Skate Skiing Techniques Explained

This is a survey of the five skate skiing techniques with demonstrations. The English Canadian names from left to right are Diagonal Skate, Offset, One Skate, Two Skate, and Free Skate. The two major techniques used the majority of the time by skilled and experienced skiers are Offset and One Skate. In the United States, Offset is called V1 and One Skate is called V2. The American name for Two Skate is V2 Alternate. The skate ski techniques are organized along a power-speed continuum. The techniques at this end are more powerful because a large percentage of the stride cycle is dedicated to pushing with the skis and poles. As you build up speed, you'll start to generate more glide with your skis. On the speed side of the spectrum, a greater proportion of the stride cycle is glide time, and relatively less time is spent actively pushing. The place you most often need power is for climbing hills. Diagonal Skate and Offset are generally considered uphill techniques. Let's look at those first, starting with Diagonal Skate. Diagonal Skate is rarely used by experienced skiers, but it's an excellent technique for beginners. The arms and legs swing in opposition like walking, so the timing is quite simple to learn. It can help you develop a balanced and effective skate push on the uphills, and can help solve the problem where you feel like you're hauling yourself up hills with your poles and you can't get the work into the lower body. Next up is Offset. Self-taught skiers typically develop a homemade style of Offset, which they use on all terrain. Experienced skiers use Offset mainly for climbing, although it's also a good technique on flatter terrain when the snow is cold and sluggish, or for when you're getting started from a standstill. The identifying features of Expert Offset are that the skier's body position overall is kind of low and squatty, and the feet are in a bit of a wider stance than when she's skiing on the flats. The skis are in a stronger v-angle, and that v-angle changes with the steepness of the hill. The arm and pole positioning in Offset is asymmetrical, and that's what gives Offset its name. You won't see poling quite like this in any other technique. The timing of the poling with the skis is often described as 3-1 timing. You can think about it this way. There's four points of contact with the snow, the two skis and the two poles, and the two poles set down on the snow at virtually the same time as one ski. So in this instance, she's offsetting on her right side, and the poles are setting down with the right ski, so that's three points of contact, and then the second ski works alone, so that's the 1 in the 3-1 timing. It goes 3 and then 1. So Offset is an asymmetrical technique, and you're offsetting on either your right side or your left side. Ski techniques are sometimes compared to gears, and in some countries the skate techniques are called gear 1, gear 2, gear 3, and so on. That analogy is not exactly accurate because gears are fixed, but ski techniques are adjustable. These are two demonstrations of Offset by the same skier. The first is a more sustainable style and the second is a sprint style. He makes several changes to his technique in these two examples. So as terrain changes, you might modify a technique and or you might transition between techniques on the spectrum. The next technique, one skate, is interesting because it sits in the middle of the power speed spectrum. A good skier can generate enough power with one skate to climb hills and also one skate at relatively high speeds where balance is the limiting factor for less skilled skiers. So for a good skier, one skate is the most versatile technique used across the widest range of terrain. For beginner and intermediate skiers, one skate is for flats or gentle rolling terrain. One skate is essentially a symmetrical technique which makes it quite easy to identify. This is the only technique where there's a double pole push with every leg push. It's a striking technique and very beautiful to watch when it's done well. The next technique on the spectrum is two skate. Two skate is similar to one skate except now you pull with every other leg push because you're traveling faster. So like offset, two skate is an asymmetrical technique and you might two skate on either the right side, meaning you coordinate the pole push with the right leg push, or you push on the left side with the left ski. Unlike offset, the poles do not set down at the same time as the ski in two skate. The ski lands while the hands and poles are still swinging back to the start position. The skier's body extends to a taller position as the ski glides, and then the pulling starts as the leg transitions from the glide into the skate push. It's common for skiers to overuse two skate or homemade offset on terrain where they could be using one skate, but they feel like they are skiing too fast to pull with every leg push. Often the problem is not that they are skiing too fast, but it has to do with their balance and how they're skiing. Many skiers skate by swaying the body back and forth between the skis. As soon as they set down a ski, they start to swing back to the middle. They are essentially falling off the supporting ski before they have a chance to get the poles back to the front position. They feel rushed, but that's not the same as skiing too fast for one skate. The solution to this problem is not more single-sided poling. In my opinion, it's smart to concentrate on the symmetrical techniques when you're learning to skate ski. I recommend that you start with diagonal skate before offset, and one skate and free skate before two skate. When you do move on to the asymmetrical techniques, practice right side and left side poling equally. Poling on one side all the time can amplify strength imbalances and is not a healthy habit. The final technique on this spectrum is free skate. In ski racing, free skate is for the fastest speeds. Once a skier is going too fast for free skate, they transition to a downhill tuck. But beginners can and should use free skate at slower speeds too. Free skate is a very beginner friendly technique because you don't have to push with the poles and you can keep your center of mass low, which helps with balance. Even though we don't push with the poles, we can still use the arms. The poles can be held in different positions. You might tuck them under the armpits or hold the arms long and let them swing expansively. All these demonstrations are variations of free skate. Even though offset and one skate are the most used techniques, it's important to learn them all, plus the techniques for turns and downhills. Cross country skiing is a sport that rewards adaptability because the terrain and snow conditions are so variable. At any moment in time, there's an ideal technique for you and an ideal way to ski that technique. Our website Nordic Ski Lab has instructional videos that teach all elements of skate and classic skiing. A membership costs less than a single private lesson and gets you access to a large collection of top quality videos for an entire year, along with support from an international community of like-minded skiers and coaches. Check us out at nordicskilab.com