A8 The SpokeSman • TueSday, november 29, 2022
Sports+Outdoors
nick rosenberger/Spokesman
Skateboards line the walls of the
Redmond Snow and Skate shop at
Winter
Continued from A1
Kids spring
for glory in
Turkey Trot
By SPOKESMAN STAFF
Young runners blast off from the blocks on Thanksgiving morn-
ing for a kids fun run, which took place before the Turkey Trot 5k
and 10k at Sam Johnson Park in Redmond.
It’s not too late to get in shape for
nordic skiing in Central Oregon
BY JAMES CAGNEY
For The Spokesman
Want to cross-country ski longer and
faster than ever come winter?
If so, you should start building an aer-
obic base and strengthening key muscles
well before the snow flies. This year, al-
though the ski season is (hopefully) not
far off, it’s still a good idea to use what
time we have to improve fitness for the
season.
“A good skier is made in the summer-
time,” said Dagmar Eriksson, a regular
at local nordic races. The German native
transitioned to cross-country skiing in
1995 from her original passion, alpine
skiing. Her off-season conditioning ap-
proach helped her win three gold med-
als in cross-country skiing at the 2011
Masters World Cup.
However, nordic skiers of all abilities
will be able to ski farther if they build an
aerobic base before the season begins,
said J.D. Downing, coach and director
of XC Oregon. Pretty much any activity
will do, he said, including hiking, run-
ning, bicycling, paddling and exercise
machines. He prefers outdoor activities,
particularly with variable terrain.
This comes naturally for weekend
warriors in Central Oregon with its
myriad of hiking trails and bicycling
routes. In particular, Eriksson likes to
build a base with long, slow aerobic
bicycle rides in the summer. She com-
plements that with strength training at
Courtesy Central oregon nordic Club
Nordic skiers enjoy the early snow on Nov. 19 at Meissner Sno-park near Bend.
Central Oregon Community College.
But eventually, skiers should add
strength training and introduce more
ski-specific exercises. Eriksson might
run uphill five times, using different
hills to vary the routine. She also men-
tioned a fall nordic skiing-specific con-
ditioning class through Central Oregon
Community College.
While activities such as running tone
the legs, Downing emphasized the im-
portance of building strength, including
the upper body. After all, a big part of
both classic and skate skiing is pushing
off with poles. Strength, particularly in
the core, also improves balance.
Downing points to a variety of core
and upper body strengthening routines.
He suggested wall-mounted machines
designed to build upper body muscles
(“COCC has them, but I have one in my
garage — not everyone does,” he said.)
Downing also suggested yoga and Pilates
for all-around strength, core and flexibility.
Those who want to go the extra mile
in their training can also exercise on
roller skis, the closest they can get to
gliding on snow. However, skiers should
start cautiously and not exceed their
abilities. Downing pointed out that
pavement is not as soft as snow, and
control of roller skis is more challenging.
Eriksson emphasized the importance
of carefully picking a safe area to roller
ski and avoiding steep hills. In fact, even
a world-class skier such as herself will
roller ski up a hill but then get picked up
for a ride back down.
Central Oregonians have no doubt
seen exceptionally strong and experi-
enced skiers using roller skis on Century
Drive and Skyliners Road. However,
safer areas with lower and slower car
traffic would include paved trails such
as the Haul Road Trail paralleling Cas-
cade Lakes Highway to the Deschutes
National Forest Welcome Center or the
Sun Lava Butte Trail connecting Sunri-
ver to Lava Butte.
Ultimately, whatever workout pro-
gram you decide upon, get going sooner
rather than later. Then you’ll be ready to
go when the snow flies — and go farther
and faster than ever before.
█
James Cagney is a member of the Central Oregon
Nordic Club
Four easy holiday hikes in Central Oregon
BY JANAY WRIGHT
CO Media Group
After the indulgences of
Thanksgiving, the outdoors
will be beckoning. But when
family and friends of all ages
and abilities gather, it can be a
challenge to choose an activ-
ity suitable for all. These four
easy-to-moderate hikes are
likely to satisfy everyone at the
dinner table.
Big Tree via Cougar Woods
Trail is a 1.5-mile out-and-back
in La Pine State Park. The trail
is easy, well-marked and fea-
tures “Big Tree,” the biggest
ponderosa pine ever recorded.
Although “Big Tree” has lost
half of its crown over the years
due to the weather, the approx-
imately 500-year-old tree re-
mains the largest of its species
in circumference at 28 feet, 11
inches, according to the Ore-
gon Heritage Tree Program.
Ancient Juniper Trail is a
quiet 3.1-mile loop in the Or-
egon Badlands Wilderness.
There’s very little elevation
change and after a layer of
freshly fallen snow, the trail is
still easy to follow thanks to
the footprints of fellow hikers.
There’s not much variation on
this route, but the twisted an-
cient juniper trees lend a gran-
deur to the desert landscape.
Extend the length of the hike to
7.5 miles by adding on the Flat-
iron Rock Loop at the Flatiron
Rock-Ancient Juniper Trail
Junction.
Located in the heart of Bend,
the Deschutes River South
Canyon Trail is a hike worth
visiting time and time again.
The popular 3.1-mile loop trail
hugs the Deschutes River. It
dips through the trees and over
outcroppings of rock, crossing
the river via the Conley Brooks
Bridge at the midpoint of the
loop. On the east side of the
river, the trail narrows and is
rocky in some places, which
could pose a challenge to some
hikers.
For those looking for a lit-
tle extra challenge, there’s a
breathtaking outlook over the
Crooked River Gorge from
Chimney Rock. The trail up
to the summit is similarly re-
warding with views of the
600-foot-high basalt walls up
to cut into the gorge by the
Lower Crooked River. The
most difficult hike on this list,
it involves a series of switch-
backs with a total elevation
gain of 623 feet, according to
AllTrails. The trailhead for
this 2.6-mile out-and-back is
located on the east side of the
Crooked River Highway op-
posite Chimney Rock Camp-
ground.
█
Reporter: 541-383-0304,
jwright@bendbulletin.com
A former skateboarder, he
realized the local skate park was
crowded with youth who were
forced to go to Bend for new
boards, shoes and accessories
after the last Redmond skate
shop closed 10 years prior. Cas-
tro said the idea for a new skate
and snowboard shop began to
form and it became a reality in
2017.
The reception from the com-
munity over the first five years
has been phenomenal, Castro
said.
Aside from the gear selection,
customers come in for their
ski and snowboard services,
including waxing and edging.
Others have come in for even
greater maintenance — such as
one customer who exploded his
board.
Castro said they trapped
all the edges back in, soldered
them together, put epoxy in-
side and clamped everything
together. By the end, the cus-
tomer couldn’t even tell it had
shattered.
“Most things are fixable,”
Castro said. “Even edges are
fixable.”
Castro said another customer
came in for a waxing and told
him later that he’d never skied
that fast before. His friends
started coming in to keep up
with him.
“My kind of people are skat-
ers, snowboarders, those are my
bros,” Castro said. “The kind
of people we could sit here and
talk about concrete and waxing
and stupid stuff like that. That’s
what I like to do.”
As time progressed, Castro’s
more than 30 years of snow-
boarding experience began to
take over as the focal point of
the shop.
“I love snowboarding,” Castro
said. “It’s in my blood.”
Castro could talk for hours
about the excitement of stand-
ing at the top of a run in the
morning, looking down at a run
of untracked powder.
“I get pumped,” he said.
“There’s nothing like that feel-
ing. It’s the whole reason that
we do it.”
It’s the reason why he gets
up early to get the first lift with
his buddies. It’s the reason they
close the store on Mondays and
Tuesdays so staff can head to the
mountains and get their own
runs in.
“You get to that lift and you’re
just screaming, you can’t get
your bindings on fast enough,”
he said. “And then you’re in it.
Then you’re just hooting and
hollering the whole time you’re
going down ... That’s the best
dude, just when you get going
and then you’re just like ‘ohhh’
get on top of that powder.”
The customers who visit the
shop feed off of Castro’s love of
the sport — excitedly talking
about runs or gear or time on
the mountain. One customer, he
said, came back after trying out
their specialty 3BT board from
Bataleon and said he felt like a
ballerina on the snow
“You can’t beat that,” Castro
said. “That’s amazing to be on a
snowboard and feel that com-
fortable. We enhanced his sport,
that’s why we’re here.”
█
Reporter: nrosenberger@
redmondspokesman.com