2008 Winter Trails Day a Roaring Success

Snowshoeing and Nordic skiing intro drew 11,250+ participants to 80 venues.

Winter Trails Day 2008 attracted more than 11,250 participants at approximately 80 US locations. That is was a 25 percent increase over 2007, when just over 8,000 attended, even though organizers pared the number of locations from 120. Look at those numbers again: about 4,250 more people at 20 fewer sites.

Winter Trails Day is a free-to-the-public event coordinated by SnowSports Industries America (SIA) in conjunction with the Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) and the American Hiking Society (AHS). "Free" meant use of equipment and often a guided snowshoe walk was offered at no charge. It is put on to attract newcomers to the pleasures of winter sports. In my view, snowshoeing is an ideal cross-over activity for Nordic Walkers.

The vast majority of venues hosted Winter Trails Day on Saturday, January 17, and while cross-country skiing was also available at the Nordic Centers, most of the participants tried snowshoeing. Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, CO, and the Campbell Creek Science Center near Anchorage, AK, held theirs a month later. RMNP hosted the largest event, a snowshoe-only introduction on February 16 that drew more than 1,000 participants.

If you live in the snowbelt and haven't yet tried snowshoeing, keep your eye on this blog or in your local paper for next year's dates.

Photo by Biege Jones, Winter Trails Day.

New Brunswick Nordic Walking Bargain

Nordic ski club in Canada's Maritime province of New Brunswick offers Nordic Walking.

I really admire the way Canada has taken to Nordic Walking, even though most of the country has much more winter, and colder winter too, than the US and the Pacific Coast area tends to experience rainy winters. Therefore, I was quite pleased to discover a new blog called Nordic Walking Maritime Canada maintained by Bill Trewin. He has been Nordic Walking for three years and blogging about it for just a few weeks, and he is keeping tabs on Nordic Walking opportunities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and probably Newfoundland if he can find something there. For instance, he alerted me to the following astonishingly inexpensive Nordic Walking opportunity:

Les Adventuriers Ski Club, which runs a cross-country center in Charlo on New Brunwick's north shore, offers Nordic Pole Walking Program every Sunday at 1:00 p.m. along the club's cross-country ski trails -- presumably when there is no snow on the ground. A limited supply of poles is available for participants to use. All ages and fitness levels are welcome for a group walk of "at least" 4 kilometers, lasting 45 minutes or longer. The cost is just $1:00, which might be used to subsidize the complimentary iced tea following the workout. The program "will be directed by an experienced cross country skier and pole walker," according to the club's website. It also links to accommodations recommendations in nearby Restigouche -- useful for anyone planning a Maritime summer getaway that might include a bit of Nordic Walking. In fact, the blog is a good resource as well for Nordic Walkers traveling to Atlantic Canada.

Les Adventuriers Ski Club, P.O. Box 2070, Charlo, NB E8E 2W8; 506-826-9243 or aventuriers@charloaventuriers.ca.

Walking is #1 Cheap Workout

"How to Get Your Exercise without Breaking the Bank" - Subhead for Denver Post Story

"Cheap Workouts" is title of the front-page feature of today's Denver Post "Fitness" section. The #1 suggestion is walking -- not Nordic Walking -- but just plain walking. "The only equipment you need is a comfortable pair of shoes and the right clothing for the weather," wrote Greg Henry, who assembled the list. As well we all know, when you add to that a pair of poles, the fitness dividend increases.

His #2 is climbing stairs, during which he reports a 200-pound person can burn "nearly 400 calories" in 30 minutes. I don't weigh 200 pounds, so I'd need to climb for more than 30 minutes for that 400-calorie burn -- after which I'd probably loony from going up and down the same set of stairs. His #3 is to "run the steps at your local arena or neighborhood hill." Cheap? Yes. but potentially painful too, considering that many Nordic Walkers are former runners who have trashed their knees, current runners who train with poles so as to preserve their knees a bit longer or never-were runners who couldn't or wouldn't run even on the flat, let alone up and down stadium stairs or hills.

His #4 suggestion is to "score guest passes at health clubs." How many you can person possibly score somewhere not too inconvenient to home or work? "Join a YMCA, park district or municipal recreation center" is the #5 suggestion. Good idea -- and certainly cheaper than a private health and fitness center.

The writer's #6, #8 and #10 refer to inexpensive ways to find or use equipment from simple handweights to expensive home apparatus, while #7 and #9 involve exercise tapes, DVDs, Internet resources and television exercise shows.

All these tips are helpful, but when it comes to a combination of the cheap factor, the ease factor and the effectiveness factor, Nordic Walking continues to stand out. In my book, Henry's #1 is indeed #1.

Nordic Walking on Shanahan North

Flat, smooth and wide trail in South Boulder ideal for walking with poles.

When deciding what to do today, my husband and I agreed that it is a good to find something in town on Sunday when the snow is good in the high country. Yesterday, we drove north to the Foothills Trailhead. Today, we drove south to the Shanahan Trailhead, on the west side of Lehigh Street. In other ways as well, these two walks were a study in contrast. Yesterday we saw more deer than humans. Today, we saw a steady procession of people and dogs, which meant the deer were elsewhere. Yesterday's view to the east was across US 36 to the plains. Once we were high enough, today's was to the west toward Bear Peak. Yesterday's trail was narrow, today's was wide. Both trails were mostly dry, but where they weren't, the Foothills Trail was muddy while well-graveled Shanahan has wet areas and even slush or ice in places that don't get any sun.

Our plan was to take Shanahan North, walk south on the Mesa Trail and return to the trailhead via Shanahan South. We started up the rock- and stone-strewn approach to the Shanahan loop and bore right to Shanahan North. This wide, flat, smooth trail through the Ponderosa pine forest presents an optical illusion. It looks level, but when we started breathing harder, it was clear that we were ascending steadily.

When we reached the intersection with the north-south Mesa Trail, we encountered some other walkers who were had dropped into the deep drainage that the Mesa Trail crosses between the two sections of the the Shanahan Trail. They had removed the YakTrax that they said were really necessary on steep, shaded portions of the trail. We decided to turn around and retrace our steps. Nevertheless, we logged 2.5 miles and 590 feet of ascent at a faster pace than yesterday. If we had completed our planned loop, it would have been 4.3 miles and over 800 feet, because the ascent out of the unnamed drainage.

LEKI Introductory DVD Available Online

Footage from an introductory DVD made for LEKI is available with the click of a mouse on the pole-maker's website. Nate Goldberg, hiking director/product director and Nordic Walking instructor at Colorado's Beaver Creek Hiking Center, demonstrates and narrates one segment. He covers basic information of pole construction and adjustment, shows how to get started, and demonstrates five full-body warmup exercises. A second, longer segment begins with an in-studio introduction to LEKI poles, followed by footage of a group on a walking path, and a series of short inspirational and motivational testimonials from several fitness pros and converts to Nordic Walking. Take a look if you want to recharge your own get-out-and-go batteries, or easily show someone who's interested but not convinced just how easy and joyful Nordic Walking can be. The outdoor segments were shot at and near Bill Jackson's Shop for Adventure in Tampa, FL.

On Foot on Boulder's Foothills Trail

North Boulder trail presents herds of deer and the first wildflowers of 2008.

Boulder is indeed a charmed place. Yesterday, two friends and I drove less than two hours to Keystone for a splendid day of skiing. Today, with a long to-do list, my husband and I drove a couple of miles north of town for a walk along the Foothills Trail. We saw wildlife and even a cluster of wildflowers just a few miles from home.

Poles? Poles? Which poles to take? In the end, I decided on adjustable LEKI trekking poles, because we weren't sure whether we were going to walk the Hogback Ridge Loop with its steep, rocky sections and 900-foot elevation gain or the northern spur of the Foothills Trail, which -- if mountain bikes were permitted -- would rank as an exceedingly narrow singletrack with yucca and other vegetation right up to the edge of the trail. We chose the latter, and I wasnt .

The trail crosses under US 36 and begins as a wide, flat route for half a mile through a bit of short-grass prairie (top) before splitting. This first section was bone-dry and smooth, and trekking poles or not, I found myself breaking into Nordic Walking motion on this part of the route. Then, the trail steepens toward a fork. Mountain bikes are permitted on the left fork, the main part of the Foothills Trail and access to the Hogback Loop, but neither dogs nor bikes are allowed on narrow trail to the right. Ths is the out-and-back trail paralleling US 36 to the east and some 140 or so feet below that we followed.

No mountain bikes and no dogs is why we saw two small herds of deer, a few groups of two or three and a soloist or two. In all, we figured that we must have come across 35 or 40 animals. They were aware of our presence, as well as the two trail runners who passed us. A few "sentry deer" perked up their ears and looked our way, but they really are habituated to humans and didn't bolt.

Seeing deer in and around Boulder is always a treat but is no surprise. What was surprising was the first wildflower of the season, just one small cluster of low-growing white composite with a yellow center that I can't identify and can't find in my flower books. Maybe I just need a more comprehensive book -- or maybe the authors just don't go seeking out wildflowers that bloom in February, even on a dry, east-facing slope.

Interestingly, the spur trail that we took does not appear on the city's trails map. It is, however, a distinct trail, not marked with a trail name sign but only with a "no bikes" icon nailed onto a wooden step just after the fork off from the main trail. We followed the narrow, undulating track and turned around only when the going got really mucky after about a mile, where it became so wet that it turned into bootsole-sucking mud, finally leading down to and through a shaded seasonal pond (bottom right). That made our roundtrip a little over 3 miles with about a 145-foot elevation gain, plus a few ups and downs where the trail drops into and ascends out of drainages. Even before we got to the super-mud, there were several muddy sections and patches of snow on some north- and east-facing slopes.

Our short, close-to-home walk made me appreciate Boulder once again. Boulder offers a variety of options suitable for Nordic Walking: city sidewalks and the Pearl Street Mall that comprise the daily morning walking route that a friend and I have done for years, paved recreation paths that walkers and runners share with cyclists and skaters, and the miles of unpaved trails on former ranches and in the foothills.

It is fashionable for citizens everywhere to whine about paying taxes, but Boulder is one charmed place where our taxes buy a lot, including carefuly thought-out and well-maintained parkland and open space for Nordic Walking and other recreational uses. On a day like today, we didn't have to burn up expensive gas to reach a beautiful, uncrowded trail.

Gadgets Might Motivate Middle-Aged Folks to Exercise

PDA and cell phone reminders appear to up frequency of moderate exercise.

I was a big reluctant to type the title of this blog, because when reading a newspaper, I m put off by what I call "conjectural headlines." But the study I'm about to cite is so preliminary and based on such a small sample that I did just that.

According to several brief newspaper reports of a pilot study conducted (I think) at Stanford University and published in the scholarly American Journal of Preventive Medicine, fairly sedentary, midddle-aged and older men and women could successfully be encouraged to exercise with a daily electronic reminder. A group of 19 people were given and taught how to program PDAs or cell phones to remind them to exercise at least moderately every day. Those with the gadgets got off the couch did so for significantly more time (310 minutes a week) as those without such daily reminders (125 minutes a week). Most, the reports said, took brisk walks during the eight-week study period. I don't know what "middle-aged and older" encompassed age-wise, not do I know how many people were in the control group and how closely their habits, gender and ages matched the group with the PDA or cell phone reminders. But even this preliminary finding provides food for motivational thought.

Snowshoe Race and Tour in Upcoming Governor's Cup

The 20th annual Colorado Governor's Cup features strong snowshoeing component.

Two decades ago, and three Colorado governors ago, the Governor's Cup was created as a competitive cross-country ski event. It is now an example of 21st century winter sports diversity with snowshoe racing added and both ski and snowshoe races and tours as part of the program -- not surprising with its strong ties to the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.

The 20th annual Governor's Cup, now sponsored by Wells Fargo, returns to Devil's Thumb Ranch near Winter Park this Saturday, February 24, beginning with 8:00 a.m. registration (on-line registration is also possible until the 22nd). The 5- and 10-kilometer snowshoe racers respectively do one one or two laps on a packed 5K rolling loop. Snowshoe racers compete for $550 prize money in the 10K ($100, $75, $50 to the top three male and female finishers, plus a $50 lap-crossing premium). Both race distances begin at 10:00 a.m.

The 5K snowshoe tour is just plain fun -- filling fun if you wish. It takes off immediately after the snowshoe racers and follows the same 5K loop course, but tourers are wa-a-a-ay more likely than competitors to stop at the feed stations serving coffee, chocolates, and cookies. The event will be followed by an optional barbecue. Everything culiminates at the 2:00 p.m. awards ceremony, which is hopefully early enough to beat the worst traffic over Berthoud Pass and on I-70.

Call 800-933-4339 for details, including entry fees for the race or the tour.

Nordic Walking Up Sanitas Valley

Close-to-home trail with decent elevation gain.

From our house, it is 1.6 miles and 565 vertical feet to the signpost at the top of the Sanitas Valley Trail, part of the fabulous trail system maintained by Boulder Mountain Parks and Open Space. Yesterday was gray and chilly, threatening snow that never came, so we bundled up and headed out. The wide south-facing route is terrific for a winter walk, because the snow melts quickly and the upaved surface of what was once a road to a quarry dries and hardens. A few steep sections elevate the heart rate, but basically, it is a steady, moderate ascent.

Early in the morning, especially in summer, we've often seen deer and once a coyote, but the wildlife retreats as soon as people and especially canines show up. And show up they do. Legions of runners, joggers and walkers -- with or without dogs, with or without infants in babypacks -- congenially share the trail. I have occasionally seen someone with a single trekking pole and even more occasionally someone with a pair of trekking poles (Sanitas Valley is part of a loop to the summit of Mt. Sanitas, a 1,340-foot-gain hike), but I am always the only Nordic Walker. I'm trying to start a trend.

On the return, the view from Sanitas Valley (the picture above is of the ascent) is toward the snowy, north-facing foothills. For those who don't live as close to the trailhead as we do, there are two small parking areas and on-street parking on Mapleton Avenue west of Fourth Street. Once Mapleton narrows into Sunshine Canyon, there is no more parking.

Nordic Walking in High School P.E. Class

Iowa students learn Nordic Walking basics -- part of lifelong fitness opportunities.

A friend from northern Virginia, who teaches phys ed teachers on undergraduate and graduate levels at George Mason University, is visiting us right now. She is committed to introducing her students to simple, inexpensive options for lifelong fitness, so that they can do the same for their students. She came to Colorado for yesterday's Winter Trails Day in Rocky Mountain National Park. When I found "Marion Students Find Pole-Walking Levels Phys Ed" in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, I printed out a copy for her, because it fits right in with her thinking.

The Gazette story reported on Marion High School, IA, gym teacher Steve Fish's introduction of walking poles -- fitted with rubber paws, of course -- because the classes are held in the school gym. He starts his class with warm-up exercises, both with and without poles, then cranks up the sound system to rev up the energy and kick up the pace. Students start doing laps around the gym, first simply dragging the poles behind them, then jogging and skipping (photo by Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette). At the familiar sound of a gym teacher's whistle, the pace changes. Fish keeps things moving with a routine that "alternates between slow and fast, poles in front, poles in back. Occasionally, he has the kids drop to the ground for push-ups or crunches," according to the story.

The class started using poles in January, a month when outdoor P.E. is rarely possible in Iowa. The high-school gym is certainly big enough for this activity. In the YouTube video linked with the story, Fish promised the students that they will be able to take this program outside when the weather warms up. The story continues, "Fish says he tried a 'soft sell,' asking his students just to try the poles. The exercise, he says, is great for kids who are not 'P.E. enthusiasts.'" He called the youngsters "open-minded" about poles, which is saying a lot when it comes to teenagers.

Fish also noted, "What I find is a lot of kids want to have the poles now because it's such a novelty thing," Dorothy de Souza Guedes, who reported the story, interviewed several students and found some already willing to use poles outside of a class room situation, while others predictably didn't think they would. I would have asked the ones who were enthusiastic whether they would recommend poles to their parents or grandparents.

Twenty-five pairs of poles for Fish's class came from Foot Solutions at 1100 Blairs Ferry Road NE, Cedar Rapids; 319-743-3668.

Swiss Connection for NWers

My reent visit to Switzerland confirmed my perception that this country is incredibly enthusiastic about Nordic Walking. So I was happy to learn about Meet2Move, a Swiss online community for folks interested in active sports -- and that, of course, includes Nordic Walking. Even though the site is available "only" in German, French and Italian, most Swiss are conversant in English too. It coesn't taken exceptional language skills to find an instructor by postal code (PLZ) of the city or resort you are visiting and check out the calendar of Nordic Walking events throughout the country.

Another connection can be via the English Forum, which includes posts on many topics including finding companions for Nordic Walking and other sports.

"The Gear Junkie" Reviews Winter Running Shoes

Salomon, La Sportiva and Vasque winter trail runners for winter Nordic Walking.

Without snow on the ground, shoes made specificially for Nordic Walking are the first choice of NWers. The next best choice is trail running shoes, which are laterally stiff but with fore-to-aft flexibility. In winter, with snow or ice to contend with, Nordic Walkers' footwear priorities need to be warmth, waterproofness and traction. Steve Renegold, the Minnesota-based "Gear Junkie," has just reviewed three winter trail-running shoe models. I haven't tried any of these but am passing on Renegold's experience and evaluation. Read his entire review and if you live in a place with snow and ice, try them on with the socks you would prefer in winter. Your local running store might already be having an end-of-season sale. This year, in much of the snowbelt, we could still be experiencing a lot of winter

Renegold praised the "most impressive" Salomon Speedcross 2 for its "thick insulating upper and a unique sole with dozens of V-shape lugs made of a soft rubber" and the “'Winter Contagrip' sole was to employ pliable rubber that stays always soft—and thus always grippy—in the cold....The shoes grabbed icy ground better than the other footwear in this review." He did care for what he considered excess cushioning in the heel, but this might not be such an issue for Nordic Walkers. These lightweight shoes have a Kevlar lacing system with a side-cinch feature for additional stability. They retail for $110.

He wrote that "La Sportiva’s Ultranord GTX-XCR were the best shoe for snow, as they come with ankle gaiters" that even kept his feet dry when running through slush. Slush might, in fact, be an issue for urban Nordic Walking during snowmelt season, but I also see these GoreTex shoes as useful for snowshoeing, especially since their roomy toebox also leaves space for those small chemical foot-warming heat packs that are wonderful on really cold days. The "aggressive outsole" isn't a big deal for snowshoeing, but it certainly is for Nordic Walking on slick surfaces. It retails for $125.

About the year-round Vasque Aether Tech, Renegold wrote that with a neutral midsole and a fairly flat arch area, "there is not a lot of heel padding or a rocker feel to the shoe, keeping you landing on your midfoot rather than slamming down on the heel with each stride." Nordic Walkers do place the heel on the ground first, though "slamming" is not exactly the best way to go, so what Renegold likes for running might not be best for Nordic Walking. The Aether Tech is "weather-proofed" rather than insulated or waterproof. He liked the push-and-twist-knob closure system rather than conventional laces. He called the sole the "least aggressive" of the three also noted that this shoe seems to run larger (including wider) than others, a consideration for some hard-to-fit feet. It retails for $120.

Happy Valentine's Day

Candy today. Walk it off tomorrow.

Winter Trails Day, Part Deux -- In Colorado Only

Free snowshoeing demo this weekend.

Winter Trails Day, an opportunity to try different brands of snowshoes and poles and to join snowshoe walks, takes place acrsoss the snowbelt in mid-January. Colorado and only Colorado also hosts a second Winter Trails Day each year. It will take place this Saturday, February 16, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at the Bear Lake intercept lot in Rocky Mountain National Park. The quickest access is from the Beaver Meadows entrance station on the east (Estes Park) side.

Snowshoe manufacturers' representatives and staffers from REI will again be on hand to help you gear, and volunteers lead snowshoe walks so that everyone can get the feel of the snowshoes on a real trail, not just tromping around the event site.

While the snowshoeing is free, regular park entry fees or a valid National Parks pass do apply. My advice is to get there early because there is a bit of paperwork to fill out or near the end, because people do tend to drift out. In mid-event, there are usually waits and lines to try gear. I don't know what goodies will be offered this year, but usually there are free energy bars, free hot drinks and a prize drawing of some kind.

Pizza Box Promotion for Nordic Walking

A blogger in the Netherlands reports that Nordic Walking is one of several fitness activities being promoted to police officers in the city of Utrecht: "The police in Utrecht are kicking off a fitness campaign called ‘Zorg goed voor jezelf’ (’Take good care of yourself’). The cops will be given a pizza box, albeit not with pizza inside. The box features a paper pizza that are vouchers for various fitness-related clinics, such as quit smoking, learning about healthy food, and hydrospinning and nordic walking."

The US equivalent would probably be giving cops empty Dunkin' Donuts bags, a reference not lost on the Dutch blogger.

Walking In Town on an Out-of-Town Day

A favorite neighborhood walking route.

The Colorado Rockies (the mountains, not the baseball team) have been inundated with so much snow that many high-country communities have run of places to put it. Powder beckons, but I-70 weekend traffic deters. So we stayed in town and went for a walk. It's warm, sunny and a wee bit breezy in Boulder -- ideal Nordic Walking weather.

We have a two- or three-mile route that's quick and easy. From our house, we walk west toward the foothills, and then pass Settlers' Park, where the first group of settlers of what is now Boulder camped in 1859 beneath looming red-rock formations. We cross Boulder Creek on a wooden bridge and head eastward through Eben G. Fine Park, named to honor the Boulder pharmacist who discovered Arapaho Glacier on Arapaho Peak, west of the city in what is now the Indian Peaks Wilderness but then was just plain wilderness. We either go through the Highlands Historic District or continue on the Boulder Creek Path past the Justice Center, which contintains courtrooms and the city jail. Rolling Stone once called it one of the best lockups in the country. We return home on Sixth Street orNinth Street or stay on the Creek Path for as long as we want and walk back via the Pearl Street Mall.

Men, Pick Up Those Walking Poles!

Fitness walking with poles started out as a macho activity, developed by committed distance runners in the US and as a summer cross-training activity for elite cross-country ski racers in Scandinavia. Perhaps surprisingly to some of its early adherents, Nordic Walking gained recreational steam by being adopted as an effective, kind-on-the-joints fitness program by women -- middle-aged women, no less.

Here's yet another good reason for men to pick up a pair of poles and start walking. A seven-year study of 15,660 men (57 percent Caucasian and 43 percent African-American men with an average age of 59) found that those in the "very highly fit" category had a 70 percent lower death risk than those in the "low fit" category. Those considered moderately fit had about a 50 percent lower death risk compared with the low-fit group, according to Dr. Peter Kokkinos, director of an exercise testing lab at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, DC, and lead author of the study published last week Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. At the end of seven years, 44 percent of the least-fit group died, 30 percent of the moderately fit, 15 percent of the highly fit and only 8 percent of the very highly fit.

He suggested that "moderate fitness" isn't that difficult to achieve, saying, "You need to take a brisk walk for 30 minutes four to six times a week. It's not as easy as taking a pill, but let's be reasonable here." He added the increasing that activity into a fitter zone, which ultimately yields more benefits, doesn't take much more. He suggested jogging during part of that brisk walk. I'm no medical researcher -- and I don't even play one on television -- but I'm suggesting that adding poles and going for a brisk Nordic Walk for 30 minutes four to six times a week offers the same additional benefits -- perhaps even greater ones.

Remember that the fitter you are, the longer you are likely to live -- and your quality of life will be enhanced as well. So pick up those poles and get moving.

Two Snapshots from Switzerland

Nordic Walking is mainsstream in Swiss resort villages and cities alike. It's even on parade.

One of the nearly 30 units competing for honors during Lucerne's fabulous Fasnacht parade parodied Nordic Walking (below left) -- the surest sign that it enjoys universal recognition.

During an early evening stroll down the main drag of Adelboden, a town where people with walking sticks of various types are a common sight, two older ladies in fine Nordic Walking fettle passed in the opposite direction so quickly that I barely get my camera out. I managed just one shot (below right), out of focus due to the waning daylight. But I wanted to post it here

Walkers -- Nordic and Otherwise -- Invited to Swiss Event

I'm in Engelberg, Switzerland, right now, and practically as soon as I got off the train, I started spotting posters promoting a Snow Walking Event on February 29-March 1. A snow walking event that is actually called a Snow Walking Event? How amazing -- even for the Alps, where walking and strolling on groomed winter paths in valleys and high on mountains is nothing new.

But here it comes, in less than a month: a two-day festival of walking on groomed white paths starting directly from the village. The program is chock full of activities including several fitness and nutrition forums (in German), coaching, organized walks at three distances and an après-walk party. The registration fee includes a roundtrip rail ticket from the valley to the resort town, a certificate of participation, a pasta meal, massage service and childcare for youngsters aged four and older. Finishers receive a gift from Victorinex Swiss Army, one of the four lead sponsors. Free Nordic Walking introduction opportunities are also built into the schedule.

Registration fees vary by distance, of which there are three: CHF 65 for 6.8 kilometers with a 128-meter elevation difference, CHF 70 for 12K and 350 meters, and CHF 75 for the so-called Crazy Walk of 18.5 kilometers with a commendable 599-meter elevation difference. I have no idea why it is called a “Crazy Walk,” but the distance of 9 miles and an 1,800-foot gain and loss is ambitious.

The well- organized Swiss have maps and course profiles that indicate exactly where refreshment stations and toilets will be set up. Nordic Walkers and pole-free walkers are assigned separate start times for each distance. Several hotels are also offering special rates for participants. Amazingly, Engelberg is not the first Swiss community to host Snow Walking Event. Arosa has that distinction. In fact, two Snow Walking Events have already been scheduled for next winter: Leysin on December 13, 2008, and Arosa on January 10, 2009.

I don’t detail all this because I believe that scores of North American Nordic Walkers will sign up and hop across the Atlantic to participate, but just to illustrate – again – what a big deal Nordic Walking is on the European fitness scene and perhaps become a role model for the future in the US and Canada.