If you’ve ventured into the sport of cross-country skiing,Ěýyou’ve likely made the mistake of being hopelessly overdressed and underprepared. As if thisĚýweren’tĚýalready the world’s hardest sport, you’ve weighed yourself down with parkas and snow pants, which inevitably wind up sweaty and unzipped, superfluous layers flapping in the wind. SymptomsĚýalso include drenched neck gaiters and oversizeĚýfleece hats haphazardly stuffed into HotHands-filled pockets in a moment of desperation.

Yes,Ěýcross-country skiing is hard. But the real issue isĚýthat you’ve dressedĚýyourself like you’re going downhill, not up. To the uninitiated, this is an easy mistake to make. Even seasoned nordies are prone to overdressing sometimes.

After four yearsĚýas a professional nordic racer, I’ve amassed an armload of tricks that make a day on skinny skis much more enjoyable.

To start, drop any preconceived notions of what you think is cool in snow sports. Baggy jackets? Nope. Helmets and goggles? Nix. Nordic ski style is part cyclist, part speed racer, and undeniably Scandanavian, with pieces that are slim, simple, sleek, and highly functional. Since it’s an aerobic sport like running, cross-country skiing layeringusually doesn’t require too many clothes to keep you warm. The key is to wear just enough to avoid getting cold without winding up overheating on the first hill. Unless you’re doing a lot of standing around (think: long, slow skis with lots of wildlife-viewing breaks and snack pit stops), you likely don’t need more than two layers each on your top and bottom. You certainly do not need a heavy parka on top of fleecy layers. Here’s what I recommend.

Choose Your Underthings Wisely

Generally speaking, start your layering from the inside and work outward. First, wear a pair of moisture-wicking undies that fully covers your butt. Most women and a few men will understand the distinction I’m making here. Second, start your upper-body layering system with a light, tight tank top; this piece will warm your core while also keeping your arms free for movement. I borrow from the cyclists’ playbook and have a couple muscle-cut merino base layers on hand for extra chilly days. Add a long-sleeved base layer on top. For warm days, skip the tank and head straight for the base layer.

As for socks, you’ll want a pair that’s lightweight and not wooly. Heavy socks can retain moisture and cause blisters, even in the winter. You’ll also want socks that rise above your ankles to keep out snow. As long as your feet are moving, your toes will be warm. If you’ll be doing significant standing around in your ski boots (cheering on the sidelines of a race or hanging out by a scenic view) or if it’s particularly windy, boot coversĚýadd extra protection for your feet.

Layer Up Your Torso

Once you have your next-to-skin layers dialed, you’ll want to add a soft, breathable jacket, like one you’d wear for running or fast-paced hiking. Great cross-country ski jackets are lightweight, stretchy, slightly wind blocking and moisture resistant, and have several pockets for snacks. If it’s cold, donĚýa light vest as well. In fact, bring the vest along no matter what. In warm temperatures, you can wear it over your base layer without a jacket.

Wear Soft-Shell Pants—or No Pants!

For the legs, two layers will be enough. Start with a pair of light long undies (merino woolĚýis the bestĚýbecause it resists stink) with either a pair of cross-country pantsĚý(more on those below) or a set of spandex tights.

Like jackets, good cross-country ski pants will be light and breathable. They’re typically made of a stretchy soft-shell materialĚýso that they’ll wick moisture and move with you, and they’ll have a fitted cut. Some might featureĚýslight wind resistance in front with a more breathable fabricĚýin back. I useĚýmineĚýfor camping during the summer and running in the fall.

But the fun thing about nordic skiing is that you actually don’t have to wear pants. Nordorks love spandex. If you have a pair of running tights, those will work really well, especially in temperatures of around 30 degrees or more. (Just make sure that you wear them under your boots, not stretched over them, ya noob!)

Accessorize

Finish off your kit with a neck gaiter, hat, and gloves. Light Lycra neckies with no fleece are best, except on extra cold days when you might want additionalĚýinsulation. Either way, they warm up the cold air around your face and in your throat, reducing your risk for lung burn, .

For your hat or headband, say it with me now:Ěý“Lighter is better.” Careful, though. Your neighborhood ski shop might try to sell you something called a racing hat,Ěýbecause you’re buying all this other cool gear and clearly fit in with the nordies. These things are spandexy and tight, likely have your localĚýski-club logo screen-printed onto them, and have gained the nickname “condom caps” in the ski world for a reason. Best to avoid themĚýunless you want to look like a dork. .

Finally, opt for gloves over mittens. UnlikeĚýdownhill skiing,Ěýproper cross-country form requires you to grip your pole each time you plant it and thenĚýreleaseĚýthe grip as your follow through your stride, which means you need good dexterity—and mittens are like hot prisons for your fingers. IĚýalways have three pairs of gloves ready to deploy: aĚýlightweight pair, an insulatedĚýpair, and one set of lobster gloves that offer the warmth of mitts without compromising too much fine motor control.

Pro tip: when shopping for gloves, look for a thoughtfully placed patch of fleece on the outside part of the thumb. That’s a very important feature designed specially for nose wiping. You’re gonna need it.

Wear Sunglasses—Any Sunglasses

This doesn’t have to do with layering, but I cannot stress it enough: goggles are not sunglasses. are for shredding pow and protecting your face from the pounding downhill airflow. They’re heavy, tight, and tend to fog up when you get hot. When worn without a helmet (which you also should not wear for nordic skiing), gogglesĚýalso make you look like a Minion. Leave them at home.

When choosing what eyewear to bring, don’t get too caught up in fashion. Any sunglasses will do, so long as they cover your eyes. The ideal option is a pair that hasĚýinterchangeable lenses for different sun levels. Large-framed sunnies are very hot right now with the nordies. But wearing nothing is still better than wearing goggles.

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Early this morning, in the women’s skate team sprint, Team USA’s Jessie Diggins under the lights of Pyeongchang’s Alpensia Cross-Country stadium. Collapsed in the snow, she reached out to her sprint partner, Kikkan Randall, and audibly cried, “Did we just win the Olympics?”Ěý

As we know by now, they had. After six rounds through the 1.25 kilometer sprint course, the duo crossed the line just under two tenths of a second before the Swedish team, and nearly three seconds before the Norwegians. The finish marked the U.S.’sĚýfirst gold medal in cross-country skiing, and the first-ever Olympic medal for the U.S. women’s team. To many fans and participants of the sport, it was a long time coming. After years of fighting through low funding and setting big goals without precedence, the U.S. women proved today that they’re pure grit covered in spandex.

But today’s result is much bigger than a medal.Ěý

To put it simply, these two women are a dream team. The 35-year-old Randall is a pioneer. She was the first U.S. woman to win a World Cup, and to take home a World Cup globe, and to gain top 10 international results. She bootstrapped her way through the sport in a way that paved the road for athletes like 26-year-old Diggins to follow. In her 16 years on the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team (her first Olympics were as a 19-year-old in 2002), Randall has redefined what it means to be a U.S. cross country skier. She was the first to prove that the U.S. could compete against Scandinavian countries without government funding, and without a precedent for success. She took one season away from the World Cup to have her son, and returned stronger than ever. And she did it all with pink hair and glitter, as she could along the way.Ěý

Then there’s Diggins. She represents everything the U.S. ski culture needs: optimism, energy, and an undying ability to outwork everyone around her. Like Randall, Diggins boasts her own collection of accolades and firsts, including historic finishes in both these and the 2014 Games. She was the first U.S. woman to win distance World Championship and World Cup events, and perhaps more importantly, the first person to successfully choreograph a featuring Nordic skiers. She and Randall also share the first U.S. World Championship gold medal, from the five years ago. In that race, Diggins lost her pole, but continued hammering at a higher tempo to make up for it, putting Randall into medal contention. That same determination showed this morning. After she came from behind and stretched to the line, Eurosport commentators exclaimed: “This is the race to show your kids and grandkids to inspire them to push and try and give 100 percent.”

People often call cross-country skiing an individual sport. But more than anything, Randall’s and Diggins’ success is a counterpoint to that idea; their victory is a testament to the people rallying behind them. For the past five years, the cross-country ski community—including these women’s teammates, coaches, and hundreds of thousands of fans—maintained the belief that they could accomplish something that had never been done before. Several of the women standing beside Diggins and Randall had equal shots at medals this year, including multi-time World Cup medalists and . This community pushed through dips in funding, apathy in American ski culture, and the general challenges that come with pursuing the hardest sport on the planet. Today, Randall and DigginsĚýproved that this is truly a team sport.Ěý

“To have it happen in a team event means so much more to me than an individual medal ever would,” Diggins in her post-race interview. Will we see medals for these women in the individual events? I have no doubt about it. But this win feels very fitting as the first. Ěý

Now, the paradigm has shifted. Olympic gold is no longer just a dream that the U.S. ski community dared to pursue. These women did the daring for us. This win is significant because it belongs to so many different people. And it’s just the beginning.Ěý

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Earlier this month, the New York Times Magazine published by Sam Anderson titled “What Cross-Country Skiing Reveals About the Human Condition.” By the second paragraph, it became clear that Mr. Anderson isn’t a cross country skier himself. Unsurprisingly, the story didn’t go over well with actual participants of the sport.

Among the most reviled lines of the piece is when Anderson describes cross-country skiing as an unwatchable hassle “where the elegant majesty of winter sport goes to die an excruciatingly drawn-out death.” Cross-country skiers responded with an outpouring of reactions, mostly on social media. (Sam Evans-Brown, the host of NHPR’s and a high school nordic coach, also wrote on Slate on Thursday).Ěý

A favorite gripe was about Anderson’s description of cross-country skiers as “existential heroes in goggles and tights” who “strap on a helmet and slog right in.” I'm a skier myself, and while we do like to think of ourselves as heroes, we don’t wear helmets or goggles. When Anderson finished his treatise by stating that he hadn’t skied since he was a little kid, no one was all that surprised. Ěý

Though I did fire off a few of , I’ll be the first to acknowledge that this might seem like we’re taking things a little too personally. And I’ll admit that Anderson doesn’t get everything wrong. Cross-country skiing is really damn hard. Arguably the toughest outdoor sport in the world, it requires a unique combination of Ěýstrength, speed, and endurance. The lateral movements of skate skiing are at once unnatural and exhausting, while the technique for proper classic skiing leaves most untrained participants feeling like they’re just shuffling around. To succeed at racing uphill, athletes have to have , and put in 800 to 1000-plusĚýhours a year of endurance and strength training. It’s understandable that someone might give up after an uncomfortable first try and never go back. But when you keep going and actually learn the sport, it’s really fun—and Americans are just beginning to discover it. (Bragging that your sport is harder than everyone else’s is pretty fun, too.)

And while it may seem alluring to describe cross-country skiing as an exercise in solitary masochism, in both culture and practice, it’s truly a team sport. That’s not just fluff talking, it’s just too damn hard to do alone. According to Snow Industries of America, over participated in cross-country skiing in 2013, I don’t suspect those folks are hammering alone in the forest contemplating the meaning of their pain. Rather, there is a vibrant, spandex-clad community that bands together to celebrate “the sanctity of the goddamn grind,” as Anderson put it. Even the U.S. Women’s Team attributes their success to working together, wearing glitter, and having a good time.Ěý
Ěý
Last week, I compared cross-country skiing to watching a Tour de France stage in 20 minutes. Both cycling and skiing share group race tactics, treacherous climbs, whipping descents, and sprint finishes. Add icy snow, the grit of Olympic athletes, and a couple , and let me know if it still looks like “a brutally sustained non-thrill.” This season, the U.S. cross-country contingent is crushing it. They’ve landed 11 World Cup podiums, including two wins to add to their three World Championships medals from last season. Do you know what’s pretty thrilling to watch? Your country winning the Olympics.
Ěý
Yes, there is an existentialist element to cross-country skiing. I’ve certainly done my fair share of philosophizing and meditating on steep climbs in dense woods. Participating in one of the hardest sports in the world in bitter cold will do that to you. But if your takeaway is that this sport is boring, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re still not convinced, let me know. I will gladly take you for a ski.Ěý

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Perhaps it’s the metric system, or maybe it’s the spandex onesies, but Americans have some trouble grasping the different types of Nordic skiing. It gets confusing, because “Nordic” skiing is an umbrella term for four different disciplines: cross-country, biathlon, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. This month, the U.S. team has good chances to medal across the board, so you’ll want to pay attention. Consider what follows a comprehensive cheat sheet, so you can fake your way through any Olympic viewing party.

Cross-Country Skiing

Practiced as a form of transportation since as early as 600 B.C., is the one where athletes race up and downhill on a pair of no-edged carbon toothpicks at distances from 1.5 to 50 kilometers. Cross-country skiing includes two techniques: and . All competitors race in both disciplines. Skate skiing, in which athletes move across a wide groomed trail in a lateral skating motion, was and popularized by American skier and Olympic silver medalist Bill Koch. Classic skiing is where athletes stay in groomed tracks and use sticky wax on the base of their skis to gain traction on the snow and propel themselves forward.

Cross-country competitions feature sprints, individual distance, mass-start distance, and team relays. Sprints begin with an individual qualifying round and continue through the day with three more heats. Distance races employ jockeying and group race tactics that make the event feel like you’re watching a Tour de France stage in 20 minutes. Cross-country skiers are known for their dramatics, often collapsing at the finish line. Racing for minutes (or hours) at nearly all-out aerobic capacity will do that to you.

Important Vocabulary

• A-climb: A hill on the course with a 9 to 18 percent grade and up to 200 meters long. Sprint courses are required to have at least one of these hills; distance courses may have up to four.

• Individual start: A race where competitors start 15 to 30 seconds apart from one another and race the whole course virtually alone. (The race where all competitors start together is called a mass start.)

Key Athletes: The , (NOR), (USA), (NOR), (SUI).

Biathlon

combines cross-country skiing and target shooting. Perhaps better known as “the one with the gun,” biathlon originated as a tribute to Ullr, the Norse god of skiing and hunting, and eventually grew into a military training technique. Biathletes skate ski with a .22-gauge rifle on their back around a race loop, stopping in the stadium to shoot five targets before going out to do another loop.

Biathlon competitions feature sprint, distance, and relay events. During the shooting section of the race, for every missed target, athletes must ski a 150-meter penalty loop or have penalty time added to their final results. The name of the game in biathlon is relaxing enough to accurately shoot a gun in the middle of one of the hardest endurance activities in the world. That means these athletes have not only insane aerobic capacity but also a sharp eye and mad breathing techniques.

Important Vocabulary

• Biathlon: Pronounced bi-a-thlon, not bi-ath-a-lon. It’s OK—the athletes with spelling and pronunciation, too.

• Clean: To hit all five targets without any misses in one shooting stage.

• Prone: The .

Key Athletes: (USA), (CAN), (FIN), (USA), (FRA), (NOR).

Ski Jumping

Mounted on heelless bindings on a pair of ten-foot boards, ski jumpers tuck down a steep, icy track, reaching up to 60 miles per hour before launching into flight (or not, for anyone who recalls the ’ “agony of defeat”). In air, athletes assume a V position before landing in a telemark technique to the cheers of judges and fans.

Competitions are structured in rounds, which generally include two jumps. A jumper’s score is determined by a mix of distance jumped, technique, and wind factor. Ski jumping is all about timing. Athletes are cued on when to tuck by their coaches, who are watching the wind. They have to time their explosive jump at just the right moment on the in-run to efficiently launch into the air, and then read their landing at exactly the right point to land as safely as possible. The entire jump takes about ten thrilling seconds.

Important Vocabulary

• K-point: The par of the hill, or how far an average athlete jumps. For example, a K120 hill has a K-point of 120 meters, which means the athletes should be able to jump that far.

• Jumping suit: The that athletes wear in-flight. Jumping suits must all be made of the same fabric, be formfitting to an exact measurement, and conform to four pages’ worth of standards so as not to give any athlete an aerodynamic advantage.

• In-run: That steep, icy track that jumpers speed down before flinging themselves forward into the air. The in-run is angled at roughly 38 degrees, which is how athletes can reach speeds up to 60 miles per hour before takeoff.

• 2014: The first year women were allowed to compete in this event in the Olympics.

Key Athletes: Sarah Hendrickson (USA), (USA) (NOR), (POL), (GER).

Nordic Combined

At some point in history, the Norwegians asked what were the two hardest sports in the world and decided to put them together. Nordic combined marries ski jumping (which favors light-bodied, explosive athletes) with skate skiing (which favors muscle-bodied endurance athletes) to create the most exhausting oxymoron on earth. Both the jumping and ski-racing portions of the competition are held on the same day, with athletes jumping in the morning, and then suiting (or, rather, spandexing) up to race in the afternoon. Scores from the morning jumps are worked into an algorithm that spits out a start list with determined time disadvantages. The winner of the jumping portion gets to start the ski race first, and then each other competitor starts behind him* after an allotted number of seconds based on the time algorithm. First person to the line wins.

*Note: It is always a “him.” Women’s Nordic combined has yet to be recognized at the World Cup level.

Important Vocabulary

See: cross-country skiing, ski jumping.

Key Athletes: (USA), (USA), (NOR), (GER).

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