I need to get out! The downhill skiing has been so good, I haven't done any XC.

I'll add this is also a great activity to do enjoy with one's dog, at places where dogs are allowed.

X-C skiing is the best!

cheap--here in Oregon we have so much free back country available that the gas to get there is the only cost

unpretentious--no fashion show in the wilderness

strenuous exercise--if you want to top that mountain, you're on your own (no lazy lift)

solitude--no lines, few people, total quiet

Whew! The headline made me wonder if skinny skiing was related to skinny dipping.

The only cost?? If you are skiing on groomed trails in the backcountry there is a very high probability you are being unethical. Snowmobillers pay for the grooming and XC skiers should stay off of them, or at the very least, get off the trail and let the snowmobillers pass.

Too often I hear of XC skiers who are beligerant to snowmobillers and refuse to let them pass on the trails, and try to get the forest service to ban snowmobilles, and even commit violent acts against snowmobillers. I'm sure not all XC skiers are that way, but XC skiing is quickly getting a very NEGATIVE image in the snowmobilling community becasue of the rudeness of some of the XC skiers and the atrocities they commit.
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Meanwhile, the snowmobillers are paying for the groomed trails and warming huts that the skiers feel they have a right to use (that's were the fees for licencing a snowmobille go you know). XC skiers should be grateful, not hateful. Then everyone could enjoy our marvelous outdoors they way they wish to...motorized or otherwise.

Groomed trails? Your remarks indicate some degree of ignorance. I have done both - ride snow machines and XC ski - each on its own respective "groomed trail". Groomed trails for XC skiers are not the same ones groomed for snowmobilers. Typically trails groomed for XC skiing do not even allow snow machines on them, and the skier often pays a use fee to use such. The ungroomed backcountry is open to anyone.

I wouldn't even think of trying to x-c ski anywhere near snowmobiles run. That would be defeating the purpose. The dang-blasting noise would ruin the quiet beauty of x-c skiing!

Nothing "easy" about it!

You might see a snowmobiler now and then, but I have skied for days in Montana's national forests without seeing another backcountry skier. I'm amazed more folks don't take some time off from alpine resorts and get into the backcountry for some solitude. I use lightweight Telemark gear, as the skinny double cambered skis don't float in deep powder. Something like a Fischer Boundless Wax or a Fischer Rebound Crown ski works well depending on your orientation. The Rossignol BC-X11 boot with cable binding can control lightweight Telemark skis. I expect further growth in classic Nordic skiing on prepared trails, but touring in backcountry areas on backcountry Nordic gear is due for the biggest growth. One reason is that it costs a fraction of alpine skiing and it is the type of Nordic skiing that an alpine skier will most likely choose. I started as an alpine skier, but I am shifting more toward backcountry skiing using lighter gear as time goes on.