Vermont Sports January

Like Bambi: How to Skate Ski on Ice by Annie Pokorny
The first time I ever skate skied on ice, I
was a freshman on the Middlebury Ski
Team and had recently graduated from a
childhood of skiing on the hard packed,
dry snow of the Rocky Mountains. Clipping
into my bindings and stepping onto
the course, I “advanced” across the wind
blown stadium at Stowe.
“Advanced” is a gross exaggeration
of my movement because, in truth,
I only made it about two strides before I
pushed my ski into the icy floor to gain
no response other than the terrifying realization
that I had no control over my skis
and that when I hit the ground, which I
would, I would hit hard.
The day proceeded in a similar
fashion: me gaining the courage to take
another step, only to be punished for my
naivety with a frozen burn. I’ll spare you
the details on the down hills, but those
weren’t pretty, either. By the end of the
day I was in tears, trying to hide it from
my coach while simultaneously apologizing
for the massive disappointment I
would be as an Eastern skier. It would be
my retirement, the ice, and I saw no way
around that.
That day was three years ago and to
this day the first icy outing of the season
brings back too-real images of its struggles,
but, despite their downfalls (liter-
“If you can navigate
it, an icy course will
give you the swiftest,
smoothest, most
exhilarating ride you can
find, and you won’t even
need edges.”
ally), icy conditions have broken through,
so to speak, to find a place in my heart. If
you can navigate it, an icy course will give
you the swiftest, smoothest, most exhilarating
ride you can find, and you won’t
even need edges.
The most important, and most
counterintuitive, part of skate skiing on
icy conditions is committing to your ski.
In the name of self-preservation, our instincts
tell us to shorten our stride and not
shift weight too far to either side, for fear
of tipping over. Unfortunately, all that instinct
does is keep your skis from flattening
out across the ice, making them more
squirrely and harder to control.
Rather than sitting in the middle and
using your (nonexistent) edges to navigate
the ice, try to shift all of your weight onto
each ski, so that you’re entire base touches
the ice, giving you more stability and glide
(because more glide means that you’ll get
past the icy spots with fewer strides!)
A good visual cue to help you get
your weight all the way shifted is seeing
that your nose, hip, (bent) knee and toe
line up in the same vertical plane. When
all of those are stacked, you’ll be in a
strong, athletic position over the ski —
whether or not it feels that way.
“Well,” you say, incredulous of my
analysis, “if my ski is flat on the snow so
I’m not using my edges, how do I push off
of it to get across to the ice onto the other
ski”
Excellent question.
You don’t use those edges.
Ever.
Cross-country skis don’t have edges
because edges are heavy. Although they
would be nice for carving icy down hills,
their weight would drastically slow you
down getting up (the hill). They also don’t
have edges because you simply don’t need
them. Skate skiing is not all that different
from classic skiing in that it involves a
kick and a glide.
People mistake skating skis to be
more like ice skates, and try to kick from
the inside of their knee laterally, but if
you’re fully committed to your weight
shift, you’ll get a stronger, more efficient
motion if you drop your hips and push
down and back, rather than trying to use
your edges as start blocks.
You’re already moving, you don’t
need to crash your momentum and collapse
your stability by digging in sideways.
For that same reason, if you’re
going to scrub (reduce) speed on the
downhills, slide sideways rather than going
into full, knee knocked pizza.
“Sounds good in theory,” you say,
“but what about practice”
That’s the caveat.
Skiing well on ice takes a lot of
practice. Go out and ski without poles,
feeling what it’s like to get over your
skis. Balance as long as you can, keeping
your knees and ankles bent with strong
legs. And, if you fall, get back up and try
again; it’s worth figuring it out and gliding
with confidence over the ice.
Annie Pokorny
is a writer from
Spokane, Wash.,
who skis professionally
for SMS
T2 at Stratton
Mountain, Vt.
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