Cross-Country Skiing, Or A New Way of Life?

Dave with his skis

The day after our first northern lights tour we really needed a sleep in. So we had organised guided cross-country skiing in the afternoon. I have to say I didn't wake up feeling 100%, I'm not really used to 4am nights. We did manage a good sleep, but I did feel like I was about to get sick. I definitely wasn't super keen for skiing. But man am I glad I went!

I felt 100% after the trip and have discovered my winter activity. I have felt like we are wasting our winters a bit, given that we are not massive downhill skiing fans. And we haven't really done any mountaineering. So to discover cross-country skiing has blown winters wide open. We are already planning on going back to Norway, purely for a cross-country ski holiday. When we planned our Tromso trip, we had only one skiing session planned, just to see how it was. As soon as we finished our first class we booked in for another one, and hired skis ourselves to go out on the trails yet again. It was that amazing.

The trails in Tromso

Basically it's like running really slowly, and if there's one thing I can do, it's run really slowly. It's exactly the winter spot for us; solitary, meditative, surrounded by trees, no real fear of dying, and without too much skill involved. I can't believe it took us this long to discover it. Though I think Norway is the best place to discover cross-country skiing. They say Norwegians are born with skis on their feet. And skiing that first time I can see what they meant. It's like all of Tromso were on the trails, there were people with their tiny toddlers, people with dogs attached to them, people just chatting as they skied along. It's definitely a way of life for them, and they are all so good at it, there was perhaps one 3 year old that I was better than, but other than that, they were all totally at home on their skis.

Dave ready to carve it up

It's funny that we had this life-changing epiphany where we did. Since the trails we were on are basically commuting trails, between the city centre and the university. In summer I think they are a bike path, I think it would be similar to someone hiring a bike and cycling around Lake Burley-Griffin in Canberra, and deciding that cycling is the best thing ever, and that they have to come back and do more. It does mean that the skiing we do next time, which won't be on commuter trails, should be even more awesome than what we have just done.

The other awesome thing about this activity is that you can catch a bus from the city centre to the start of the trails. There is no need for expensive lift passes, and everyone is super friendly on the trails. I guess it's because everyone has endorphins pumping through them. And the trails are all lit up, so you can ski anytime. The lady at the ski hire place said she couldn't sleep one night, so at 3am she got up and went skiing for a while. This is why I want to live in Norway!