Family, Fun, and Fitness: Cross-Country Skiing in Fargo

The swish-swish of my skis sliding over the snow, the freshness of the crisp winter air as I breathe deeply in rhythm with my strides, and the brightness of the low winter sun in the distance—these are some of the secret pleasures of getting out on my cross-country skis each winter.

“But isn’t it cold?” people ask, shivering at the very thought. Of course it is, but there are some tricks to dealing with the cold that I’ve learned in 35 years of skiing. In fact, I usually finish a ski as warm and sweaty as if I’d just played a game of basketball in the gym. Plus, I’ve gotten my daily dose of sunshine, which is important for Vitamin D production, especially in winter. Touring around the trails also invariably lifts my spirits and helps me acclimate to the season. Cross-country skiing gets the heart thumping and is an important part of enjoying winter and establishing lifelong habits of good health. 

Cross-country skiing is a great family activity. My parents—natives of North Dakota and Minnesota—taught me how to cross-country ski when I was eight years old. I have fond memories of looking for Easter eggs on skis during an overnight ski trip in Utah and watching the Northern Lights from the ski trails in Alaska. My two sons were born in Fairbanks, and I made sure to get them out on skis as soon as they could stand up.

When I was thinking about relocating to my birthplace of Fargo after 40 years of living out west and north in Alaska, I made sure to bring my skis with me for the job interview, so I could check out the cross-country skiing. The trail system next to the Red River of the North made a great impression, as did the collegial professors in the English department at North Dakota State University, who accompanied me on the ski trails.

During my first winter back in Fargo, I discovered that the Fargo Parks department has a dedicated trail maintenance crew that does a top job of maintaining three separate trails along the river to serve different users: the plowed bike path for walkers and winter cyclists, the smoothly packed trail for skate skiers, and finally, on the trail closest to the river, the set tracks for classical cross-country skiers.

In addition to the trails by the river, there is also a trail system at Edgewood golf course, where the Prairie’s Edge Nordic Ski Club and the Fargo Park District (www.fargoparks.com) hold ski lessons and fun races. While my children took lessons with more experienced skiers, I volunteered to help the newer skiers learn to ski. One of the great joys in my life is to introduce people to the wonderful sport of cross-country skiing.

Another highlight of last winter was taking my sons on their first moonlight ski by the river.  They were surprised that they could see well enough to navigate the trails and were amazed to see their shadows on the snow. One of the most exciting outings was a trip to Maplelag, a cross-country ski resort in Minnesota, where my younger son made it to the bottom of “Suicide Hill” without falling—a big boost to his confidence.

It was a sad day during the spring flood, when I saw an ice floe with two parallel ski tracks float by my house, because then I knew the ski season was really over! To make it through to the next ski season, I began writing a proposal for an after-school ski program at Clara Barton elementary school. I’m looking forward to another fun winter of cross-country skiing with family and friends. (615 words)

Name: Kelly Sassi

Age: 43

Hometown: Fargo, North Dakota

Ski Club:  Prairie’s Edge Nordic Ski Club (PENS) http://myweb.cableone.net/jcprmp/PENShome.htm

Occupation: Assistant Professor of English and Education, North Dakota State University

Career Highlights:

1984 Fairbanks Regional champion, high school cross-country skiing

1989-91 Middle school ski coach

1992 3^rd place Iditasport, a 200-mile race on the Iditarod trail in Alaska each February

1997 High school ski coach

Ski versification in the off season

When people wear their sweaters,

When snowflakes fill these letters,

I’ll kick and glide upon my skis,

Slip and slide until I freeze.

 

Me in 1982, about to go ski my first skiathon (a 20K race on the university of Alaska trail system)

Wondering about winter—

When will snow fill this hollow?

Wandering on my skis—

My Finnish ancestors I follow.

April 17th and still skiing, though the snow has lost its integrity, like certain academics I know, grump, grump

It was one of those 12-hour days in the office, and it seemed to snow all day long. Here is the view from my office. 

When I got home, Enrico had a nice pasta dinner ready, and Alex was playing violin. Ah. 

After dinner I harnessed up Noko, and we went out for a ski. Two observations:

1) Despite the fact that it has been snowing all day, the new snow could not keep up with the melting and there were exposed areas of the trail like the one in the photo below.

2) The snow has lost its integrity. How do I know? Well, when Noko and I were skiing around, every so often we would here a sound like Pshhhh! A whole plate of snow would then collapse. It was quite startling to Noko. It is a cool sound, like all the snow crystals are tiny bells that softly ring together. 

So, it is about over. Soon this little stretch of trail will be under several feet of water, as the river is expected to flood, possibly as much as in 2009. 

When I got back home, Enrico was looking at flood maps. I need to get a kayak and float far, far away from here. 

I can't believe I'm still skiing on April 16th!

Took my classic skis down to the river first thing this morning so that I could ski before it got too hot. The trail was in pretty good condition. Some parts were icy after melting and then freezing, which scraped my wax off. I did a lot of poling, which is just as well--balances out the lack of upper body work from my running. I caught up to a couple of older guys in Lindenwood, just out chatting and skiing. I love that. Then I  met a guy from Jamestown. He had heard on WDAY that our trails were groomed, so he drove all the way here to ski. He said his daughter had driven from Grand Forks to use the skate trail. COOL! Fargo is becoming the ski mecca I always knew it would be. On the way back, I skated for awhile since my wax was no good, and that was nice, except for the short poles. I saw a huge hawk in Pointe Park. Near the water treatment plant I saw some blood, fur, and bits of bark in the trail, so probably the hawk was having some hunting success. I skied for about an hour and a half. It was getting quite sunny by the time I finished, so this won't last long.

Tax day, post-blizzard ski

Yesterday I was supposed to drive to Bismarck for work, but as the day progressed, the lines on the ND DOT Travel Information map went from green to blue to purple to red as a winter storm swept across North Dakota. While we were waiting for the storm to hit Fargo, I went for a 10-mile run as part of my preparation for the Fargo half-marathon. After all, the ski trails were OK yesterday, but there was a lot of melting in the afternoon, so I doubted they would be that great on Sunday. From what I could see of the trails on my run, it was a good decision.

About an hour into my run, the snow started up. At first, it was just gently falling small flakes that melted as soon as they hit the bike path, but then the temperature dropped, the wind picked up, and soon my black dog, Noko, had a blanket of white on his back. When we got back home, we cleaned up, ate a lot, and then hunkered down to watch the storm. It did not disappoint. Flakes got fatter, and the array of flakes became more dense. Soon there was quite a bit of accumulation. We were falling asleep when the call came that school would have a late start in the morning to allow for a ski, I mean to allow for snow removal.

Today, Monday, April 15th, we woke up to the sound of our neighbor, Darren, snowblowing. He did the whole block--what a guy! Enrico sent the boys out to do hand-shoveling in other areas. I gulped down some protein mix, put Noko's harness on, and headed out the door with my skis. What big piles of snow! Both Noko and I were bubbling with excitement. The tiredness from the 10-mile run was forgotten as we climbed the dike and glided down to the trails.

First surprise--the bike path was already plowed--those Fargo Parks employees, they sure are on top of things!  I stepped gingerly over the pavement on my rock skis, and we headed downhill toward the river. That's when I got the big surprise . . .

Fargo Parks had already groomed both the classic trail AND the skate trail--unbelievable! Not only that, the skate trail was already set up, so we could ski it without gouging it. Heavenly day!

Noko on top of the dike

Why I LOVE Fargo Parks

End of the ski--heading back up the dike onto our street

Happy with my tax day "refund"

April Fool's Day ski

I feel lucky to have been able to ski on April 1st this year, although conditions were not very good in spots. Nevertheless, I enjoyed some parts quite a lot, getting into a good skate rhythm in the firmer sections. I had to take my skis off a few times to walk over the section that had been plowed to the water treatment plant and the part of the bike path that no longer has a snow bridge over it. I just skied to Lindenwood and back--the parts that were mushy were kind of hard on my knees and ankles. Lots of sunshine, shrinking snowbanks. 

Spring Skiing

It was warm this morning, but the trail was firm and a bit icy in spots. The early light makes it easy to get an hourlong ski in before work. The skate trail was a bit rutted in spots that got a lot of sun yesterday, and the city has dug a trench from the water treatment plant to the river, so one has to step gingerly over that, but mostly the trail is hard and fast. It was just lovely! I saw one other skier (classic), two runners, and no bikers. Two Canadian geese flew by. A cloudy sky, dirty snow, the bridge raised in anticipation of the coming flood--all signs that the end of the ski season is coming. But just maybe the clouds will protect the base today and we can sleep to ski another day.