The art and pain of rollerskiing
by Rachel Boekel
How does that time-worn cliché go? ‘When in Rome do as the Romans do’? At the height of summer here at the base of the Rocky Mountains we might just say, ‘when in Canmore, roll like the cross-country skiers roll’.
If you’re passing through the streets of Canmore from May through until the first snowfall, don’t be surprised to see a spandex-clad crowd of four-wheelers. At times, there can be up to 50 rollerskiers on the road, sporting the bright green vests that ensure their visibility to motorists.
This can be a somewhat surprising sight — if you’re new to town or just visiting. These agile, extremely fit-looking rollerskiers seem in total control, pushing their way along the pavement in groups, arms and legs pumping to the rhythm of their conversation. At first glance it isn’t obvious that it takes years to establish so much grace.
These hybrid rollerskis are used as the extremely important “dryland” training tool for the Canadian Olympic Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon teams, which are based out of the Bow Valley. Due to what most consider a fortunate lack of snow during our summer months, rollerskis allow these athletes to simulate the skiing motions on pavement.
In the spring and early summer, athletes will spend three to five days a week on rollerskis, mixing their training with running, strength training, summer ski camps and plyometrics, which involve jumping foot to foot to load and then contract leg muscles.
But as fall approaches, you’ll see national team athletes out on the roads almost every day for two or three hours, covering in the neighbourhood of 50 kilometres a day on their rollerskis, says former national cross-country team member Phil Villeneuve. In the late summer, it becomes more important to focus on ski-specific muscles and national team skiers step up their training with more difficult rollerski techniques, like uphill double-poling.
Just before the snow flies, these same athletes compete in the Western Canadian Rollerski Championships, western Canada’s only rollerski racing event, held every October in Canmore.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be strapped onto what is essentially a 2 -foot long rollerblade, with only your toes?
Greg Cunningham, who visited Canmore from Los Angeles, took on a rollerski challenge with National Biathlon team member Sandra Keith. Although Cunningham initially thought he would have similar balance as being on rollerblades or hockey skates, he found that “merely trying to stand on roller skis is nothing short of trying to walk for the first time.”
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As winter approaches, cross-country skiers are out in great force getting fit for the upcoming season. Drivers should be aware of them on roads and highways.
Instead of his Superman visions of “bombing around the hills of Canmore,” Cunningham figured out that “simply picking up the skis to start a forward motion was like trying to sprint when immersed in water.” Nothing is as it seems.
Although Cunningham’s curiosity was satisfied, you’d have to know a cross-country skier to have the same experience. Rollerskis have been dubbed ‘unsafe’ for rental at Trail Sports at the Canmore Nordic Centre, therefore most tourists are simply left wondering what kind of crazy stuff is in our water to make people strap on a pair.
Should you have the opportunity to satisfy your curiosity for the off season training tools of our country’s top Cross Country and Biathlon athletes, take on the challenge — you might find yourself “learning to walk for the first time.”
As for how to react to rollerskiiers on the highway: “Giv’em room,” Villeneuve says. “Treat them just like a cyclist. However much room you’d give a cyclist, give to the rollerskiiers.” For the most part, rollerskiiers try to stay inside the shoulder line, but if one should drift into your lane, no one is likely to be offended by a friendly toot of your horn, he says.
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