Novice Part II: My First Winter of XC Skiing
Written by GRP Rower Mark Couwenhoven
Photo Credit: Jen Forbes- Mark Couwenhoven 2020 Craftsbury Marathon
It’s happening! The snow is falling and our GRP Skiing friends are getting excited. However, for the GRP Rowers, it means that Great Hosmer Lake will be frozen and there will be no rowing on our home course for a while. Now, we will be turning to erging and skiing as a way to keep fit in preparation for USRowing Olympic Trials that will held in Early Spring. Looking back, I will never forget when I started with the GRP Rowing squad in January of 2020. Anyone who has ever visited Craftsbury Outdoor Center during the winter knows how beautiful the scenery is. here. The parking lots are packed full of eager visitors looking to hit our gorgeous trails and stay at our one of a kind facilities. I had never truly cross country skied until I came to Craftsbury. While my home state Maryland does get snow during the winter, we don’t get nearly the amount of snow to ski consistently during the winter months. When I first saw our GRP Skiers, I was mesmerized with how fast they could move and make it appear graceful and effortless. I was very excited to try this myself. However, I quickly learned that it was not going to be as easy as they made it look.
Photo Credit: Mark Couwenhoven- Beautiful Sunset at Murphy’s Field Winter 2020
Before we go into my novice skiing experiences, I want to talk about what it’s like to be a novice rower. I have heard many rowing spectators say “Sculling looks so relaxed and easy” when they watch it on TV during the Summer Olympics, or when they attend regattas. However, if you put these people in a boat during a ‘learn-to-row day’, they quickly learn that there is a lot that goes into making rowing look ‘easy’ and ‘relaxed’. This is because sculling is technically demanding, and it takes good coaching and time to become good at it. If you are a novice, there will be period of time where you are struggling to balance the boat, and the action of feathering and squaring the oars at specific times will seem impossible. While all of this seems scary at first, there is nothing that compares to being out on the water in a boat. It is exhilarating when you are a novice, and it only gets better over time if you put in the work and practice. I have been rowing for years and I still think that sculling is the most fun that I have ever experienced. When I was a novice, I was not very good at it on the first day, but everyday was an opportunity to learn and become better. When I would make the technical changes that were necessary, I was absolutely amazed how small details make big differences. Today, I still find myself looking for ways to improve and become better on the water and loving every minute of it. While your day one may not be great, It’s all about looking forward and being patient, because there is so much to be explored and utilized as you learn.
When I first started cross-country skiing, I was eager but also a little nervous about crashing and getting injured. When I started rowing, I was never nervous about flipping or hitting anything because I always felt somewhat in control of how the boat moved and if I needed to make sudden stops I was able to do so easily. Day one of skiing was exciting because, I learned the basic moves to skating. I was lucky to have many fellow rowers, skiers, and coaches help me with these skills. It was fun but it was also very icy on that day, and I often found myself falling over trying to balance on each ski. The falling was a little frustrating, but my goal was to voyage beyond the local trails by the end of the week. In the first week, I learned how to V1 up steep hills, skate without polling, and turn while going down hill. Each day my goal was to get a technical skill down without falling down. By the end of the week, I finally hit the outer trails and the work that I put in to ski proficiently had helped. The outer trails were narrower and a little more challenging, but I wasn’t fearful of this because I practiced in the week leading up. I didn’t fall once. It was nice to be able to enjoy the beautiful snowy white mountain vistas, trees powdered with snow, and big red barns in the town of Craftsbury. Cross- Country Skiing became a good cross training mechanism for me. I also picked up classic skiing in order to give myself a break after difficult days of falling while skate skiing.
Photo Credit: Mark Couwenhoven- Skiing the outer trails with beautiful white mountain vistas
After 4 weeks of learning basic skiing skills, I had the privilege to compete in the 2020 Craftsbury Cross Country Ski Marathon (held before the pandemic) with my peers on the GRP Rowing Squad. I told my coach that I wanted to compete in the 33km Classic Race. This was good for me because I was more proficient in classic. I remember the day of the race was very busy and it was slightly warmer so it was not as icy. There were only two GRP Rowers in the classic events. One of my fellow teammates was a very good skier and he was competing in the 50km event and the other was myself in the 33km. The starting line was a sea of people that were from all over. I positioned myself towards the middle because I wasn’t really sure how I would finish the race but I knew I was going to work as hard as possible to move up in the group. At the starting line I remember seeing my coach wish me luck and a bunch of fellow teammates waiting for me to pass at the top of the training hill. When the race began the sea of skiers moved as one. We quickly made it to the tracks at Murphy’s Field and when going down the first hill I got too close to another skier and ended up wiping out. I quickly sprung back up and got right back into the main pack. I took many opportunities to pass other skiers when going around the Duck Pond loop. I felt I was making up a lot of lost time but this race had already started off poorly. I made it to a down hill section and amazingly I fell twice on this one section. It made me angry and frustrated, but I just remembered that I had do the technical things that I did in practice in order to get through this race. I got back up and just stayed focused on how I was skiing. I soon found myself catching up to others that passed me. Once I focused on technic, I felt myself flying through the course. It came down to the final lap and I just relaxed and worked my way forward to the next group of skiers at every opportunity. The second lap was exciting and I felt that I was finally getting my stride. I got to the finish line and it was such a great relief. I got 19th in the 33km, but I was grateful that I didn’t give up and I was able to finish with a solid second lap. I remembered that this was my first year and it could only get better from this point. My teammate did very well in the 50km, and I aspire to be that good in the future.
After having many experiences with cross-country skiing, I have gained a high respect for the technical prowess of our fellow skiers. It is not only good for your physiology but it is also good for your brain to learn new things. I look forward to the days when we will be out on the trails and I can practice my skating and classic technique, and hopefully we can convince some skiers to get out on the water for some rowing cross training.