Try cross country skiing

How would you like to spend a day outdoors in the dead of winter, get lots of good, healthy exercise and have a ton of fun, all at the same time?

Heck, that is an offer than no one should pass up.

If you're interested, then how would you like to try cross country (x-country) skiing.

Yep, cross country skiing.

If you've never tried it, then you've been missing out on a fun-filled experience during the long months of winter.

This increasingly popular sport is lots of fun, it's easy to learn, your choices of skiing locations are unlimited and the entire family can enjoy it.

As a bonus, the cost is very modest, especially when compared to the cost of downhill skiing.

If you don't have your own cross country ski equipment (skis, bindings, poles and boots), you can rent those items, as a package rental, at many different ski shops in this general area.

Generally speaking, those one-day rentals will run approximately $15.

Then once you have the necessary equipment, all you need to do is find a place to have fun.

If you are a skier interested in skiing on groomed trails together with many other skiers, then you can pick and chose from a number of nearby locations such as:

- Camp Richardson, which is just off Calif. S.R. 89 on the southwest side of Lake Tahoe. It has 35 kilometers of groomed trails.

- Diamond Peak, above Incline Village on the northeast side of Lake Tahoe. It has 35 kilometers of groomed trails.

- Kirkwood, just off Calif. S.R. 88, about 55 miles south of Carson City. It has 80 kilometers of groomed trails.

- Lakeview, just off Calif. S.R. 28 between Tahoe City and King's Beach at North Lake Tahoe. It has 65 kilometers of groomed trails.

- Northstar-at-Tahoe, just west of Calif. S.R. 267 between North Lake Tahoe and Truckee. It has 65 kilometers of groomed trails.

- Royal Gorge, just off I-80 near Donner Summit. It has 328 kilometers of groomed trails.

- Spooner Lake, just off Nevada S.R. 28 near the junction of U.S. 50 and S.R. 28 at Spooner Summit. It has 91 kilometers of groomed trails.

- Tahoe Donner, just off Calif. S.R. 89, north and west of Truckee. It has 85 kilometers of groomed trails.

If you are a skier interested in skiing in the untracked areas of the backcountry, then your choices are virtually unlimited.

However, some of the more popular choices are:

- Hope Valley, along Calif. S.R. 88 about 35 miles south of Carson City.

- Kit Carson Pass, on Calif. S.R. 88 about 45 miles south of Carson City.

- The Spooner Lake area. (See above).

- Tahoe Meadows, near the Mt. Rose Summit on Nev. S.R. 431.

There it is - all you need to know about where to go cross country skiing.

Now, go out and have some fun this weekend.

You won't go wrong.