Nordic skiing

Start of Nordic Ski Race

I enjoyed watching our local, NWSC Nordic championship meet yesterday. It was something to see, watching these disciplined high school athletes race in the cold and wind, with nary a complaint.  Pictured above is the winner of the boy's competition.

Winter workouts

Nordic Skiing at Giants Ridge

I'm often surprised by how many people who simply don't want to go outside during the winter months.  Though I get cold very quickly when I'm standing still, the winter months provide some of the best conditions for a couple of my favorite sports; boot hockey and Nordic skiing.  I also continue to enjoy daily walks throughout the winter season.

I was delighted to read an article, Don't fear the winter workout, that confirmed the benefits of outdoor activity during the winter months. Following are five benefits of training outdoors throughout the winter, as noted by the editors of Women's Health magazine:

1.  You'll go for longer - thanks to a beautiful outdoor environment.

2.  You'll blast more calories - simply staying warm can cause you to burn 5 to 7 percent more calories.

3.  You'll save money - once  you've purchased some good winter clothing to go with your exercise equipment you no longer need to spend money on indoor facilities.

4.  You'll fight germs - Gyms are breading grounds for germs and bacteria. Indoor air is also two to five times more polluted than outdoor air.

5.  You'll think more clearly.  Being close to nature increases our well-being.  It has an immunizing effect by protecting us from future stresses and helping us concentrate and think more clearly.

It is also best to begin your workout into the wind and to wear layers of clothing.  If you become sweaty you can remove a layer or two.  Wet skin and cold are a bad mix.

Good clothing is of great importance.  It used to be merino wool was the only fabric that was effective at wicking away moisture from the body.  Now there is a lot of polypropylene base layer clothing made especially for outdoor activity.  In addition to a good hat and mittens, warm socks are essential.  As the Norwegians like to say, there is no bad weather, only bad clothing.  

Enjoying record breaking 52 degree day

Snow boarding fun

Yesterday afternoon, when the weather warmed to 52 degrees Fahrenheit, people were enjoying the artificial snow at Elm Creek Winter Recreation Area in Maple Grove.

Nordic ski race

Given the extremely mild winter we've had thus far, some of the city lakes still have areas of open water. Global weirding is alive and well.  While many are thankful for the lack of snow and mild weather, those who work in industries that rely on snow are hurting big time.  An article in the StarTribune, Minnesota businesses are seeing red ink in brown winter, discusses some of the impact of the warm dry winter.

One outdoor winter enthusiast, Alison Gannett, has even started "The Save Our Snow Foundation", to demonstrate solutions to climate change that can be cost-effective, reduce pollution and increase energy security, while also saving our snowpack and our planet's ecosystems.

Junior Olympic Nordic ski championships

Ski carrier with bumper stickers

More stickers on car top carrier

Theodore Wirth Park, in Minneapolis, has been hosting the Junior Olympic Nordic championships this week.  While this is a big event in the world of Nordic skiing, it received all of 2 1/2" of column space in today's Star Tribune.  This is about 2% of one sports page, or less than .02% of the total sports section.  No pictures were included in the report, only the top three places for each of the classic and freestyle events.

One of the local favorites, Jessie Diggins won her older junior girls 5K freestyle race by nearly a minute over the second place finisher.  Sorry Jessie, your fleeting reference on page 11 didn't rate as high as a picture of Goldy, the University of Minnesota's mascot, tackling a football player on page 2.  Go figure!?

A life time sport, like Nordic skiing, is something we should be encouraging more than we do in this country.  The discipline of an endurance sport also seems to complement academics. The team our daughter, Rachel, skis on at Armstrong High School had an average GPA of better than 3.75.

Coincidentally, while the ski meet was going on this morning, I was in the neighborhood, at the Breck Ice Arena, playing boot hockey.  Spectators were being shuttled to nearby Theodore Wirth from the ice arena parking lot.  I took pictures of one of the ski carriers in the parking lot this morning.

Extracurricular activity fees in schools

Did you know now for students to simply participate in a High School extracurricular activity it commonly requires a significant fee? In addition to athletics and drivers education, even debate and the school play require fees for participation at many of our public schools. At Armstrong High School, in Minnesota's School District 281, students must fork over $210 per sport. Fine arts activities require $110 to register for participation. To enroll a student into drivers education, now being run outside of the school system, it will cost students an additional $350 or more.

Fees from students and families are also commonly needed for equipment, optional training camps, etc. For students and parents the sound most associated with participation in school activities a big Cha Ching! Thankfully scholarship funds are available for students receiving free or reduced rate lunch. Armstrong has a family cap of $700 for student activities.

Back in the day, when I was going though Minneapolis' public school system, I thank God we didn't have fees, or likely I would never have joined the sports that I did. As it was, it took me some time to build up my courage and go out for Nordic skiing and track during my junior year of High School, and then adding cross country running my senior year. Being raised in a large family of modest means, the expectation of a fee would have been a big barrier for my participation. As it turns out, those high school sports have become life long activities for me.

Taxes for the common good is an unpopular concept these days. The current government trend is toward user fees, even though these fees hit those with the fewest means hardest. My heart grieves for the many kids who will not be going out for the school play, playing chess or a sport of their choice because of our fee system. Shame on us.

Pictures are from the Northwest Suburban Conference Nordic skate ski meet held December 8th at Elm Creek Park Reserve, in Maple Grove, MN.

Nordic ski trail user fees

Nordic skiers at Theodore Wirth Park

Theodore Wirth Park chalet

My enthusiasm for nordic skiing this winter has been dampened considerably by the user fees required to ski on trails, both in town and around the state.  Locally, the Minneapolis Park and Rec trails require a daily pass of $8, and a seasonal pass $45.  Then regionally there are the Three Rivers Park District trails which charge $4 for a daily pass or $50 for the annual pass. Then, at the state level, the Minnesota DNR has trails which can be skied for $6 a day or $20 for the season. 

Bike trails developed across the state are now being widely used, at no cost to the riders.  Given the trend in "user fees" I wonder if they too will soon be requiring fees for use. 

Heading downhill

As Americans continue to get heavier, and less fit, shouldn't we be doing everything we can to remove barriers to active sports for our kids and adults, while incentivizing fitness activities?  I have to believe that the costs of making nordic ski trails freely available to the public would more than outweigh the loss of productivity and increased health care from a sedentary population.  It is not right that only the wealthy can afford to be healthy.  Shared public taxes are vital to develop and support a safe, educated and healthy public.

In addition to the exercise one of the things I enjoyed most about nordic skiing is getting out in nature and away from all electronic devices; no ipod, cell phone, pda or email.  I took a camera with me yesterday, as evidenced by these pictures.  The camera stays home on the next ski.