When asked about cross country skiing, most regular skiers turn up their noses or relate it to people the 'old' way of skiing. In fact, crosscountry skiing has been around longer than downhill, developing out of the famous Norwegian skiing of telemark. In fact, one of the best x-country ski areas in the Lake Tahoe region is found at the Northstar at Tahoe, where technology meets head on with the 'old', blending together to make gliding on trails much more than it seems. Visitors can ski with GPS and other gadgetry, allowing for backcountry adventures that are beyond compare.
Those interested in a high tech treasure hunt should search for the 6 caches hidden throughout the Northstar Cross-Country trail system. There are three levels of difficulty; easy, medium, and hard with two caches at each level. Coordinate sheets are available at the Cross-Country Center and at The North Face in the Village. Guests can rent snowshoes, GPS devices, and ADC summits (weather station, altimeter, etc.).
Cross country skiing was first done in the Lake Tahoe area back in the 1860's by two explorers who designated that particular location for a future resort. Today many resorts have sprung up as a result of that find, and are not just limited in many cases to just crosscountry skiing. In fact, many places offer ice skating, downhill skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, tubing, saucering, sleighing, tobogganing and so much more. What makes the Northstar's services unique at its center is the technology used by skiers and snowshoers to navigate through sometimes difficult terrain and backcountry hazards using varied locating and other devices to ensure safety and a more challenging aspect. In fact, this has helped advance this type of skiing from the basic forms of x-country or telemark to skate skiing and track skiing.
Though the center offers over forty kilometers of well-groomed trails with their own techie devices, they also provide such amenities as a sundeck, equipment rentals, snack bars, teaching areas and lessons. Other important amenities like on-trail picnic tables and warming huts are also available.
