Cross-Country skiing. How fit do you have to be?

[AnAuntieNotAMum]

Just wondering if anyone has done cross-country skiing and how fit one has to be? Really like the idea but wondering it is actually really tiring?

Thanks for any advice...

Yes it's tiring, but don't underestimate your abilities. It's no more tiring than a hard day of alpine skiing!

thanks for your reply. I was wondering if it takes more upper body strength than alpine?

Why worry about it? Are you doing 3 miles or 30?

I did 5km 2 days running 6 weeks after knee surgery. as long as you take your time and dont aim too far. not very. ex did the same route having just been put on skis for the first time. i found i could do more quicker then those doing other skiing as i was confined to the tracks, stearing was less essentional as a skill as it was helped out by the track.

It's aerobic fitness you need more than upper body strength. It's like trail running, but with long floppy skis to get in the way.

Excellent fun though.

XC at it's most leisurely is a walk (glide!) in the park. At it's most energetic, it's a marathon.

The great thing about XC is that you can pick whatever speed/energy you are happy with.

Cheers everyone. Sounds like it's worth trying so long as I stick to the easy runs...