Ski Lines: Medium-size local sites a good choice this winter | The Daily Gazette
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Where do you want to ski this weekend?
In a normal winter, a question like that would raise a lot of possibilities. By my count, there are at least 22 ski areas within a reasonable day trip by car less than a two=hour drive. These include the biggest areas in the East like Killington, Okemo and Whiteface, down to small, mainy teaching slopes like Maple Ski Ridge and Willard.
But this isn’t a normal ski year. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed lots of new rules governing where and when you can go, from quarantine regulations on out-of-state travel to often mysterious capacity limitations just about everywhere.
“The cross-country ski industry is expecting a significant increase in skiers this season, based on the increased interest in outdoor activities,” says Reese Brown, executive director of the
Cross Country Ski Areas Association. But don’t worry: there’s plenty of room for everyone to spread out. If you’ve never considered cross-country skiing before, this might be the winter you do. It’s a good way to get outside and explore local areas, and it’s naturally a crowd-free activity. While you can ski through the woods on your own, a designated cross-country ski area comes with grooming, trail maps, gear rental, and instruction. Either way, picture empty trails through a wide-open forest and, unlike downhill ski resorts, little in the ways of lines, lodges, and costly tickets. Here are seven of our favorite places to enjoy this sport.
This is the season to cross-country ski.
In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, X-C more than ever is a magical way to escape crowds and lift lines and get outdoors in winter at a much lower cost than Alpine skiing for basic equipment and trail use fees; and it’s free to ski at places like golf courses and public parks.
If you’re an Alpine skier, you should mix it up more this season with Nordic skiing, especially with reservations at larger Alpine resorts sometimes hard to get and lift lines longer than usual due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions. It’s easy to learn and do, and it’s a great cardio and leg workout once you get into it.
Ski Lines: Despite cold, people excited to get outside | The Daily Gazette
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Dick Carlson, the president of The Cross Country Ski Areas of New York, stands outside at Garnet Hill Lodge.
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Think back to the warm-weather months.
The popularity of outdoor activities was soaring. The supply of bicycles for sale was mostly gone, and a major issue for hikers in the High Peaks was parking. The surge in interest was widespread from rounds of golf played on local courses to the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.
Well, the coming of the cold months hasn’t cooled off that interest in heading outside for something to do amid the pandemic. People want to get outside, and the interest in cross country skiing and snowshoeing this season is far higher than area shop staffers remember from past winters.