Skiing

[grainer]

Well, let's see, the obvious thing is that if you're neck-deep in show walking really isn't an option, so I'm not even going to talk about that. So walking up a slope that is steep (like 35* from flat groung or more, very usual at mountains) to walk with your back aligned vertically requires a good grip with your feet (and hands if you use them). Good grip with snow is kind of hard to do.

Then with skis as you go sideways you can easily have good grip as the side of a ski is more or less a sharp corner (of 90* usually) and they're long which prevents slipping very well. Then moving: moving sideways is like walking steps, in a way where one leg takes a step and the other comes to same step, then 1st leg takes another step... I think it's very much easier than walking a steep slope facing upwards the slope.

So easier=uses less ep

[tenki]

For those who can't understand the point here..

Maybe you should try finding some more or less untouched snow and walk around up to your groins in it for a while. Then find a nice pair of 'wilderness skis' and try them.. and no, those thingies used in downhill skiing and crap like that don't really work very well here. You even can try a pair of snow shoes. Pretty much easier than walking without them but not as good as those skis.

And while skiing for some of you might mean using a lift to get on top of a hill and then sliding down, others may have at least some personal experience in more practical uses of skis... (army, anyone?)


-- T

[labinac]

mmm cross country... fun stuff

lab

[tanstai]

Not once, hemophelia + bad knees + bad ankles + skiing = massive hospital time *nodnod*

Not fun.

You can do the 'switchback' type thing, which I think is sort of like what grainer was eluding to, but many crosscountry ski's have a texture on the bottom, they aren't smooth like downhill ski's, and make a nifty sound when you are actually going downhill.

The grooves/scales/texture does grip the snow to some extent, plus the push with your poles, and when you're good, you get a nice rythm generating quite a momentum. It's something like ice skating on top of the snow...With ice skates you can go faster over ice, with less risk of falling down (with experience). The speed of xcountry skiing up a hill would be similar to running. And if the snow is deep at all, you avoid the step, sink, pull out the first foot, step, sink, pull out.... wich is a lot of what slows you down when walking through snow.

Tanstai