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For a long time, the only motion techniques I dealt with were the
shuffle, the stride, and the herringbone. Then I started
practicing the different poling techniques, and found them more
interesting and more powerful than I had expected. Later I noticed
a conceptual difference between what works best for striding on flat to
moderate terrain and what works for steeper uphills -- so here I've
tried to distinguish the two. I've had fun learning these
different techniques and using them creatively in a variety of
situations.
The idea is to simply walk on skis with help from the poles.
The main difference from walking is that you don't lift the ski off the
snow. You slide the ski forward. That's why it's called the
"shuffle". Sometimes on a gentle downhill there is some
glide with each step, but that's not the primary idea. [
more on this ]
The idea is that you are taking long gliding strides on skis.
When you step onto the new ski, first you glide on it. When you
are ready, you push back on that ski with your leg (this leg-push is
often called the
"kick"). As you finish that leg-push, you step onto the other ski, and glide on
that one, etc. For each single leg-stride there is a single
pole-push with one arm. [ more
on this ] The "diagonal"
name is not obvious. It seems to refer to how it looks at one
point in the glide phase: Where the arm on the same side as the
gliding ski is down and back, and the arm on the opposite side is up and
forward -- so you get a sort of diagonal line through the two
arms. At the same time the upper body is leaning forward and the
opposite leg is angled out behind -- so you get a diagonal line through
those two body parts.
Just do it all with your poles. Move both poles together in
parallel. Bring your hands up in front of you to about shoulder
height. Plant the tips in the snow with the shafts of the poles
angled back a little -- and then push. Then bring your arms back
up and forward for the next push. [ more
on this ]
The idea is to add a leg-push to the double-pole
push. First push with one leg back against one ski (the
"kick"), and at
exactly the same time bring both arms up and forward to get ready to do
a double-pole push. Second, start gliding on both skis.
Third, do a double-pole push, and
keep gliding on both skis. Then start the next kick-double-pole by
pushing again with the leg (the other leg or the same one -- it's not important
which). [ more
on this ]
To get up a hill too steep for any other technique, you angle the
tips of your skis out to the side, and press the inside edge of each
ski into the snow as you push on it. For each single leg-stride
there is a single pole-push with one arm. [ more
on this ]
The idea is to sort of run up a steep hill with long steps or
"bounds". Sometimes both skis can be in the air
simultaneously. Each long step is helped by single pole-push
with one arm. [ more
on this ]
Key ways that hill bound is different from classic
stride are: (a) there is no attempt to get any glide; (b) the
pole-push is always pretty nearly simultaneous with the opposite
leg-push (though sometimes the pole-push starts just an instant before
the landing of the opposite leg).
There are several strategies and techniques for dealing with downhill
slopes -- some of which do not include any "skiing". [
more
on this ]
Any of the skating techniques can be executed with Classic
skis. Most common is to use a sort of one-sided skate for going
around a curve. [ more
on this ]
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