{"id":24269,"date":"2019-05-24T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/summit-youth-nordic-skiers-continue-training-in-summer-on-roller-skis-pavement\/"},"modified":"2019-05-24T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T22:00:00","slug":"summit-youth-nordic-skiers-continue-training-in-summer-on-roller-skis-pavement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/summit-youth-nordic-skiers-continue-training-in-summer-on-roller-skis-pavement\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit youth Nordic skiers continue training in summer on roller-skis, pavement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.3208955223881\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-366341-98\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/RollerSkiRace-SDN-051719-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/RollerSkiRace-SDN-051719-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/RollerSkiRace-SDN-051719-4.jpg\" alt=\"Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/RollerSkiRace-SDN-051719-4-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/RollerSkiRace-SDN-051719-4-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/RollerSkiRace-SDN-051719-4-1.jpg\" alt=\"Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/summit-youth-nordic-skiers-continue-training-in-summer-on-roller-skis-pavement\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/summit-youth-nordic-skiers-continue-training-in-summer-on-roller-skis-pavement\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The bindings are the same. The boots are the same. The only difference is clipping into wheeled skis rather than waxed ones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Oh, and a bicycle helmet rather than a skiing helmet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Each summer, along the Summit County recreation path stretching from Copper Mountain up toward Vail Pass, it\u2019s not uncommon to see a share of the county\u2019s winter sports community making summer\u2019s warmth and lack of snow work for them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Typically beginning just after Memorial Day, the Summit Nordic Ski Club as part of its summer training incorporates extensive time on roller skis. Adventurous trips rolling up and down from Vail Pass are a part of the process, though Summit Nordic Ski Club head coach Olof Hedberg said the team trains \u201cmost everywhere\u201d on the recreational paths all across the county.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAnd there are a lot of interesting looks when you pass people going downhill fast,\u201d said Summit Nordic skier Quinn Weinberger, 16, of Summit Cove. \u201c\u2026But it helps to build some of the same muscle groups (as skiing on snow) and it conditions our body, our lungs and our heart. Just to get ready for winter with a similar motion so you are not wasting time on muscles you won\u2019t use while skiing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Weinberger makes a good point: When viewing Summit Nordic club members accelerate on their roller skis from, say, atop a neighboring bicycle on the county\u2019s rec path, the sight can shock. On most recreation paths across the country, it\u2019s not common to see what is, effectively, a herd of Nordic skiers working, with their ski poles in hand, on their classic- or skate-skiing maneuvers. But this is their rec path too. And, if anything, it\u2019s this work put in during the summertime that may make or break just who indeed the top Nordic skiers will be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Keira Stabile, a 12-year-old Summit Nordic Club skier from Frisco, said Hedberg has made the statement to his athletes in the past that \u201cskiers are made in the summer.\u201d For Hedberg and the club, without the ability to ski on snow in the summer, roller ski training comes down to using specific segments of the county\u2019s terrain that the rec path rambles over to work on certain elements of Nordic skiing. For example, for a long-distance day last year, Hedberg led skiers from the Dillon Marina 18.5 miles uphill to the top of Vail Pass. To work on corners, Hedberg said the stretch of the rec path between Frisco and Dillon is ideal. And, to work on uphill skiing, Swan Mountain Road helps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBut the issue is it\u2019s never as steep as it is on snow,\u201d Hedberg said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hedberg would know the benefits of roller skiing. Growing up in Sweden, Hedberg said it was expected for young Nordic skiers like him to not only begin on roller skis at a young age (he was just 8) but to compete in roller ski races as well. Back in Scandinavia, Hedberg said roller skiing has long been recognized as a crucial component of Nordic skiing. Here in the U.S., that emphasis is not as strong, though that\u2019s starting to change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cNordic skiing in general has nine different sub-techniques,\u201d Hedberg said. \u201cSo, two general techniques, skate and classic, then four or five sub techniques within those. That many techniques compared to swimming \u2014 which has four \u2014 with so many techniques, there isn\u2019t enough time in the year to develop them over snow, even in Summit County. We have to do roller skiing to make sure we develop efficiency within all of those different sub-techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The roller skis themselves, between classic and skate, are slightly different. The classic roller ski has a thicker wheel while the skate roller ski has a thinner wheel with a larger diameter. Typically, young skiers are introduced to roller skiing only a handful of times during their first summer with the club. Generally during that time spent getting used to the roller skis, newbies spend time on classic roller skis as they are easier to learn. The more and more they practice on the set up, the more familiar they become before, ultimately, balancing on the skate skis with no problem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Stabile and her fellow Summit Nordic teammate Weinberger and Hannah Knickrehm, 18, of Breckenridge, all said maintaining balance on the roller skis is more difficult than on traditional Nordic skis on snow. It can feel a bit clumsy and weird when you strap your regular Nordic boots and bindings onto the summertime setup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt definitely feels like Nordic skiing in many ways,\u201d Knickrehm said. \u201cIn a lot of ways it\u2019s not at all like it too, though. They are a lot shorter, a lot faster, a lot easier to fall on. But it\u2019s a really good cross trainer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">There is likely to be some fun on those roller skis before winter comes, though. Currently, efforts are in motion to bring a roller-skiing race to Breckenridge. Hedberg said, if approved, the event would be one-of-a-kind here in Colorado, something new here, but something similar to what he grew up experiencing in Sweden.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hedberg said back home, in Scandinavia, summertime roller-skiing races are not only common but also highly-competitive among Nordic skiers. That\u2019s a notion Hedberg\u2019s Summit Nordic athlete Weinberger didn\u2019t perceive at first. While Weinberger roller skied earlier this month, Hedberg explained to Weinberger that roller ski races are plenty aggressive in Scandinavia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In a way, Hedberg explained, roller skiing is kind of this happy competitive medium between winter and summer sports in that Nordic skiers are improving their Nordic skills all while receiving the benefits of racing on pavement, similar to riding a bicycle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With less friction of the skis on the asphalt comes the increased ability to go fast and have fun \u2014 especially on the skate skis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThese get ripping,\u201d Knickrehm said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/summit-youth-nordic-skiers-continue-training-in-summer-on-roller-skis-pavement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com Members of the Summit Nordic Ski Club roller-ski on Tuesday, May 7, in Breckenridge.Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com Show CaptionsHide Captions The bindings are the same. The boots are the same. The only difference is clipping into wheeled skis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 05:00:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}