Along with winter comes skiing, a rather broad sport, from nordic skiing to the ski jump. There are all kinds of skiing, but the two main types of skiing are nordic and alpine.

Nordic skiing is better known as cross-country skiing, a strenuous sport which requires every part of your body to work from your arms to your legs. It’s great way to stay fit, and requires little learning. If you are a beginner, then push, push, push, push, push, and coast. There are little tracks dug out on the side of each path to use for beginners. To climb uphill, just do an upside down triangle with your legs, which will give you the stability to get up. You might go slow at first, and if you want to go faster, just get out of the track, and ski like a “pro.” Put your legs in an upside down triangle, and push first with your arms, then with your right leg, then with your left. Just repeat this pattern over and over and you’ll get it after a while.

Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is a lot different from nordic skiing. You go faster, and well, downhill. Obviously you are getting less exercise (but still a decent one, your thighs are going to hurt), and more risk. But if you like high speeds, treacherous ice, moguls (lumps of snow), and jutting rocks, then this is the right sport for you.

Just kidding. Downhill skiing offers a variety of different trails, and depending how experienced you are, and how much risk you are willing to put yourself at, you can always find the perfect way down. Downhill skiing requires some learning to start, and a lot of practice to get good at it. Take a class at a mountain, and practice on easy slopes. You can’t just start doing the blacks or double blacks right when you start, afterall, skiing is risky. Many people die each year from crashing into trees, or flying of cliff faces. Watch your path. Even if you are experienced, jutting rocks can appear out of nowhere and so can trees, jeopardizing your life and your gear.

Downhill skiing is also expensive. A pass can sometimes cost as much as one hundred dollars a day, so you might want to consider buying a week long pass for a trip, so the price per day gets lowered. However most avid skiers would say that the costs outweigh the benefit, which is pure enjoyment.

There are all kinds of skiers out there, from marathon runners staying in shape during the winter by nordic skiing, from powder hounds climbing up to bowls for some fresh snow, and from elderly citizens learning how to ski. It’s never too late to join the masses of skiers out there, the nordic and the alpine, so drive over (or fly over, if you live somewhere warm) to a mountain or course, and get skiing!