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Help me out here.

I can't understand what the appeal is with crosscountry. Seems like too much of an effort for not enough speed.

Any cc's out there who care to let us know what makes it cool?

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Never tried it myself, but the people I know who like it don't like speed much anyway, but like snow. Others are from those parts of the US with lots of snow but no real hills. They've skied since they were kids, but are scared by anything of more than a few degrees.

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You fishing, gorilla?

 

I can't understand what the appeal of alpine skiing/boarding is. Seems like too much expense for not enough freedom. Any alpiners out there care to let us know what makes it cool?

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"You fishing"???? (What does that mean?)

 

I am not putting down cc-ers at all, just wondering what the appeal is as I can't see it myself.

 

Alpine is fast, exciting, exhilirating (typo?) and lots of other descriptive words. They don't seem to apply to cc - tell me if I am wrong please.

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"Fishing" is rather like trolling. The sarcasm of my first reply was because the appeal seems rather self-evident, at least to me smile.gif

 

Okay, so it was a straight question so I'll give a straight answer.

 

I think the shortest way to sum it up is that I get satisfaction from being self-propelled.

 

And it's true that your adjectives don't neccessarily apply to cc. But remember that cc encompasses many different activities - nordic touring can be pleasantly energetic, tele-touring (yoyo-ing) is both bl00dy hard work and exhilirating, and nordic racing is very athletic _and_ very fast.

 

But, hey, I also ski lift resorts too. Freeheel of course biggrin.gif

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I tried XC as they seem to call it here and it sucked. I just couldnt understand what part of it is fun. I mean if you want to get some exercise or whatever its like going for a run, or if you live in some big time snowy places where walking in deep snow is tough then it is a fast way to get from A to B, but it just was boring as hell, tiring and there was no adrenilane pumping at all. I cant see the apeal of it at all - mind you there are sports that are a lot more boring around!

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Think one has to comment on this one...

Cross-country is one the best forms of exercise there is, beats running/jogging 6-0 - good for your legs, back, arms, shoulders etc. Not to mention the cardiovascular workout + the quiet nature surrounding you.

Used to do 400-500km/winter in elementary school, then relatively quiet until few years ago when I started all over again; going for a nice little 25-30km spin, especially on a sunny day is hard to beat -- mind you that there weren't any huge mountains where I used to live.. Those of you that have been riding with me at the slopes know that being afraid of speed or steep places is hardly my reason for cross-country - in fact one of the reasons I like it is speed!

Haven't done it here in Japan, and probably won't as there is enough terrain for snowboarding + time is limited, can't really go for 15km of skiing in the evenings after work like I used to do... smile.gif

 

my 2 yen,

Kuma

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Cross-country sucks arse. I was forced into doing it the otherday at Sugadaira Elementary School. Let`s put it this way, the school asked me to do the zenso(lead the way type thing - ceremonial) for a school race, the race was for 6,7 and 8 year old kids. They gave me a 5 minute head-start, I fell over about 10 thousand times, came in 10 minutes behind the last kid, in the process doing a lot of damage to my pride. It ain`t fun, there`s no thrill involved - and it`s fricking exhausting. I will hear no arguments on this point. All people responding to this mail are required to agree.

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it's good exercise, and unlike running,

you're not even really thinking about

how hard it really is, once you get a good

clip going. it's super low impact, so

your knees aren't cashed once your done

with it. of course, i haven't done it

since i was a kid, if it's snowing and i

have free time, i'm going riding.

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Hmmmm

It never seems like fun to me - more like just an exercise ala going to the gym or jogging. Perhaps I should give it a go.

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  • 2 weeks later...

As others have said, cc is great exercise and can be real fun once you get going. Doesn't bash your knees in as much as skiing does, and gives your body a good all round workout while having a good time in the snow.

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I like to think it as a stroll in woods, where you use set of skies instead of shoes. You don't need to run, just walk around. Find animal tracks, look for birds, sign of Spring, etc.. I think it is called "nature ski" here. If you'd like to put some exercise to it, then use groomed tracks or try snow shoe running.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by Eggelb:
Is the Hakuba olympic place the best?


Presume you're talking about the Snowharp.
It's pretty good, but not very extensive - only 2 courses; a 2.5km and a 5km and some miscellaneous loops. But it is the Olympic venue, and it's only Y200/day!!
And there's no public transport - about 30min(?) walk from MinamiKamishiro station.

:frustrated: So much snow, so few trails!

And for all of you who don't "get" nordic - that's fine by me; less traffic on the trails.

[This message has been edited by Panda (edited 31 March 2002).]
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Thanks for the responses people. Actually been away for a few weeks, so couldn't really get back. Must say, still not convinced about the fun part, but there you go. Good to hear that it can be fun - maybe next season when the fluffy stuff comes back.

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