This is my second year in Vermont and I don’t do any winter anything, unless you count starting the car while my fiancé shovel it out. Given that winters here are long and I can get a little listless, I wanted to give skiing a go.

I want to first mention that I work at a college and have been fortunate to try a lot of things for free, including: beet canning, bread making, and sausage making.

When I found out about the opportunity to learn how to cross country ski, naturally I just had to! It was a bit challenging and I fell 3 or 4 times, but once I got the hang of it, so worth it! I found that the step and glide technique was harder to learn but easier to get the hang of, and double poling was more exhilarating and slightly easier to learn but harder to balance and keep up with. Overall, I had a great time and plan to do it again next week. Not sure if I’ll ever get around to any other types of skiing or snowboarding, but I am considering it.

The only advice I really have are to bundle up, wear gloves, ear warmers or a hat that covers your ears, and just have fun with it. I stayed in the back of the group so I could practice the techniques we learned, but that was my personal preference.

Have you ever went cross country skiing? Do you have any tips? Please share!