If you're a downhill skier at a resort like Aspen or Squaw Valley, you're confined to riding a lift uphill, then skiing back down. In contrast, cross country skiing is as diverse as the terrain it covers -- flats and hills, pastures and forests, lakesides and mountain slopes. You have endless options on where to where to ski and an incredible number of ways to enjoy them.

"Classic" technique is graceful and efficient. It's the original way to ski, whether you go gently uphill, down, or on the level. It's sometimes called "diagonal stride," since it's an elongated form of walking directly forward, with one arm and the opposite leg moving forward simultaneously. Machine-set tracks at cross country ski areas guide your skis forward and keep them level, eliminating a lot of balance problems for beginners.

"Skate" technique is newer, swifter, thrilling -- and probably more popular in California than anywhere else in the world. It uses an ice skating-like motion of arms and legs, thrusting out to the side instead of swinging directly forward. You need a well-packed surface for skating -- and then you can fly over meadows, down hills, even up long slopes.

One of cross country's delights is learning to handle downhills on skinny skis with no steel edges. (By the way, sitting down is a perfectly respectable way to stop. Using another skier as a cushion isn't quite as acceptable.)

If you want to be comfortable skiing downhill, there's no substitute for lessons -- and that means working with a professional instructor, not a well-intentioned friend or spouse. You'll learn and practice three or four techniques in the very first lesson (things like downhill stance, step turns, traverses with kick turns, and the snowplow); and from there you can move into really advanced turns.

Some ski schools have specialized lessons in telemarking, which is the best-known and most beautiful technique for downhill control on cross country skis. To get a little technical, it's both a descent position and a turn; and when you get the hang of it, you can confidently handle even steep slopes and changes in snow depth. Resorts often have special telemarking classes, so you'll actually be looking for hills after your lesson!