All Blog Posts Tagged 'cross-country skiing' (5)

April is gathering momentum here, and most of our snow has turned to water. Around our house, there are only patches where the terrain and wind conspire to make big snow drifts. And even in the forests nearby, little snow remains. But I know of a trail, Lake Ann Pathway, not far from Traverse City, that gets more snow than other places around here and stays a little colder, so I went there yesterday to see if there was still enough snow on the trail to ski. My favorite section of the trail start… Continue

Am talking about cross-country skiing here. And this is a love note to my favorite sport. I feel that when I read about cross-country skiing, the information often concentrates on the physical health benefits. And of course, those benefits are bountiful and wonderful -- like the sport burns more calories per minute than almost any sport, and by being outside you get some nice vitamin D at a sun-diminished time of the year. and you build muscle strength and on and on. But the thing that gets… Continue

When my husband and I invite kids to go cross-country skiing with us, they've been known to run and hide, or slink off and call their parents to come get them. When we ask parents to bring the family along, they usually hem and haw and say they really should get their kids out skiing—after all, it's one of the healthiest, cheapest sports around—but usually they don't go. They know their kids will whine. Which would leave me thinking that kids and Nordic skiing just don't mix. Except that we hav… Continue

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about skiing at Reindeer Run Nordic Center near Empire. I called it one of the best-kept Nordic secrets in the Traverse City area. Well, here’s another off-the-beaten-path treasure: Champion Hill Nordic Trails, just off U.S. 31 on Marshall Road in Honor. In the summer, the Nordic center is a golf course, but come winter, the rolling greens are groomed and tracked for skatin… Continue

I’m letting the best-kept Nordic secret in Leelanau County out of the bag here: Reindeer Run Nordic Center near Empire. It’s run by Kevin Kelly, a wild-man skier who is a national parks firefighter by vocation. (Read about Kevin). Kelly is starting a homespun Nordic center in the pines outside of Empire. If there's snow, it’s always great for classic and Kelly tries to keep a skate trail groomed. The main trai… Continue