An admission from an avid skiier

Here's an admission: Each year when weather broadcasters start forecasting the impending arrival of Arctic air masses and swirling snowstorms, I run to the window, not with anxiety, but eager expectation.

When other people are huddling around their furnaces, I'm as likely to be planning to play hooky. And in mid-February, snow-pack melting thaws, like the one we've experienced this week, are difficult for me to enjoy. The ski season around here is far too short as it is, especially for those of us whose idea of heaven is gliding cross-country on frozen tracks of white.

Modern snow-making techniques have come a long way. As long as the overnight temperatures stay below freezing, the slopes of local downhill resorts like Seven Springs, Hidden Valley, Laurel Mountain and Mystic Mountain can be buried deep by snowy blankets, even when Mother Nature has been begrudging with the heavensent stuff.

Allegheny County can make it snow at Boyce Park and daily blizzards strike SnoZone, the new snowboard and tubing park out in the South Hills near Finleyville.

But experiencing the sublime enjoyment of cross-country skiing depends entirely on having the right weather conditions, and these last three weeks had them: consistently cold with regular accumulations of dry power, especially along the mountain ridges to the east. On several mornings, it was even possible to sneak out for a very satisfying hour of morning skiing in Frick Park.

Although my first experiences on skis were all downhill, I've been a cross-country enthusiast for 20 years. I hope to keep on doing it for at least as long. Few activities in life bring me as much pleasure.

Back then I was attracted to an activity that offered an opportunity to get outside, work up a healthy sweat, suck up some oxygen and enjoy some beneficial rays during the short days and long months of winter.

But I quickly came to appreciate other aspects of the activity: the pleasure and peace that comes from smooth coordination of body parts into efficient motion and meditative solitude, the thrilling awareness that comes from suddenly finding myself in a serene and snowy setting I would never have seen on foot, the sense of happy exhaustion that comes at the end of a great day on skis.

Downhill skiing can certainly provide similar benefits, but it also requires considerable investment in terms of equipment and lift tickets, especially if you're taking the family along. These days, an outing on the slopes costs even more than taking the family to a Penguins game.

Cross-country equipment, on the other hand, is relatively inexpensive; a suitable package of skis, bindings, boots and poles costs a quarter of similar downhill gear. Trail fees, when there are any, seldom run more than $10, while weekend lift tickets are generally three or four times as expensive.

Cross-country skiing is also a slower, gentler way of sliding across the snow, requiring less wear and tear on one's joints, reflexes or adrenaline glands and far more from the cardiovascular system. That's the kind of activity that gets more suitable as one gets older.

Instead of lift-lines, cross-country provides access to pristine, un-peopled, backwoods places one would seldom visit otherwise. An outing can be as easy as a walk in the park or as energetic as you wish, with few of the injury risks involved with speeding straight down a snowy slope surrounded by other skiers of unknown ability.

And although the dozen downhill slopes within a few hours drive offer some of the best skiable terrain east of the Mississippi, let's face it - runs that take three minutes from top to bottom get pretty repetitive, especially if you've had the chance to ski in the Rockies or Alps. Dan Leeth's article on Page 1 of this week's Travel conveys some of the joys to be found cross-country skiing in places like high glades of Colorado.

Nordic traditions run deep across Northern Europe and have taken root in the Alps. Canada offers considerable crosscountry skiing opportunities, and extensive hut and trail systems in Vermont, the Rockies and California's Sierras attract enthusiasts from far and wide. There's superb skiing in northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, in fact virtually everywhere there is snow.

When the weather's accommodating, numerous and excellent cross-country ski locations appear throughout Western Pennsylvania, some of which are world class.

The hills and valleys of city parks such as Frick and Schenley, Allegheny Countymaintained expanses such as Boyce Park, Hartwood, Settler's Cabin, North Park and South Park, numerous golf courses and cemeteries all become places a cross-country skier can play.

An hour's drive to the east on Laurel and Chestnut ridges, half a dozen public parks and private preserves offer many miles of great cross-country trails, along with occasional sweeping panoramas. The elevation keeps the trails in state parks like Laurel Ridge, Laurel Mountain, Koosier and Forbes white long after low-land meadows have melted. Hardy skiers enjoy the trails and bike paths through Ohiopyle. Even Nemacolin offers seven miles of woodland trails.

Unfortunately, the last several warm winters have knocked much of the momentum out of cross-country skiing, both in this area and across the planet. While it's sublime to glide across the countryside on a carpet of white, sticks, stones and bare spots can break bones, not to mention drain the joy out of any cross-country outing.

This drop of interest has also taken its toll on local cross-country facilities. With the closing of ski shops in Shadyside and Laughlintown, the number of places for beginners to rent equipment has dwindled. Even Excursion, in Monroeville, a shop which specializes in cross-country equipment, donated all its rentals to a church group (412-372-7030).

Cross-country skis can still be rented at Hidden Valley (800-443-7544), Laurel Ridge State Park (724-455-7303) and Nemacolin (724-329-6979). And the State Forest Service in Laughlintown can provide insights on where to find the best snow conditions (724-238-1200).

Those who are willing to make a weekend of it or drive for several hours can often find more favorable cross-country snow conditions in the mountains of West Virginia at resorts like Canaan Valley and Snowshoe, Western Maryland retreats like Deep Creek and Savage River, the northern tier of Pennsylvania and the southern tier of New York.

Allegany State Park in New York's snow belt, just across the border from Bradford, measures its snow in feet, has more than 50 miles of cross-country trails and several dozen rustic cabins to rent. In fact, that's where I plan to spend this coming weekend, weather permitting of course.

As the old adage says, make tracks when the snow falls.

Let's hope this warm spell that has us in its grip doesn't last too long.