Nordic skiing in Central Oregon is like ketchup on french fries: they go together. With all the trails, great snow and accessibility here, it’s time to take advantage. Have no fear, beginners. Read on and discover where to gear up, where to go and where to learn with the nordic installment of The Bulletin’s winter sports “How to” series.e_SFlb

The first thing a beginner must decide when contemplating learning the sport of cross-country skiing is: skate technique, or classic?

Skate skiing employs a side-to-side motion, as opposed to gliding forward. Like the name suggests, this version of nordic skiing mimics the leg lift, push-off and glide motion of ice skating. Skate skiing is faster than the classic technique and requires wide, groomed trails and narrower, longer skis and longer poles.

Classic cross-country skiing looks like a gliding walk, with a forward kicking and gliding motion. Skiers have more options as far as where they can go to ski with the classic style.

While breaking trail is not optimal for classic cross-country beginners, it is doable with backcountry skis and can take curious explorers to some pretty remote places.

Cross-country ski sno-park and resort trails are numerous in Central Oregon. The more obvious spots where beginners can receive instruction are the Mt. Bachelor and Hoodoo ski areas. The Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center offers group lessons daily at 9, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m., and at 12:45 and 2 p.m. Lesson packages, which include a day pass, rentals and a one-hour lesson, cost $45 for adults and $40 for juniors. Lesson-only rates are $35 per lesson. Cost for each option is raised $5 on holidays.

“You can get some bad habits developed early on, and so it’s good to take a lesson to break those bad habits,” says Mt. Bachelor Nordic Center director Chas Savage. “If you can start off with correct form and keep your balance, it sure makes it a lot easier … and then you are going to go further distances.”

Savage believes that progression in the lessons depends on experience with other sports such as alpine skiing, as well as on the effort put forth by the student during the lesson.

Says Savage: “It depends on how intense they are about it, whether it is just an outing for them or if they want to become more accomplished skiers.”

Hoodoo Ski Area offers $35 beginner-lesson packages, which include rentals, a two-hour lesson and a trail ticket. Group lessons are held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily, excluding Wednesdays. Call the Hoodoo ski school to ensure lesson availability. Both Hoodoo and Bachelor offer one-hour private lessons starting at $60 for individuals.

The Bend Metro Park and Recreation District offers an introductory ski program called XC Ski Touring. The on-snow portion of the course begins this Friday and continues each Friday through Dec. 21. Equipment is not provided by the park district. Cost is $48 for district residents, $65 otherwise. This class is currently full, but additional beginner courses will be held throughout the winter. Check the park and rec winter guide (to be released Saturday) for additional opportunities.

Beginners may choose from a couple of Central Oregon Community College courses: Beginning Level I Cross-Country Skiing and Beginning Skate Skiing. Participants must provide their own equipment. Costs range from $55 to $95. Total course costs vary, depending on ski passes required.

Also, the Tumalo Langlauf Club, a cross-country ski club in Central Oregon, will hold a free learn-to-ski session on Sunday, Jan. 13, from 2 to 4 p.m. Participants should meet at Virginia Meissner Sno-park trailhead. Free ski and boot rentals for skate and classic skiing are available at Sunnyside Sports in Bend and at the Meissner trailhead on the morning of Jan. 13.

Miles and miles of both groomed and ungroomed trails are within minutes of most Central Oregon communities. Tumalo Falls, 10 miles west of Bend, offers 5.8 miles of easy beginner trails. Virginia Meissner Sno-park has 10 miles of trail maintained and groomed by the Tumalo Langlauf Club. Elk Lake Resort, off Cascade Lakes Highway in the Deschutes National Forest, has 22 miles of groomed trails. Elk Lake is accessible from Dutchman Flat Sno-park, located on Century Drive near Mt. Bachelor by ski, snowshoe, snowmobile or snowcat in the winter months. Dutchman Flat offers a mix of marked trails, with 6.5 miles exclusively for nordic skiers. Wanoga Sno-park, which is open to snowmobile traffic, connects to Edison Butte, Lava Lake and Dutchman Flat.

Southeast of Sunriver is Paulina Lake Lodge, which boasts a 10.6-mile trail system. Ray Benson Sno-park south of Sisters and Santiam Pass has 12 miles of ungroomed ski trails. Right nearby is Three Creek Lake Sno-park, with a 12-mile trail system that leads skiers on an uphill climb to the alpine lake at the base of Tam McArthur Rim. Bandit Springs and Walton Lake sno-parks, northeast of Prineville in the Ochoco Mountains, both offer a healthy network of cross-country ski trails. And Walt Haring Sno-park near the town of Chemult (north of the Diamond Lake Junction of U.S. Highway 97 and state highway 138) is a trailhead for several cross-country ski loops.

With all the options, it’s now a matter of which location sounds ideal and when to go. Be sure to wear layers of warm clothing (avoiding cotton), and bring lots of water and food. Seize the day, and get away into the winter wonderland of Central Oregon.

(This article was originally published Dec. 4, 2007.)

Where to rent equipment

Bend

• Aspect, 1009 N.W. Galveston; 389-4667; and 425 Windy Knolls Ave., suite 3; 312-1160; www.aspectshop.com. One day $12; second day is $10, additional days $8.

• Bend Bike ’N Sport, 345 S.W. Century Drive; 322-8814; www.BendBikeNSport.com. One day $25. (Fees for two days of rentals applied toward ski purchases.)

• Powder House, 311 S.W. Century Drive; 389-6234. One day $14, $12 each additional day, season lease $79.

• Pine Mountain Sports, 255 S.W. Century Drive; 385-8080; www.pinemountainsports.com. Half day $10, one day $15.

• Sunnyside Sports, 930 N.W. Newport Ave.; 382-8018; www.sunnysidesports.com. Classic packages $10 half day, $15 one day, $8 additional days. Skate packages $16 half day, $20 full day, and $10 each additional day.

Sunriver

• 4 Seasons Recreational Outfitters, 2 Country Mall; 593-2255; www.4sro.com. Half day $12, one day $16, two days $26, $6 each additional day.

• The Village Bike Shop and Skis, Building 21, Sunriver Mall; 593-2453; www.villagebikeandski.com. One day $16, $8 each additional day.

• Sunriver Sports, Sunriver Village; 593-8369; www.sunriversports.com. Half day $12, one day $16, two days $25, three days $35.

Sisters

• Eurosport, 182 East Hood Ave.; 549-2471. Classic $12 for one day and $60 for one week. Backcountry $18 one day and $90 for one week.

Helpful contacts

• Hoodoo Ski Area, 541-822-3799, ski school ext. 6510. www.hoodoo.com.

• Mt. Bachelor Ski Area, 382-2442, Nordic Center ext. 2210; snow report 382-7888; www.mtbachelor.com

• Bend Metro Park and Recreation District, 389-7275; www.bendparksandrec.org.

• Central Oregon Community College, 383-7270; www.cocc.edu.

• Tumalo Langlauf XC Ski Club, (snow phone) 585-2289; www.tumalolanglauf.com; info@tumalolanglauf.com.