During winter in Wisconsin there is little opportunity to paddle. Yes, the great lakes are open all year although the shoreline get’s a bit tricky. I have friends who will drag themselves out across the ice for a nice winter paddle and just hope the ice stays in place until they get back. Been there, done that. There’s also a fun New Year’s Day paddle on Lake Columbia just 20 miles from here. I expect I will do that. Of course there’s the pool as well. I needed the pool this year to do my final edition to my low impact rolling series. Keep an eye out for that after the Christmas Holiday.

Yesterday, it looked as if winter had finally arrived. The image above comes from a Catholic Retreat here in the local hills.  I spent a bit of my morning there yesterday contemplating life, the universe and the coming of winter.  I again thought about how I would keep moving and how I would fend off the dark moods of winter.  The short hours of daylight are not good for my soul.   I’ll continue to hike as long as I can, and paddle when the mood strikes, and the lay of the ice cooperates.  Last year I put time into learning cross country skiing.  It did feel good to get out.  Still, I find I’m not one who find happiness in traveling in other people ruts.  I need to find my own way.  I realized, just as winter was coming to an end, that I wanted to go “Back Country”.  I want to ski, not snowshoe.  Snowshoeing looks enjoyable enough, but at one point in my life I skied downhill almost daily.  While hiking through the wilderness is part of my goal, I also like the idea of racing down those little  (and sometimes not so little) slopes along the way.

The problem here in central Wisconsin is that it seems no one really digs back-country.  I’m not sure why.  We’ve got insane miles of open public land in my area.   The upside of the lack of popularity,  is that when I get this all figured out I’ll have a world to myself.  The rough bit is finding the expertise to guide me along the way.  As a paddling instructor I know that magazines have their place, but I also know that a world full of  “experts” does not do much for beginners. I remember starting this website many years back for those exact reasons.  Expert advice, was simply way over my head!  SO… while not giving paddling amiss, you’ll probably here much more from me in the coming weeks about Backcountry skiing as I figure out how it all works.   Hopefully, for those of you who have never tried it either, there will be something useful.   If you’re an ice locked paddler like I am who didn’t’ really switch on to XC, maybe you’d like to join me in this new experience who knows where it will end up.  As it was in my early paddling days, I’ve asked some folks for help buying my first gear.  Thing is, I know I’ll spend 99.9% of the time learning to use it on my own.  That’s when the fun will start.

So.. like anyone looking at something new.. here’s my first exposure.. A video at Backpacker Mag