It’s Sunday morning, 8:00. The sun is rising. The sky is filled with pastel orange and pink. I walk through the empty snow covered open air museum to get into Stadsliden, the forest near our home. Trails weave around the forest and are groomed for cross country ski and skate skiers. I see a little stream that I hadn’t noticed before. Its quiet now and I see no other person as I ski and decide to go along the 3.7 km loop. I’m excited to ski in the tracks down the big hill I know is coming up on this loop.
The first time we skied in Stadsliden it was like a super highway. We were like an old VW bus pulling a trailer in the slow lane, trying to stay out of the way. We idled along checking out the scenery and stopped to chat with a great grandma on skis. Others were zipping by in the latest model sports cars. Amelia’s trailer slows us down, as does our skis and our technique or rather lack of technique.
While at InterSport, we were (possibly) clued into the ski scene a bit around here. To enjoy the long winters, I’m sure most opt to ski here in town. There are at least 8 groomed ski trails in the central part of Umea. (Likely, some people have several types of skis and also get out in nature some and take a weekend at the ski resorts closer to Norway.) The ski selection seemed telling. Next to a small selection of backcountry skis (the style we used in MT), were walls and racks of speedy skis, not only speedy skate skis but also speedy classic skis. We didn’t want to spend lots of money on skis that we probably wont use back in the US (hopefully we can sell them here) so we opted for some crappy skis that actually costs a fair amount of money. I knew things were expensive in Sweden but I didn’t think they sold crap. Oh well. We have skis with fish scales and no camber instead of the super speedy wax skis like most everyone else here. The sales guy was right, these skis basically have brakes on them. Along with fancy skis, folks here have some fancy moves. I’m fairly new to the whole ski thing but I thought if you want to ski fast then you *skate* ski. Here they even ski quickly on classic cross country skis. They ski in the tracks but kind of lift up their back foot to give them a big fast push.
That first day we skied happened to also be the day after their first big dump of snow for the season and the sun was out and the sky beautiful blue. Maybe this gem of a forest that we are fortunate to live near wont always be a super highway. Hopefully, it will be like it is today. I turn a corner and merge onto another trail. I see one other skier and two old ladies walking. I hear the birds chirping and again I’m facing south. It’s about an hour after I left home and the sun is still rising. The sky is pastel pink and orange and the light of day is just beginning to fill the sky.
Skiing is in their blood. This photo is of a 5,000 year old ski found in Västerbotten (the county we live in). It’s believed to be the world’s oldest ski.
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