XC SKI RACING PLUS

XC ski racing is fun… right? Well, what about ski racing with your brain turned on?

That’s ski orienteering! What’s the difference? In xc skiing, the course is marked to tell you where to go – just apply the horsepower. In Ski-O, you still have to apply the horsepower, but you have to decide where to go while doing it.

How does it work? At the start, you’re given a map of your course, like the map shown here. The pink circles represent control points that you must visit, in the right order, as fast as you can.

The solid lines are wide, skateable trails, and dashed lines are narrower trails where you can only double pole. Knowing your relative strength as a skier affects your route choices – how would YOU go from #10 to #11 on this map?

What do you do at the controls? At each control, there is a flag to mark the spot. To record that you’ve been there, you “punch” with an electronic recording device, worn on your finger. It makes a beep, and when you finish, the officials download the data from your finger stick and give you instant Equipment: results and your splits between all To carry your map, you use a map holder that mounts to controls. your chest, so that the map is always right in front of you, and can be rotated to align it with the direction you’re skiing.

Races are freestyle, so most skiers use race skate skis. Poles are modified to have larger baskets to deal with the soft snow on narrow trails. Competitions: The 2011 World Ski-O Championships will be in Tänndalen, Sweden, this March. Two CSU skiers are on the U.S. Team for that event: Alexandra Jospe and Alison Crocker.

The next local event is the New England Regional Championships, at The Balsams Grand Resort, Dixville Notch NH. Check out www.NESkiO.com for more information on local events near you! A Finnish skier racing at the 2009 World Championships in Hokkaido, Japan. For more information on Ski Orienteering, contact Larry Berman at [email protected]. This explanation is sponsored by Berman’s Orienteering Supply