Skiing at Love Creek

Noel — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:16:40 +0000

I went up to Love Creek on Saturday. Love Creek County Park is in Berrien County Michigan, just north of South Bend. Being east of Lake Michigan, they get plenty of lake-effect snow. They have well-groomed tracks for both skating and classic skiing. I skated 27.5 km and classic skied 6.5 km. I doubled the time I have spent on skate skis. I really improved my skating technique. I had planed to spend most of my time on classic skis, but I was having so much fun skating that I just kept going. I only did two laps on my classic skis. I spent most of that time stopped adjusting my kick wax. I later found out the temperature was several degrees cooler than I thought it was. I still haven’t figured out why one ski gripped, while the other one slipped. They were both prepared the same way. Skating sure was fun.

Skate skis!

Noel — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:41:58 +0000

Last week I went north to snow for two days. I alternated skiing fast by myself, and not–so–fast with my sisters. It was a good trip. I was able to skate ski on proper equipment for the first time. It will take a while to get used to the new style. It is easy to go fast, but I use too much energy in the process. After a couple hours, I was much more efficient—and tired—than when I started. My inline– and ice–skating experience probably helped. Until I hit the uphills. I could take the hills faster on classic skis than skating. I bought a pair of Atomic skate skis. They aren’t race skis, but they should be good to learn technique. I also bought a clearance pair of classic skis. They also aren’t race skis, but are much faster than my old skis. Now I need to build a waxing bench. It is snowing now, so I hope to get some more practice soon.

Oh yeah, the mandatory “Happy New Year!”

Noel Schutt » skate

Skiing at Love Creek

Skate skis!