Cross County Ski Lessons

 Our instructors will offer lessons during the season from Beginner to Advanced levels for both classic and skate technique. These are indicated on the Calendar tab

The classes are designed to match the conditions at each resort.

Note that signing up for a lesson does not register you for the day trip. 

You must sign for the bus trip in the regular way 

Please email George Lorenz or Andrew Mahoney at etobxclessons@gmail.com no later than 6 pm. on the Tuesday prior to the trip. Indicate which lesson you wish to take and the date. You may sign up sooner as classes will fill up quickly! 

George and Andrew are both certified instructors. George is a CANSI level 1 instructor and Andrew is a CANSI level 2. George will focus mostly on classic lessons and Andrew will focus mostly on skate lessons, but we may switch at times.

All lessons are 1.5 hours long and begin ½ hour after arrival at the resort. 

Maximum class size is 10.

Dates: See Trip Calendar for dates 

For new or very rusty skiers, priority will be given to new club members

Short discussion about equipment and clothing

Tips on how to get skis and poles on and off easily

Practice how to fall safely and how to get up after a fall 

Basic diagonal stride (classic ski technique or parallel skiing)

Basic X-Country downhill techniques (snowplow stop and snowplow turns)

Basic track skiing, how to get in and out of the track safely (half snowplow)​

N.B. Priority will be given to new Ski Club members.

Dates: See Trip Calendar for dates

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For skiers who feel comfortable on the trail but would like more control, especially on hills. You should be able to do a snowplow stop on an easy hill to take this class. 

Basic review of proper use of equipment 

Review of how to stop safely and how to get up after a fall 

Basic diagonal stride (classic ski technique or parallel skiing) 

Introduction to double poling 

Intermediate X-Country downhill techniques 

Snowplow stops 

Linked snowplow turns 

Maneuvering hills with intermediate speed 

Track skiing 
How to get in and out of the track safely including when going down hill ​How to take turns in a track 
Learning when it is best to get out of the track – half snowplow and complete stepping out of the track on a downhill ​ 

Prerequisite: must have taken a beginner or an intermediate lesson and must be pre-approved by the instructor. 

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

For those who have successfully completed the intermediate lesson.  It will focus on hills beyond the current scope of the intermediate lesson.

Advanced snowplow turns

Introduction to Stem Christie (start of a parallel turn in a wedge)

Track skiing on a downhill terrain

Stepping out of the track when going downhill

Skiing downhill terrain with confidence

Double poling in the track

Refresher of diagonal technique (classic skiing in tracks)

Prerequisite:  Must have taken an intermediate lesson and​ must be pre-approved by the instructor.

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

This class is for those who want to focus on improving their skiing for both uphill and downhill techniques. It is aimed at a strong beginner or intermediate skier who wants to ski downhill with confidence in a safe and controlled manner.

Uphill herringbone and side-stepping technique

Snowplow stops and turns on beginner and intermediate hills

Straight skiing downhill on beginner or intermediate hills

Track skiing on downhill terrain including the half snowplow

Stepping completely out of the track when going downhill

Double poling on a moderate downhill track

Prerequisite:  Must have taken a beginner or intermediate lesson or must be pre-approved by the instructor.

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

This class is for those who want tips on how to improve their skiing while on the trail. We will be changing techniques for different trail conditions. For example, if you are skiing in the track on a flat trail and you see a hill, how do you change your technique to deal with the approaching hill? 

We will be focusing on these techniques:

Uphill herringbone  

Snowplow stops and turns

Diagonal stride  

Double poling

Getting in and out of the track as needed

Prerequisite:  Must have taken an intermediate lesson or be pre-approved by the instructor. You should be able to complete a 5 km loop on a green trail at a moderate pace.

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

For members who would like to try skate skiing. This lesson introduces the skate skiing skills to get around a green trail. 

Unless you own your own skate skis, you will need to rent the equipment.

Skate ski equipment review

The snowplow technique on skate skis.

Free skate (skating without poles) – this is used for flat terrain and slightly downhill terrain

Diagonal skating technique – this skate technique is used to get you up moderate hills

Prerequisite:  None

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

This lesson introduces the one-skate technique. One-skate is the technique for fast efficient skiing on flats and gradual uphill terrain.

Proper balance on skate skis for moving forward

Review of skate techniques from Beginner Skate Lesson 1 – free skate and diagonal skate

Prerequisite– You already have skied on cross country skate skis. You can already slow down and stop using the snowplow technique on skate skis.

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

Introduction to offset – the powerful uphill skating technique for gradual to steep terrain

The three-point touch used in the offset technique.

The body position that is essential to climb hills efficiently.

How to perform the double poling technique used with offset to climb hills on skate skis.

Prerequisite–You have already completed the Beginner Skate Lesson 2,

or,  You can already perform a snowplow to stop on a hill while using skate skis.

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

This class is for those who want to focus on improving their skate skiing for both uphill and downhill techniques. It is aimed at the strong beginner or intermediate skier who wants to ski the hills with confidence in a safe and controlled manner.

Diagonal skate

Skate skiing downhill

Snowplow turn. (also called the wedge turn)

Transitional wedge turn.

Refinements to the offset skate technique.

Prerequisite:  Must have taken a beginner or intermediate skate lesson or be pre-approved by the instructor.

Date: See Trip Calendar for dates

This class is for those who want tips on how to improve their skate skiing while on a trail. We will be changing techniques for different trail conditions.

 For example, you may be using the one-skate technique on a flat trail and suddenly you come upon an uphill - what technique should you use?

We will be focusing on these techniques:

Diagonal skate  

Free skate

One-skate  

Offset  

Skating downhill

Snowplow stops and turns

Prerequisite:  Must have taken an intermediate skate lesson or be pre-approved by the instructor. You should be able to complete a 5 km skate loop on a green trail at a moderate pace.