the following gear:

Atomic Redster 173 cm Cross-country skating skis
Atomic skating boots
Atomic poles

I wanted to try skating on these skis (as I had seen most cross-country skiers doing).

I put them on and tried skating the regular route. I immediately got extremely hot and had to stop to cool off. I decided to return to our hotel room, drop off the heavy winter coat, and switch out my socks for ski socks (the cross-country skating boots require longer ski socks).

After this change, I tried skating in the next village south of Aqua Dome and found skating much easier. I was no longer overheating, and my boots were no longer pinching me. Skating is faster, but it requires a bit of finesse to dig into each rail of the ski in the snow.

I returned to Aqua Dome and returned my rented skis to Sunup Sports. I skated 5 miles in 87 minutes. It's going to take me some more time to learn to skate and ski properly.

Thursday, January 2, 2025

I decided to take advantage of the excellent weather and go cross-country skiing again. I rented cross-country skis and skied 6.26 miles for 76 minutes. After dropping off my rented skis, I rested in the room while Alex and Inna visited the spa.

Saturday, January 4, 2025

We decided to try cross-country skiing at 14:00. We walked downstairs to the Sunup Sports shop and rented cross-country skating skis, boots, and poles. Inna also bought a cross-country top to avoid sweating too much.

Atomic Redster 180 cm with Atomic boots and poles (for Boris)
Atomic Redster 170 cm with Atomic boots and poles (for Inna)

Initially, I showed Inna how to skate on cross-country skis, and she worked on the technique. When tired, she returned to the classic cross-country skiing technique. Inna made significant progress in learning the skating technique.

Technique summary (AI-assisted)

Skate-skiing basics: Keep your ankles and knees slightly bent and balance over the gliding ski. Push off with one ski and transfer your weight fully onto the other, bringing the free ski back underneath you before the next push. Practice smooth, balanced glides before trying to go faster.

Coordinate your poles with your skating rhythm. In V1, an offset double-pole action occurs on one side, once every two skating steps. In V2, a double-pole action accompanies each skating step.

On gentle terrain, make gradual turns by shortening your stride and taking small steps in the direction you want to go. REI’s skate-skiing guide explains these basic balance, glide, pole-use, and turning techniques.

Inna and I cross-country skied for 5 miles in 90 minutes, covering some new villages south of Langenfeld and forested areas we had never visited before.

Sunday, January 5, 2025

Before dark at 16:30, I wanted to skate on cross-country skis one last time. Once I finished soup and hot chocolate, I rushed to Sunup Sports to rent my skis. I had to wait about 20 minutes, as another family rented 4 pairs of skis.

I finally rented the following skating skis and boots:

Skis: Atomic Redster RT 192 cm
Atomic Boots
Atomic Poles (extra long for better push-off)

This time, I got the very long Atomic Redster RT 192 cm skate skis, and they were speedy. I could skate much faster than on the shorter 180 cm skis. I did not realize that 12 cm of extra length would make such a significant difference in speed.

Here are my Strava details: