Considered to be one of the best aerobic exercises, cross country skiing is also called Nordic skiing or XC skiing. It involves the simultaneous use of ones arms and legs and making use of skiing equipment like boots, skis and poles.

Cross country skiing, finds its origins in Scandinavia and is over 4000 years old. It used to be the sole method of transportation for these sno-w and icebound regions. Today, cross country skiing has come a long -way from being a mode of transportation to a major competitive sport, played at the olympic level.

Did you kno-w that a third of all medals is a-warded for Cross Country Skiing and other Nordic sports? Nordic sports include the biathlon, -which combines cross country skiing -with rifle marksmanship and ski jumping; Nordic combined, -which is a combined scoring of jumping and cross country skiing events; ski orienting, -which is a marker search on skis -with aid of compass and map; and telemark, a recent technique -which involves using a free heel like cross country skiing.

Beginners is often confused about the difference bet-ween cross country and alpine or do-wnhill skiing. of course one can surmise that do-wnhill skiing involves coming do-wn slopes -weve all seen that in the movies! But the technical difference in the skis is that in XC Skiing, the skiers heel is free, that is, only the toe is attached to the boot. This allo-ws the skier to climb, slide do-wn, and navigate the terrain making it a truly cross country sport. In alpine skiing and even sno-wboarding, the skiers entire boot is attached to the ski, and thus one can only come do-wn on the skis or sno-w board. Although cross country skiing today is not as popular as do-wnhill skiing, it is an ancient sport and mode of travel, and the ancestor from -which do-wnhill skiing and sno-wboarding have been derived in the recent times.

Also called Langlauf in German and Ski de Fond in French, cross country skiing mostly takes place on prepisd and signed trails called Lopie. These is graded in order of difficulty, form blue to black, or from easiest to the toughest, the latter having more climbs and descents. overall, most cross country skiing trails is on relatively flat terrain and therefore found at the bottom of a valley or on a high mountain plateau. You could also ski offtrack, -where you find your o-wn trail. offtrack ski conditions, on the other hand, is up to the -weather and any previous skiers. For instance, one can have a great experience -with previously "skiedin" tracks. Did you kno-w that in places like Finland, in the smaller to-wns, you -will often find children making their -way to school in the morning on their skis!