Skate-Skiing: Go graceful into that good snow

AMC Outdoors, January/February 2000

By Michael Lanza

I decided a few years ago to really learn the skating style of cross-country skiing, in which skiers mimic ice skaters as they glide across groomed snow faster than is possible using the classical, or diagonal, style. I'd grown tired of looking like a dancing bear with my self-taught, abysmal skating technique. So I went to see the guru of nordic skiing, Mike Gallagher, who at the time was running the ski school at the Mountain Meadows Cross-Country Ski Area in Vermont.

Gallagher pointed down a flat, wide lane of groomed snow and told me to skate about 50 yards so he could take stock of my ability. I glided awkwardly, arms and legs seemingly not connected to the same brain, then crashed hard on my butt.

"Good!" Gallagher boomed, grinning slyly. "I'm glad you came for a lesson."

Nearly four decades after his first Olympics, Mike Gallagher not only looks like someone who can ski the polypropylene off people half his age, he has a resume that places him among the most elite ski instructors in the country. Gallagher raced for the U.S. National Team in the 1964, 1968, and 1972 Olympics, then coached the team through three Olympics—1980, 1984, and 1992—serving as head coach from 1980 to 1986. He won nine national championships and was consistently the top American finisher in international competitions.

Although it's been around for two decades, this racing style of cross-country skiing has lately been sweeping across the country. For anyone new to the sport, Gallagher offers these tips.

The Equipment
Gallagher advises beginners to choose skating skis in a length between their height and five to 10 centimeters shorter—good athletes might start with skis as long as their height. The reason is that beginners tend to cross the ski heels, which can trip you up; the shorter the ski, the easier that is to avoid. As you improve, graduate to skis that are 10 to 15 centimeters longer than your height.

Poles should be no more than chin height for beginners, and up to your lips if you're an intermediate skater. "The boot and binding are more important than skis and poles. That's the base of stability," Gallagher says. "You want a bona fide, supportive skating boot and binding, not a combi boot," he says, referring to models marketed as a combination skating and classical boot.

The Technique
As bipeds, humans are accustomed to walking forward. In skating, we must learn to maintain balance while moving side to side, Gallagher says. With every skating stride but the diagonal V, or herringbone, keep your toes, knee, and nose aligned above the inside of the ski that's carrying your weight. "Beginners start all spread out like a spider. As you get better, your V gets tighter." Experts will not move side to side much, because they're actually moving their skis beneath them. But first, you have to learn to balance while skiing side to side.

The various skating strides are like gears on a bicycle. The gliding herringbone, or diagonal V, is your "lowest gear," Gallagher says. The left pole and right ski are planted simultaneously, then left ski and right pole, while maintaining a splayed stance on your skis and keeping your weight centered. Use this slow gear when the hill becomes too steep for you to use the next gear up, the V1.

"The easiest one for beginners to learn and use the most is the V1," Gallagher says. In this technique, both poles and one ski strike the snow at the same time on the same side as the ski; push off the poles and ski, then shift your weight to the opposite ski and glide on it while raising your poles in preparation for poling off the first side again. Gallagher recommends that beginners stick with poling on the side that feels most comfortable while learning; later, you can work on alternating the ski on which you pole, to avoid tiring on one side and to move better through corners. "A lot of right-handed people feel better poling on the left, because they free-glide on their right leg, where they balance better."

The next stride is the V2 alternate—familiar to alpine skiers who skate up to a lift line. "It's a very pleasurable stride to use in flat terrain, and it's high velocity," Gallagher says. "Most skaters who have been out a few times will go from V1 to V2 alternate and back." As with V1, you double pole off one ski only, but start gliding on the ski before poling, then glide onto the other ski.

The V2 is a highly aerobic, high-performance racing step basically identical to the V2 alternate, except that you pole on both sides—thus poling at twice the frequency of the V2 alternate.

When you're gliding too fast to continue poling and maintain your balance, shift to free-skating, or speed-skating, in which you swing your arms without actually planting the poles in the snow. The classic beginner mistake is a stiff and upright posture while skating. To get more power and glide from each kick, compress your body, bending forward and using your stomach muscles while poling when conditions are fast. When conditions are slow due to soft snow, you'll have to speed up your poling rhythm, making it difficult to compress your upper body as much.

A second common problem among beginners is keeping the feet too far apart. Your boots should nearly brush against one another, without actually making contact. Push off the inside of your foot; if you push only off your toe, you will catch the ski tip and stumble. Gallagher advises beginners to think about pushing off the heel, to avoid catching tips.

"Beginners should stay off the hills—they'll get bogged down and really frustrated," he says. "Learn on flatter terrain."

His advice for intermediate skaters: "Ski with better skiers, and do some progressive lessons with a good instructor. Watch some good videos. And you're only going to get as good as the time you put into it."

Most important, Gallagher emphasizes: "Start out with a friend who really knows how to help you, or with a lesson. To go out and think you're going to read a book and do this, you'd better be very good.

—Michael Lanza is author of The Ultimate Guide to Backcountry Travel, from AMC Books.