For cross-country, park is new terrain
Vermont area tries to make trek fun
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The way Bill Salmon sees it, he's just making a snowy playground for young skiers to have fun and learn new skills as they slide over the double rollers, spine, table top, and PVC pipe.
But Salmon isn't talking about a terrain park at a downhill resort. He's the director of the 30-kilometer Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center in southern Vermont, and last season he utilized the center's four snowmaking guns to not only blanket a portion of the network for skiing, but to create a terrain park for cross-country skiers, which is expected to open later this month.
"They're making twin-tipped Nordic skis now," he said. "This will allow them to do whatever they want."
Just click on YouTube and you'll see US Ski Team member Andy Newell from Shaftsbury, Vt., on his free-heel cross-country skis doing a backflip over a car or skiing in a halfpipe.
Terrain parks and backflips are far from the norm. Cross-country skiing is still about going over the river and through the woods on free-heel skis, but across New England there are some twists on the trails as centers hope to hook young skiers on Nordic skiing before they leave for snowboarding or Alpine skiing. They are also holding more spectator-friendly competitions to both entice and educate the masses.
"There's no question that the teenage years are the challenge for the cross-country industry," said Chris Frado, president of the Cross-Country Ski Areas Association in Winchester, N.H. "We think of it as peer pressure and the appeal of speed. Cross-country doesn't have the flash for kids."
The average cross-country skier is between 35 and 54 years old, according to a 2007 study by the National Sporting Goods Association. They're about evenly split by gender.
The study also showed that kids between 12 and 17 make up only 3.4 percent of the Nordic skiing community.
Several years ago, The Sunday River Inn and
"When the parents are out sitting on the deck, the kids are still skiing," said Isham. "The kids will go out and build their own jumps and do helicopters on cross-country skis."
Other introductory programs are a bit more grounded. The nationwide Winter Trails Day is scheduled for Jan. 10, where first-timers can learn to cross-country ski or snowshoe either for free or at discounted rates. More than 20 cross-country ski centers (found at www.wintertrails.org, reservations required) across New England are participating, including Weston Ski Track, New Hampshire's Great Glen Trails, and Vermont's Smugglers' Notch.
Frado said New England touring centers are "cautiously optimistic" about the winter. Trail passes range from about $10 to $26 per day.
"We would always like it to be better," she said. "A lot of it takes reliable snow season after season."
The TD Banknorth New England Nordic Ski Association's marathon series routinely draws hundreds of competitors, beginning with the White Mountain Classic in Jackson, N.H., Jan. 24, followed by the Craftsbury Marathon Jan. 31, the Rangeley Lakes Loppet March 7, and Sugarloaf Ski Marathon March 22.
Traditionally a point-to-point ski, the Craftsbury Marathon is changing to a 25-kilometer loop that skiers will cover twice so they can start and end in the picturesque Craftsbury Common in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.
"We're trying to make it a more spectator-friendly event this year," said Craftsbury's executive director John Brodhead. "The format was changed because of cost and logistical energy. We're also trying to use this format to maximize spectators."
The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation has invested more than $250,000 on a new International Ski Federation standard trail that could ensure hosting NCAA Cross-Country Skiing Championships and the North American Super Tour. The area is unveiling a new race Saturday, an eastern invitational for college racers.
"Whenever we have a race like this, we bring in school kids to watch and it develops heroes," said Thom Perkins, the foundation's executive director. "We see races as an educational opportunity as well as competition. The more you see good skiers the better you understand how cross-country skiing works."
