A Canadian in Sweden

Ski orienteering

That was a nice way to end the ski season. I finally got to do a ski-o race and against all odds, apparently I won.

This is nice because it is a bit of confirmation that - classic ski loppets notwithstanding - I am not a total sack. Ski-o is anything-goes, so skating is allowed. The trick is choosing routes that allow you to use skating technique. If you choose to ski uphill on a narrow trail, skating will not do you much good. So as you look at your map you have to decide whether or not you will save more time by taking a longer route and skating, or by taking a short cut and having to double pole through brush. Of course, skiing downhill on narrow trails is about as fast as on skating trails, so you also have to watch the contour lines.

Ski-o is a lot easier technically than "real" orienteering because 90% of it is on trails. Therefore, it is a lot easier to memorize your route. The tricks are to figure out the best route and to ski hard while not missing any critical trail junctions. I find it to be a lot of fun and less frustrating than real orienteering can be. I appreciate being able to put my head down occasionally and just ski really hard without worrying that you will get hopelessly lost.

The race was in my backyard, in Gammlia park. This was not as big of an advantage as you might think because I have spent very little time skiing in Gammlia this year. It is really hilly and therefore inappropriate for training for the Vasaloppet.

Time for a sauna.

posted by Jeff @ 4:36 AM