October 2008
Grooming Snowmobiles: A Review
Editor’s note: A snowmobile review in a cross country ski magazine? Not to worry, we haven’t changed our editorial focus. But as we move forward to continue to meet our mission of covering all facets of the sport of cross country skiing, this season we bring you a series of articles that looks more in depth at grooming. Our readership includes many Nordic center personnel and grooming staff and even home trail groomers. We hope these articles will prove informative and useful to this constituency. We also think all skiers can benefit from learning more about how ski trails are prepared for their enjoyment and as a result gain a greater ... Read more >
Hidden Gem: The Keweenaw's Hidden Gem, The Chassell Trail
The most significant thing that the Chassell Trail has going for it is that it is a single track, classic trail. So many trails of this nature have fallen by the wayside, or been converted to wide “skating lanes with a classic track on the side” type trails, that they are almost a dying breed. It’s refreshing, then, to come across such a trail as the Chassell. The Chassell Trail is the love child of local Nordic skiing aficionado Jim Tervo and he agrees with ... Read more >
As is typical in the valley that is the middle year in the Winter Olympic cycle, the 2007-08 international and North American seasons offered a handful of highlight moments and plenty of emerging trends to ponder. 
What are Training Zones? 
A reader recently wrote in with this question about skating: “We struggled with skating for four years, taking many lessons but remaining frustratingly plateau'd. Then we bought roller skis, a huge advantage because we could now go out and practice, with video analysis, any day of the year. However, we didn't improve a great deal.”
“Fifty-seven channels, and nothin’ on….” This classic line from Bruce Spingsteen about the dearth of quality television viewing seems quaint now. There is talk that satellite television could provide access to over 500 channels. So, would that mean 10 times “nothin’” will be on the tube? To Bruce maybe, but not to advertisers. The technical ability to jam the air and space waves with stuff coincides with marketers’ abilities to target very specific groups of people with their messages. Nothing is too odd, quirky or of parochial interest to not have a potential audience and .... 