Articles

Local skier keeps youth involved in cross-countryskiing

by Will LaBreche, Staff Writer

Local skier keeps youth involved in cross-country skiing by Will LaBreche Staff Writer Eric North has an easy smile, especially when talking about skiing. He was not born on skis; like many here in the northland, he learned like the rest from his trials and successes on the ski trail. Attending Hayward high school, the 34-year-old North skied under coach Steve Morales and now has been giving back to the community through his efforts to teach the youth of the area the art of cross-county skiing.

North is an extraordinarily gifted conversationalist; his language is eloquent and his demeanor suggests a somewhat reserved personality. Though when talking about cross-country skiing, North comes alive with fiery eyes and a persistent spring in his step. Giving back to the community is something North points out right away. He has watched the skiing program in Hayward blossom from the early days of five kids to the hundreds of area youth now actively involved in the sport.

North started out road-biking before transitioning to moutain biking as, together with a friend of his, he used cross-country skiing as cross-training for these summer sports. Though the winds of change, hinting at a destiny, swept North from his feet as he soon found himself biking to train for skiing.

“My friend just made skiing look so easy and it probably took a season or two before I realized I was training in the summer for skiing in the winter,” North said.

North took on skiing as a hobby while a junior at Hayward high school, finding himself getting more and more involved. He soon was donning skis as a member of the ski team.

“At that point, there was only five of us on the team,” he said. “Now it’s completely taken off.”

After high school, North traveled to the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay as much for academics as for the school’s Division One ski team.

“I came to see that at some time I needed to give back to the skiing community,” North noted.

After college he traveled south to to teach cross-country in Flagstaff, Ariz. at a nordic center, which boasts a couple months of powder perched at 1,800 feet. When he returned to the Hayward area, he was approached and soon began teaching middle school students the art of the silent ski.

“For me, skiing was a huge struggle from the beginning; skate-skiing was still developing so I learned to skate using classic gear,” North said. “I was horrible. But for some reason I had it in my head that I would figure it out.”

North believes that through this struggle, he not only has become a more well-rounded athlete, but that the experience has given him a unique angle on coaching.

“Anything and everything that someone can or will do wrong, I’ve done and in my head I’ve thought of two, three or four ways to remedy each problem,” North said.

He credits much of his learning to Morales who, North said, is “knowledgeable, experienced and patient.” Now, North is hooked. And through all this, he has become one of the premier cross-country teachers in the area and passes this expertise on to his many students.

“It’s a sport you can do for life, that you can do as a family, competitively or for fun. And for me, I feel like it gives you a good sense of accomplishment,” North commented.

This Saturday, North will ski in his fifth American Birkenbeiner, something he takes very seriously — especially when talking about what the Birkie means to the Hayward area.

“The Birkie is a community event and it’s Hayward’s deal,” he said. “The skier community looks forward to coming here and seeing others they haven’t seen for a whole year. It’s such a unique thing and it has to happen in Hayward. I’m constantly blown away that such a small community can pull off a ski race for 8,000 skiers, 10,000 spectators and another 3,000 volunteers. I mean, seriously, 3,000 volunteers — it’s amazing.”

But North realizes that the future of cross-country skiing and the Birkenbeiner rests on the shoulders of the youth. “It’s about instilling a particular lifestyle in someone so they can pass it on to someone else,” he said. “It’s not necessarily that we need to ‘grow the sport,’ rather I feel that many people out there would embrace the sport if they were exposed to it.”

North believes that the sport has two perspectives: a competitive race against others or as a challenge to oneself. North chose the latter. “I skied three Birkies before taking 10 years off,” North said. “And after that time, I started to get the itch back for doing another race. From experience I’ve learned that when it becomes more work than fun, then you shouldn’t do it anymore. Fun is really the bottom line. It’s something I try to instill in my students.”

As advice to those looking to get into the sport, North said that it’s “a hundred times easier to build a good habit than it is to change a bad habit.” He said for those who are serious, the first step is to take a lesson. “One lesson will start you off on the right foot and give you ideas to build on,” he added. North also said that beginners are better off spending the money to purchase ski equipment than to rent the equipment.

“A lot of people tend to underestimate how into skiing they will get,” North asserted. “People more often than not are pleasantly surprised at how fun the experience actually is. If you get out there you won’t regret it.”

North advises people to ski new trails every year, in and out of the Hayward area. “There’s so many trails around here, it’s a way to make it more of an adventure,” he said. “Make a day out of it. It’s something I try to do every year.”

North also suggests that people get reports on ski conditions before heading out as well. He recommends skinnyski.com for anyone who might be traveling to a ski destination. But the question remains: are cross-country skiers who have been nurtured to the sport more adept at it than those who in some cases were born into skiing families? It’s the classic case of nature versus nurture.

“I would probably have to say that those who are born into it end up having it be more of a lifestyle. But I think part of that too is the parents having the right attitude about it,” he said. “Parents shouldn’t force their children into it. Those who are born into it will find their way toward it.” But in the end, North said skiers should simply get out to “enjoy the camaraderie of the sport.”