Thoughts about…
Photos and Videos
Oh boy, is it any surprise that I neglected to write an essay or article this month?
Probably not. haha 🙂
I’m just busy these days with work, making more YouTube videos (finally!), and training for my Telemark skiing certification.
Although my final Telemark exam won’t be until late April, I had my pre-exam assessment yesterday so for the weeks leading up to it I was preparing myself as best as I could. During this process, I attended Telemark clinics and sessions on my days off. And I have more training scheduled throughout the rest of the winter. So, in a lot of respects, I don’t have many actual days off anymore. I totally agree that skiing on my days off is tons of fun but this is my profession, after all. So it’s work, too!
I know, I know. I lead a rough life 😉
No matter how you cut it, though, everything takes time. So I do what I can with what I have. And what I did manage to create was a handful of videos, including some for a new skate ski series (see below).
Since I’ve been skiing so much, I haven’t hardly done any birding this winter. However, whenever I go down to the Subaru dealership in Shingle Springs (west slope) for routine maintenance, I take my camera with me. So instead of sitting in the dealership while they service my car, I tour the adjacent neighborhood looking for birds that I either never see in Tahoe or only seldom. Here’s a small selection of species that I saw on February 3rd, 2026.
Although there was no new snow in Tahoe after the big holiday storms around Christmas and New Year’s, there was plenty of snow on which to train 🙂
Therefore, I finally began to create a series of cross-country ski videos focused on skate skiing technique.
I’ve put off producing skate skiing videos for quite a while because there are already so many of them online that’ve been made so many different people. And many of those videos are produced by and for ski racers and wannabe ski racers. Probably more from the latter. I find that most current skate ski-related videos are random, bite-sized, shorts/reels that often create more questions than answers, especially for newer skate skiers. And, of course, the original posters seldom respond to the inquiries their videos generate. That seems to be typical for most social media creators — they don’t actually respond meaningfully to people who ask questions. In contrast, I’ve made it a specific point over the years to respond to everyone who comments on my videos. It also appears that many of the skate ski short videos feature some sort of AI text to “explain” the pros/cons of the technique(s) being demonstrated. Basically, those videos feature a lot of generic verbiage and slop that may or may not be born out of direct experience.
I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing some of those other creators, but I am – haha! But, really, I get frustrated that there are so many people who “teach” but aren’t dedicated to their practice enough to go the distance (by creating more comprehensive videos, responding to their audience, acknowledging that most viewers are beginners and need things to be simplified, etc…).
Until now, I’ve primarily focused on making articles/videos about classic cross-country technique and backcountry cross-country skiing/XCD (cross-country downhill), of which there isn’t very much currently online. So I’ve carved out this niche that was underrepresented. But now that I’m doing these skate ski videos, ugh, I fear that I’ll just get lumped in with everyone else already making them.
However, I decided that I’m going to stick with my typical approach to making “how-to” videos by continuing to create longer-format, comprehensive videos. Instead of the 1-2 minute shorts, I’ll keep making stuff in the 7-12 minute range. This might help differentiate me from the rest of the yahoos out there. These videos take exponentially more time and work to make (which is why people don’t make them), and their engagement is often a lot less because they’re longer. But, in a lot of respects, I’m not looking for a TikTok type of audience. What I’ve discovered in my own teaching practice over the years is that I’m mostly interested in teaching people who are willing to commit to the learning process. For example, they’re in it for the long haul because they know that there aren’t any shortcuts to becoming a great skier (or anything else for that matter).
Anyway, here are the videos that I produced in January and in the first week of February 🙂
Thanks for being a part of my life. Until next time…
-Jared Manninen
Tahoe Trail Guide is an online resource for hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing in the Lake Tahoe region. In addition to trail data, I offer backcountry “how-to” articles and information about the local and natural history of Tahoe. Tahoe Swag is a collection of art and design products I create based on my love of the outdoors and appreciation for Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains.
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Eastern Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger (2/3/26). © Jared Manninen
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Comments (4)
Hey Jared, what type of camera do you use sir? blessings, james
Hey James!
I invested in the Nikon Z8 this past October. This was after I broke my Nikon D500, so I’m still learning about this new mirrorless system.
So far so good, though 🙂
Jared
Thanks for the series of videos on the on-track skiing.
I see you use the terms “Backcountry cross-county skiing or XCD (cross-country downhill).“ Are those one and the same? It seems that Voile skis (based here in Utah) likes the term XCD for free-heel downhill-style skiing. I personally use four types of classifications: Resort or Alpine skiing (lift served), AT (Alpine Touring in the backcountry), Backcountry Nordic (free heel skiing with very limited turns, but with metal edge skis) and just Nordic (non-metal edge skis strictly on groomed tracks…broken down further into classic or skate). Most retailers use the term Nordic Touring for what I call Backcountry Nordic.
Do you have a page on your blog where you address these various “flavors” of skiing?
Hey Richard!
Believe it or not, I have considered writing an article about the various names/flavors of xc skiing. Unfortunately, that idea has remained yet another bullet point on my neverending to-do list – haha 🙂
To be honest, I’ve only recently started including “XCD” with some of my video/article titles. Maybe for the last 2-3 years, and that’s mainly for SEO reasons and the benefit of folks who think in those terms. I’ve always just considered everything other than xc skiing on groomed terrain to be “backcountry” xc skiing. This includes everything from xc skiing down your street after a big snowfall, off-piste xc skiing at a groomed xc ski area (regardless of skis), to the more traditional XCD scenarios such as lapping steep terrain on really wide backcountry xc skis. I often mention my broad definition whenever discussing backcountry xc skiing.
As much as I appreciate concepts being clearly defined/stated, I’ve always found that xc skiing is xc skiing whether you’re on groomed terrain or not and regardless of gear. Hence, my simplification of it being either “xc skiing” or “backcountry xc skiing.” I diagonal stride everywhere. I perform downhill technique everywhere. Of course, all of my sessions are unique with some being in more rugged terrain than others. However, I’m always using the same skiing techniques, to one degree or another, every time I put skis on regardless of what types of skis I’m running.
I think it’s easier to classify some styles of skiing more than others. For example, alpine touring and splitboarding are fairly straightforward as they’re essentially defined by the specific type of gear (and the fact that you’re most likely going to be using them in certain terrain using certain techniques). And, of course, traditional alpine skiing is straightforward when you’re in locked heels and riding the lifts. But I’ve run every type of xc ski at downhill resorts, ranging from the skinniest of xc track skis (NNN bindings, no metal edge) to Rossi XP120s (scale-patterned base, Voile 3-pin w/cable and plastic boots). And then there’s crust skating or striding in the spring on groomer skis or uphill access at the downhill resort on classic track skis, skate skis, and metal-edged bc xc skis, so where do those fall on the spectrum? Specific definitions based on gear fall apart in my world because I do everything on everything. And if we’re defining the style of skiing based on number of turns per tour or angle of terrain on which I’m skiing it all falls apart for me because, again, I do everything on everything. And I couldn’t imagine it any other way 🙂
I do appreciate clear terms, but I find xc skiing to be so diverse that specifically classifying its various iterations becomes arbitrary. So, I mainly still call it “cross-country skiing” or “backcountry cross-country skiing.” And if I was pressed even harder to define my beliefs on the matter, I’d ultimately just call it all “cross-country skiing” 🙂
Perhaps this brief discussion will be part of that article/video that I’ll produce one day (that most likely won’t clear anything up for anyone!). haha!
Thank you for reading and for reaching out. I really appreciate the stimulating conversation.
Jared