Winter melt won’t stop this Regina cross-country ski enthusiast

As the mercury starts to rise, time is ticking for cross-country skiers.

The warm sun is slowly melting the packed snow in Regina’s Kinsmen Park South. But Ron Blechinger, who’s been skiing for around 50 years, isn’t ready to say goodbye to his favourite sport for the season just yet.

“There’s something very childlike about gliding on two very thin pieces of ski material and gliding down hills, and just there’s a joyfulness about that,” he said. “It’s often very calm and peaceful.”

While he welcomes the sun and warmer temperatures after a deep freeze for most of February, it does cause challenges on the trails.

“You do have to make some different decisions about how you’re going to ski and how you’re going to make the skis work when it’s warm,” he said.

Blechinger comes prepared with different waxes for different temperatures and “skins” for his skis.

The “hairs” on Blechinger’s skis catch on the snow, providing grip to the user on cross-country trails. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

He credits the trail groomers who work tirelessly to manage the conditions during the weather change.

“It helps if the trail has been groomed earlier that day,” he explained. “One of the groomers who works on this park has been out already and has gone around with the groomer and softened up the skate lane and, wherever possible, put down some nice corduroy.”

The corduroy is a ridged pattern created by a grooming machine to provide traction for skate skiing — which Blechinger said is easier to do when the weather warms up.

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Skiers can run into challenges with balance if the trail is too icy, he explained, especially after a period of thawing and freezing.

Classic skiers often run into challenges with grip on the tracks. That’s where the waxes and skins are useful.

Blechinger said he prefers the skins over waxes, as the waxes are temperature-dependent and can get notoriously sticky.

“Ski manufacturers have been putting what are called skins underneath the grip zone,” he said.

“The ski has like an artificial animal skin about 18 inches long, and it’s inlaid into the ski so that when you’re gliding, the hairs kind of lay down and glide along. But when you press your foot down and push back, the hair stands up, and that’s what gives you grip.”

Trails at Kinsmen Park include cross-country ski tracks (left) and corduroy patterned trails for skate-skiing. (Rob Cunningham/submitted)

Blechinger said it’s common courtesy amongst skiers to not use the trails when the weather is too warm.

“They’re going to leave a bunch of ugly scars all over the skate lane,” he said. “Then it’s hard for the groomers to make that nice again, and it makes it hard for future skiers to maintain their balance.”

The ideal temperature for cross-country skiing is between -10 C to -5 C with fresh snow, but Blechinger said this time of year presents “wonderful opportunities” to get outdoors.

“There’s just something lovely about being outdoors on a beautiful late winter day or early spring day,” he said.

And he appreciates not having to layer up before hitting the trails.

“On some warm days, I’ve seen people out skiing in shorts and a T-shirt, especially if they’re moving pretty well,” he said with a laugh.

Blechinger said he hopes the skiing season lasts a few more weeks.

“We’ve got a pretty good base of snow, so I’m hopeful it’ll last another couple of weeks or maybe 10 days, two weeks, or even longer,” he said. “It depends what the weather does in the next while.”

Back in 2013, Blechinger remembers skiing on May 1.

“But normally, if we get to March 10, March 15 in this part of the world, we’ve done pretty well,” he said.

Blechinger occasionally gets out for a ski when it’s extremely cold, but he prefers a -10 C day. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Blechinger said he bought his first set of skis 47 years ago, after securing his first permanent job.

“I’m a passionate cross-country skier. There have been years when I skied probably 120 days if we get good conditions,” he said.

When he’s not cross-country skiing, he volunteers to help groom the trails, something he’s done for 35 years.

“I think it’s important to have something to do in the winter that gets you out of your house, that you look forward to,” Blechinger said.

“If I didn’t ski, I’d probably resent this snow a lot, but I get excited when there’s a new snowfall, even if I have to shovel some around my yard.”