Esquí de fons a La Rabassa

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Thought it's now been over five months since I transplanted myself into the Pyrenees, up until this past weekend I still hadn't indulged in one of Andorrans' favorite past times - skiing. My roommate Mike and our friend Pere had made plans to do some cross-country skiing (esquí de fons) on Saturday, so I sucked it up and decided I'd go on with them. One of the people I tutor lent me an old pair of ski pants, and the boot/pole/ski rental plus the pass would only run me 20€ or so, so why not?

As the day drew nearer I started to research cross-country skiing a bit more. Wikipedia states that "as a sport, cross-country skiing is one of the most difficult endurance sports, as its motions use every major muscle group and it (along with running, rowing and swimming) is one of the sports that burn the most calories per hour in execution." Wonderful. Though I wouldn't say I'm totally out of shape, I certainly am not in form for such "activity" - I anticipated being essentially bedridden the next day.

Bueno...at 9am on Saturday Pere picked us up and we headed some 15 minutes away to the neighboring parish of Sant Julià. The cross-country skiing course is located way up in the mountains in an area called "La Rabassa" in which there is a whole winter sporting complex known as "Naturandia". From cross-country skiing to "muixing" (getting pulled around by Nordic dogs), you can do pretty much whatever you want involving snow and ice. The ascent took us maybe 30 minutes given how the roads wind. The weather was overcast - some 40 degrees with very light snow - not perfect weather but certainly acceptable. What we didn't want was wind.

Pere had brought us an extra pair of skis from his house, but I still needed some boots from the rental place. Once suited up I hit the practice area where I essentially was a palsy. The last time I skied was some 5 years ago in New Hampshire on a freshman dorm trip, and this was downhill skiing, not cross-country. Thankfully I got my act together and was able to somewhat get into a rhythm. Mike and Pere, who have skied all their lives, were surely horrified, but I was grateful for their putting up with me.

As we hit the trails the weather became absolutely gorgeous - bright blue skies with nice puffy clouds and hardly any wind. Lucky for me all the trails (pistes) were prepared with pairs of parallel grooves cut into the snow. That meant that as long as there was a slight decline I could pretty much just cruise as long as I kept my balance. Of course that was only 1/3 of the time - the other 2/3rds I was on an incline. Between keeping my balance, trying not to fall into the splits, trying to stop as we turned corners, and trudging up hills my legs were destroyed. Today, three days later, my thighs and groin still hurt.

We skied for a few hours, took in the absolutely incredible scenery, and then stopped for half an hour to refuel with some snacks we had brought along. After another hour back on the tracks I was ready to collapse, so luckily it was agreed that our skiing afternoon had come to a close. While I had a great time and am really happy I tried cross-country, I can't say I ever plan on doing it again. As for downhill skiing, I guess we'll see what the coming weeks have in store for me!

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