I love sharing fresh, innovative ski techniques you probably haven’t seen before. Every time I do, a few old-timers say, “I’ve done that.” The problem is they never told anyone. These moves aren’t in books, lessons, or videos, yet they’re fun and useful. Cross-country skiing needs to remember: it’s never over.

Most instruction in our sport flows from elite racing. But recreational skiing includes more variety in one Saturday tour than some racers see all season. Ungroomed trails, soft snow, backpacks, group chatting, fatigue, imperfect wax, singletrack, and just messing around. 

If you try something and it works — or makes you grin — keep it up. You don’t need permission.

I’ve taught, studied, written about, and filmed ski technique for decades — through my Outyourbackdoor site, YouTube channel, and conversations with engineers and lifelong skiers alike. I know the bibliography. I also know what happens when you introduce new ideas to an established culture. There will always be people who think someone else is in charge of their fun.

Other snow sports evolve constantly. Alpine, telemark, snowboarding experiment, refine, rename. XC has mostly made small changes to a few existing race skills. “The Klaebo” came along, doublepole morphed. But in terms of expanding fun options for everyday skiers? Not much.

Now, the standard moves will always be the backbone. Those are easy to learn about – mostly. The innovations in my list are additions, most minor, all fun. Variety is about having a better experience anywhere it’s suitable — it’s about adaptability.

If you try them and like them, who is anyone to discourage you? So, here we go...

1. The Striding-Doublepole (SDP)

People confuse this with Kick-Doublepole (KDP). It’s not the same.

In KDP you kick with one foot and doublepole once. There’s a moment where you glide on both skis. That’s fine — unless you bog down.

In Striding-Doublepole you kick with each foot. Once when you raise your poles, again as you pole. Because you’re not gliding on two skis between kicks, you maintain momentum and stability better in soft snow and uneven terrain. SDP also climbs steeper hills than KDP. It tours beautifully. It works when wearing a pack because the torso doesn’t drop as much. And on flats it’s rhythmic and strong.

Here’s a part that’s fun: the motion pattern mirrors V1 and V2A skating. Hopskate, too!

I first saw it when a friend said, “It’s probably all wrong, but I like it.” That tells us something about our culture. If something feels good and works in certain terrain, we shouldn’t assume it’s wrong simply because it’s untaught.

It’s not meant for World Cup sprint finals. It’s for you.

Here’s a video showing how:

How to Cross Country Ski: Striding Doublepole

Here are a series of how-to photos:

The above image shows the distinction of the SDP. Can you spot it?

Step 1: Hands returning after poling. Front foot is weighted. …Just as in KDP.

Step 2: Kick as the poles are at their highest, then bring the foot back as you plant your poles. …Also as in KDP.

Step 3: As you are poling, weight the other foot.

Step 4: …And kick as your hands go by your hips! This is what is unique about SDP compared to KDP. For each cycle of poling you kick with each foot. 

2. Pendulum Poling — Old-Skool Rhythm

We all know the regular stride-poling and doublepoling. But skiing is about rhythm, and different rhythms fit various situations. 

Pendulum poling comes from wood-ski days. Instead of planting your pole, you swing the basket forward like a pendulum. A small pump-back of the hand sends the basket forward; then you bring the hand forward again as it swings back.

Why would you do this?

Group skiing. You don’t want to brake when someone ahead slows slightly. Skip a pole plant instead. Ease speed subtly without disrupting flow.

Also, transitions. Tight turns. A crowded arm on the inside of a turn. You don’t have to hold a pole rigidly off the snow like a statue. Pendulum poling absorbs a beat gracefully.

You can skip half a beat or a full beat. You can do it while striding or doublepoling. One pole or both. It’s skiing with timing awareness instead of robotic rigidity of motion.

The Loop

If you’re turning around the end of a log, say, and can’t swing your inside pole forward normally, squeeze your fingers, flip the basket upward, and loop it out and over the log without lifting your arm. Plant it on the other side. It’s a recovery arc: smooth and efficient, not rigidly standard.

When diagonal striding you can pump both hands to absorb a beat before restarting poling.

3. The Swing-Tail Turn

This might be the most satisfying move on my list.

Tight or uphill turns often feel clunky. Most instruction mentions step-turns or skate-turns. Yet there’s a better way when you want to maintain flow going up.

Step the inside ski toward the new direction. Lift the outside ski slightly and swing its tail outward while keeping its tip aimed toward the exit of the turn. The tail pivots out beyond the tip.

You keep striding through the turn. That’s the key: you don’t stop skiing to turn — you turn while skiing.

Uphill especially, it’s faster and smoother than pausing into a skate-turn. I’ve dropped race rivals this way simply because I never interrupted my stride or glide.

The same tail control helps when untangling skis after a fall: hold the tips steady, move the tails, pull back one at a time. Freedom.

4. The Skidaddle

Singletrack hiking trails sometimes become ski routes. And those trails often have eroded uphill gullies.

Try to herringbone up a gully and your skis tails slide down to the center. Frustrating.

Instead, move to one side. Pivot both ski tips slightly down toward the gully’s center. Lift the tails higher along the sidewall. Keep skis parallel but pivoted. Your torso faces mostly uphill.

Stride forward.

You’re not sidestepping. You’re not exiting the gully up to the side. You’re moving forward with angled skis that grip the sidewall.

Plant poles near your heels. Be rhythmic.

Once you try it, gullies become entertaining instead of obstacles.

And yes — someone may say they’ve always done this. Good! Let’s teach it. (...Though if you brought them to a gully they would be baffled.)

Skidaddle Scamper -- the Way to Ski Up Gullies (Herringbone)

5. The Drop

Everyone misses a kick sometimes.

A ski slips. Maybe you almost strain something trying to save it. Instead: drop. Flex your ankles an inch deeper. Lower your hands slightly. Follow the slip down and land it. Don’t let the ski pop up at the rear.

That drop loads your next ski effectively and restores grip for an instant recovery.

It also helps in sugary or soft snow. Ski a touch lower and you “swim” through with more grip.

It’s not flashy. It’s practical. And it prevents small mistakes from cascading.

6. Doublepole Has More Gears Than We Admit

Officially, we get Regular DP and Kick-DP. But in practice there are many gears.

You can drop lower into Squat-DP for climbing. Scootch a foot back into a Scissorkick-DP for an even lower gear. Rise high on your toes for Sprint-DP. Adjust reach length — short, medium, long. Crunch with minimal follow-through uphill. Toss poles back on flats.

Recreational skiers especially benefit from changing these variables during long outings. It shifts muscular load and keeps rhythm fresh.

Naming variations helps skiers understand choices. Without names, people assume there is only one right way.

There isn’t.

There are gears. Recreational skiers need as many as they can get!

Why Naming Matters (And Why is XC Stingy With It?)

I like giving something that is meaningfully different its own name. That’s not ego. That’s education.

If two movements use different timing, recruit muscles differently, or solve different terrain problems, they deserve different words. Without names, skiers assume there’s only one “right way,” and everything else is a mistake.

Take doublepoling.

Visma Ski Classics racers — who doublepole entire marathons without grip wax — have evolved different movement patterns from World Cup racers who stride a lot.

Do those differences matter? Of course they do. They affect energy use, gear choice, tempo, posture, and terrain strategy.

We know they’re not the same moves, but they still haven’t given them names!

When a skier gets tired on a long tour and instinctively shortens reach, lowers stance, or reduces follow-through, it’s a gear change. Or if they find they can go faster by reaching out farther for a change, that’s worth exploring, too. If we name it, we can teach it. If we don’t, people think they’re doing something wrong. Naming doesn’t fragment a sport. It clarifies it.

Other sports constantly name refinements. XC often absorbs them silently and moves on, leaving unnamed diversity in its wake.

If we don’t name variation, we quietly narrow our own vocabulary of experience.

7. Herringbone Gets Respect

Most people tolerate herringbone. Few enjoy it. Yet when done well it can feel light and powerful.

Ankles flexed. Hips forward. Normal arm rhythm. Minimal foot lift. Tips angled just enough for grip. Knees slightly inward so bases stay flat relative to gravity.

Four ingredients matter: posture, splay angle, grip, edging — in that order.

Shorten stride only when necessary. It can be long and powerful for quite a few more degrees of steepness than striding can be. 

When done right, it isn’t survival marching. It’s flowing uphill without glide — which feels miraculous when it clicks.

The Gliding Herringbone (Forbidden in Races)

Here’s where things get interesting. When you begin to slip uphill, instead of immediately committing to full non-gliding herringbone, angle one ski slightly outward, kick, and allow a short glide. Then switch sides.

You stop the ski before kicking — so it’s not skating. But because the glide happens while the ski is angled, race rules consider it illegal.

If you’re not racing, that restriction vanishes.

Splaying your tips effectively “flattens” the hill by reducing the angle of the slope. You regain traction and keep gliding longer.

You can feel the difference between this and skating. Skating kicks while gliding. Classic stride stops to kick. That distinction is experiential.

Some may dismiss the nuance. But your body will know. And it’s fun! …Just don’t do it in a race.

And if you’re not in a race, the hill doesn’t own you. You can change your line, flatten the slope, and keep gliding longer than the rulebook allows.

Here’s a wobbly video showing a little of what I’m talking about:

Gliding Herringbone vs Diagonal Skate -- Illegal, but it's Classic! 

Final Thoughts…

Which raises a bigger question: how much of our skiing instruction is shaped by rules and situations that don’t apply to most of us?

In the next installment, we’ll move from terrain tactics into something even more powerful: style, identity, skating variation, and the kind of playful skiing that reminds us why we started in the first place.

…Jeff Potter bikes, boats, bikes and skis in mid-Michigan, where winter is now short enough that he wants the most fun from every outing. He’s author of New Wave Nordic Skiing, publisher of the OutYourBackdoor website and channel, and host of “Nordic Skiing” on Facebook. (He hopes someone designs a fun, compact Nordic course concept to fit alongside an Alpine slope so they can profitably share their snowmaking!)

Editor’s Note: The ski skills presented here may differ from official techniques. These skills may have applications in ski experiences not always encountered on well-groomed trails. Cross-country ski enthusiasts have watched ski technique evolve at the World Cup level. Many skiers may not be capable of, or interested in, adopting all of the currently accepted racing techniques, especially when not racing. The skills presented here are offered as options for skiers exploring new ways to improve their cross-country skiing experiences.