Today, more than ever during the long Alaskan nights, it’s important to put down the I-pad, TV remote or smart phone and strap on some winter apparel and get outside with your family or loved ones. Outdoor fun is a specialty of the loft at Beemun’s in Soldotna and whether it’s waxing, renting or tuning up your outdoor equipment the loft is a great place to begin. Alaska is unparalleled in winter beauty and “XC skiing” was invented for you to experience going cross country in the winter and coming home again safely. And although it has evolved into a highly competitive Olympic sport XC skiing is still a wonderful and easy way to see Alaska’s great outdoors.

If you can walk you can cross country ski says locally born and raised Brian Beeson of the family owned Beemun’s Variety, “To get started you can come in and rent skies from us, we rent both touring skies that have the composition fish scales on the bottom which is a great ski to learn with, then as you advance we also rent skate skies that are great on the groomed trails at Tsalteshi or the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. We rent ski packages that includes the boots, bindings, skies and poles so you everything you need for a complete experience,” said Brian.

Although XC skiing has evolved over the last 50 years from hard wood, pine tarred, metal edged skies to new light weight composition skies the art of correctly waxing skies is still an important factor in being successful on skies when conditions and temperatures change whether you’re racing or just enjoying a day in the wilderness, “We can even take care of that end of it for you, we’ve invested in a professional waxing machine which is far superior to hot iron and hand waxing. We can wax skies, snowboards and just about anything that’s meant to glide over snow. We can do a kick wax on your classic skies or do a glide wax on your skate skies, we also do edge work on snowboards, downhill and back country skies if you need to polish up your metal edges,” said Brian.

Knowing the right ski to get started can make all the difference in a successful experience, “Starting off I recommend a wax-less ski, something that will get you out on the trails to try skiing for the first time and see how much fun it is. Then if you want to advance to higher aerobic, higher energy style of skiing you can advance to a skate ski that takes a little longer to master. But getting out on a wax-less ski with the great opportunities we have right here in our backyard at Tsalteshi or KNWR you can walk, shuffle, jog or run is a great way to ease yourself into a great outdoor experience and renting is an inexpensive way to try it out,” he said.

Outfitting all ages with skies, clothing and equipment is also a service that Beemun’s takes pride in, “We’re here to help and we can put complete packages together for all family members with adult packages at around $250 to kids packages that start at about $200,” said Beeson. And if you’d rather peddle your way over the river, through the woods, up the hills or along the beach, talk to Brian about a Fat-tire bike, “We rent those too!”