Skiing is the best way to improve your ski technique, says Noah Hoffman, Madshus racer and a member of the US cross-country ski team.
Hoffman spends his summer training chasing snow where he can find it, and shares his top destinations for off-season snow.
“Technique is a huge challenge for me. It is the area of my skiing that my coaches and I see the biggest opportunity to make gains. The best way to make gains in cross-country skiing technique is to cross-country ski,” Hoffman says to SkiPost.com.
Accordingly, Hoffman has traveled extensively during the summer for the past years, and below are some of his favorite destinations for summer training. See more at SkiPost.com
Mt. Bachelor Nordic Ski Center, Bend, Oregon (USA)
Mt. Bachelor outside of Bend generally holds snow into the middle of June. There isn’t any lodging at the resort, but it’s only a 30-minute drive from the happening city of Bend. The trails are rolling and it generally freezes at night. It’s good to get on snow early in the day, while the snow is still fast and hard. Afternoon skiing is generally not recommended, but the dryland training in Bend, especially the mountain biking, is wonderful. The crust skiing can also be great from Mt. Bachelor, conditions depending. I’m excited to be headed to Mt. Bachelor for the next two weeks.
Stelvio Pass, Italy
Last September I joined the Maine Winter Sports Center team for a camp on Stelvio Pass on the Swiss-Italian border. It is HIGH! We lived at the highest hotel, which means we could ski from the door, but it also meant we were living at about 10,300 feet (more than 3,000 meters). All of the skiing is up from there. The trails are between 10,500 and 10,900 feet. I was able to handle the altitude without too much trouble, and I had a productive training camp. However, my coaches and I were very conservative with training. Also, I grew up living at 8,000 feet and training at that elevation and higher. I believe Stelvio is too high to do effective training for anybody not used to the altitude. Beyond that, the trails were great with only very gradual hills, ideal for skiing at that altitude. It takes two tram rides up from the top of the pass to get to the hotel. As with many European hotels, all three meals are served there and can be purchased in a package deal with the room. The views from the glacier are stunning.
Snow Farm, Wanaka, New Zealand
The Snow Farm in New Zealand is the best place that I’ve ever trained for skiing in July through September. Of course, it’s winter down there, so the skiing is on mid-winter snow. Glacier skiing is not a bad option, but it’s not the same as skiing on the same snow we race on all winter. New Zealand offers race-quality snow, trails and grooming. When they have good snow, they groom about 30 kilometers. The terrain is gentle, ideal for putting in long hours. The views are gorgeous. The best option for lodging is the lodge located on the trails. They have a meal plan that can include all three meals. It’s a 30-minute drive down a winding dirt road to the nearest town of Wanaka, so it is very isolated. Of course, the travel to New Zealand is long and expensive. I am hoping to be headed back to New Zealand in August.
Eagle Glacier, Girdwood, Alaska (USA)
The training center on the Eagle Glacier outside of Anchorage is owned and operated by the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Team. It is a well-run, world class training facility. There is a dorm-style lodge next to the glacier. Athletes are in charge of cooking their own food. It requires a short helicopter ride to get there, and trips are generally a week long. It is fully glacier skiing with soft wet snow, and they cannot salt the glacier due to environmental restrictions. However, they groom twice a day, so the training is as good as glacier skiing gets. The space is limited on the Eagle Glacier and I don’t know if there is any ability for public to use the facilities. The views from the glacier are spectacular. The terrain is world class.
Oberhof Ski Tunnel, Germany
Skiing in a tunnel is tedious. It is short and exceptionally boring. You have to do a lot of laps to get a decent length workout. The snow is variable because it breaks down into sugary mush when it gets old. They can make snow and replenish it in the tunnel, but they are sometimes limited by the humidity levels in the tunnel. It is always about five degrees below zero Celsius in the tunnel. It is good for short hard training. But there are some benefits to a snow tunnel as well: It is at sea level and of course has snow year round. It is the newest ski tunnel in the world and it has a couple of windows, a nice addition. Oberhof also has great roller ski trails outside the tunnel, and there is good running and mountain biking as well.