{"podcast":{"title":"Peak Northwest","slug":"peak-northwest-490792","podcast_index_feed_id":490792,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/peaknorthwest","website_url":"https://www.oregonlive.com/podcasts/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/0012ca40-c7d2-11ec-b710-d3eef88e973e/image/614b4432-0271-40d2-8031-34ec27099c8e.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Oregonian/OregonLive","episode_count":347,"summary":"Hosts Jamie Hale and Chiara Profenna take you to some of the greatest destinations in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-10T00:19:16.705241+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/peak-northwest-490792"},"episode":{"title":"How to get into cross-country skiing, even if you’ve never touched a ski","slug":"how-to-get-into-cross-country-skiing-even-if-you-ve-never-touched-a-ski","published_at":"2025-12-18T14:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/peak-northwest-490792/how-to-get-into-cross-country-skiing-even-if-you-ve-never-touched-a-ski","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/peak-northwest-490792","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADLM9834661389.mp3","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/ADLM9834661389.mp3","summary":"It might not the most accessible snow sport, but cross-country skiing is a lot easier to get into than some people think. On this week’s episode of Peak Northwest, we talk to Michael Russell, restaurant critic for The Oregonian/OregonLive, who is also a Nordic skiing enthusiast. Russell recounts his journey from spectactor of the 2018 Winter Olympics to an avid cross-country skier. As Russell tells it, anybody can get into cross-country skiing, whether you’ve ever touched a ski or not. While Nordic skiers can work their way up to the level of elite athletes (or do their best to), the sport can be easy to pick up, especially if you’re just trying to have a nice day in the snow. Here are some highlights from this week’s show: How the Winter Olympics inspired Michael Russell to try out Nordic skiing. There are levels to cross-country skiing. The best places in Oregon to ski. How Michael Russell almost ate snow in front of his idol, Jessie Diggins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"It might not the most accessible snow sport, but cross-country skiing is a lot easier to get into than some people think. On this week’s episode of Peak N…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2185,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/peak-northwest-490792/episodes/how-to-get-into-cross-country-skiing-even-if-you-ve-never-touched-a-ski/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/peak-northwest-490792/how-to-get-into-cross-country-skiing-even-if-you-ve-never-touched-a-ski.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}