Hi, just wondering maybe someone is doing XC skiing for training here, I’m just curious when would you normally expect for HR to drop, while practicing skiing? Mine is normal during cycling, but very high during skiing.
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Xc skiing is one of the most full body exercises. It takes all the oxygen. So yeah, your heart rate will generally be higher doing it at similar perceived exertion.
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Just to add to this, the HR zones are different in XC skiing as well. If, let’s say, upper Z2 is 140bpm for you while cycling, it might be as high as 160bpm while skiing.
For the same reason XC skiers have some of the highest VO2 max numbers. They employ the whole body versus a cyclist that mostly uses his lower body.
However, over time you can still expect the heart rate to go lower. For me this came as part of getting better at the technique. You learn to become much more efficient. At first I was using too much of my upper body as a result of faulty technique. Now I can easily skate ski at low exertion as well as do intervals with max HR. In fact, my max HR ever was in an XC skiing race.
All in all, don’t worry about the numbers. They don’t translate well to cycling HR zones. Track your sensations and enjoy the winter 
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