Cross-country skiing
Tartu Marathon 2006 cross-country ski race in Estonia.
Cross-country skiing (also known as XC skiing) is a winter sport popular in many countries with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe and Canada. The popularity of the sport has been quickly growing in the United States.
Finnish soldiers on skis. Like most of the other Fennoscandinavian armies, virtually every infantry soldier is given ski training in the Finnish army.
Cross-country skiing is part of the Nordic skiing sport family, which also includes ski jumping, and a combination sport of cross-country skiing and ski jumping called Nordic combined. Free-technique cross-country skiing is also the method of locomotion in the combination sport of Biathlon, which adds rifle marksmanship to skiing.
A hobby and a sport
Recreational skiing in Kananaskis Country, Alberta.
As a hobby, cross-country skiing may be viewed as a kind of “bushwalking on skis”, where skiers tackle trails of various lengths and difficulties. Some skiers stay out for extended periods using tents and equipment similar to bushwalkers/hikers, whereas others take relatively short trips from ski resorts on maintained trails.
As a sport, cross-country skiing is one of the most difficult endurance sports, as its motions use every major muscle group and it (along with rowing and swimming) is one of the sports that burn the most calories per hour in execution. Modern cross-country ski competition is experiencing a revolution that is resulting in greater compatibility with audiences which began with the addition of the Sprint event to the World Cup and Olympic competitions. Today more and more races are being held in audience friendly formats, such as mass start, sprint, relay and pursuit (a race that involves switching skis and styles halfway through the race). The modern events in which athletes compete in at the World Cup and Olympics are (distances presented in Female/Male format): 1km Sprint, 2X1km Team Sprint, 10km/15km Individual Start, 15km/30km Pursuit, 30km/50km Mass Start and the 4x5km/4x10km Relay.
Sports events
Cross-country skiing (skating style) in Einsiedeln, Switzerland.
Today, there are several types of cross-country competitive events, involving races of various types and lengths, as well as biathlon, involving a combination of cross-country skiing and target shooting with a rifle.
The Winter Olympics, the FIS World Championships and the FIS World Cup events (including the Holmenkollen) have long been a showcase for the world’s fastest cross country skiers. There are also special distance ski races, sometimes called ski marathons, like Vasaloppet in Sweden and Birkebeineren in Norway. The skiing styles in these races might be fixed, or, in case of the so-called “double pursuit” event, the two styles are used each in their own separate half of the race (with a change of equipment in “pit stops” half way through).
Cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics
FIS Nordic skiing World Championships (including XC skiing)
XC skiing World Cup (weekly races throughout the winter seasons)
Cross-country skiers in western Norway.
Links
- FIS-Ski cross-country skiing portal – Latest results, ongoing/upcoming events, World Cup standings
- SWIX school – Ski wax and ski pole producer SWIX’s guide to ski waxing
- Cross Country Canada – Canada’s cross country skiing program
- 2006 U.S. Olympic Ski Team – Including cross-country skiing
- “The Hoppet” – – Australia’s WorldLoppet XC ski race;
- Australia’s XC Skiing Links – Including Australian XC Race Calendar;
- Timo Salmi’s cross-country skiing page
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Video: Cross Country Skiing basics
