Cross Country Skiing

Crankin,

We went to the Weston Ski Track for our group lesson last year. On a second outing, we rented snowshoes and hiked around the grounds. I fell a LOT the first time we used the groomed trails and was uneasy with people whizzing by in all directions.

A confident woman in her 60s made it look so easy; I envied her skill level. She laughed and said I'd be zipping along in no time.

This year I have already noticed a big difference while skiing around our neighborhood; maybe it is the powder snow instead of the icier surface at the ski resort that helped me stay on my feet?

On another note: does anyone know if replacement parts are available for bindings? One of the rubber accordion-like pieces on a binding has disappeared already. The mechanism still works; not sure what its function is.

It's not as if the skis were handled or stored roughly. Seems they shouldn't be breaking already...is this normal?

I used to fall a lot, too. A couple of things helped. One, was getting shorter skis, with even better edges, and two, was just practicing and skiing under a lot of different conditions. One day it just clicked. Falling never bothered me, but it was embarrassing at times. I remember rolling around in the snow, trying to get myself up from a fall at Weston, when I took a "refresher" class with AMC about 7 years ago. And yes, the conditions make a huge difference. We *have* had more powder this year so far, so get out there!
Your skis shouldn't be breaking after this amount of time, but it does happen. If you got them at REI, they fix them pronto.

Another glorious morning at Windblown today. We didn't have a lot of time, so we got there by 9:45. They were having an orienteering event and I thought it would be mobbed, but it wasn't. It was busy, but again, once you are out on the trails, the people disperse quickly. My DH is recovering from bronchitis and hasn't skied since our New Year's weekend in NH, so we took it a little easy, since he's still coughing. We skied about 9.5K, doing some good climbing at first, some downhills, and ending with a couple of long flats. The conditions were awesome, packed powder, but very fast. There was ice clinging to the tree branches, glistening in the sunlight. This is why I love New England. Yesterday, I snow shoed on my neighborhood trails/conservation land for about an hour... should have brought the poles this time. It was tough getting up the big climb in deep snow.
More snow coming on Wednesday!

I went out for about an hour today. The additional snow we got yesterday seems to be too deep for my BC 65 (Rossignol) skis. (We chose that model so we could use grooved tracks or venture out on our own.) I got around ok, but it was more of a compromised shuffle than a glide today. It was easier in the woods where the snow wasn't as deep.

DBF still owes me a Christmas gift, so I may be getting a wider pair for deep snow eventually...caught him researching ski equipment online when I got home.

That missing rubber 'accordian' piece apparently keeps the binding from collecting snow and ice and prevents the release mechanism from jamming. Which is exactly what happened. It wasn't a problem last week, but with the additional 6 inches of powder from yesterday, it filled up. I had to ski home and take my foot out of the boot because the binding wasn't going to release the boot until it thawed.

We bought everything at Onion River Sports online. I Emailed them Monday and got no response when I asked if I could get a replacement part. Not too surprised; couldn't reach them by phone but will try again.

So it was perfect conditions out my way. The snow was still dry with little moisture so nice and powdery. A temperature of 24 F. The kind of snow where your glide is long and effortless and you can trot up the hills without a herringbone because all is perfect; wax and excellent grip at the kicker, and no ice. I usually wait until later in the afternoon to ski because it is typically the fastest then and there are fewer encounters with people. Sometimes I end up coming out as the sun is setting or dusk and wonder that after 33 years I haven't become a pre-nocturnal dinner for coyote. I'm kidding, sort of. .. But it's all worth it. So just when I thought it couldn't get any better than this today...it did. The groomers came through about 3:15 pm.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TT...0/DSC02182.JPG

I haven't been so excited to see machines in the woods in a long time. My heart was warmed when I saw them and I just couldn't stop smiling.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TT...0/DSC02185.JPG

I was ready to wrap it up but until I saw the groomers I couldn't resist. I stayed out later and followed in the wake of their path and it was pure bliss. Pure unadulterated fresh groom was ALL mine. Few were left in the park at that time.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TT...0/DSC02187.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TT...0/DSC02189.JPG
All mine free and clear for as much skating as I wanted. Talk about chi.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ghv7T6ztD3g/TT...0/DSC02191.JPG

What nice-looking trails! Sounds like you had a day that will always be remembered.

Too bad we can't put those special outings in a bottle and save them to be savored over and over...

That looks like perfection mudmucker. Glad you had such a great day!

Is that by any chance Wendell State Forest? I was thinking of heading out there today(sunday). I have only mountain biked there.

I have been skiing locally @ Fairhaven Bay behind Walden Pond. The conditions are pristine, single tracks through the woods. Last week a barred owl swooped over head as I glided over the silent snow.

I went to Great Brook today for the first time this season. Despite the huge crowd, once you got into the trail system, it didn't feel too crowded. Except when I started and got stuck behind a group of skiers who were on an outing and getting instruction. I finally got to pass them after I crossed the road, necessitating me to take off and put my skis back on. I could hear them crossing behind me, but there was a little climb and a downhill, so I lost them.
But, I felt discombobulated today! I didn't fall, climbing and descending were fine, but I just felt wobbly on the flats and I was going slowly. Some of it was I think I was just a bit "on guard" with all of the skaters whizzing by me and the newbies falling, kids, etc. The conditions were still powdery, but slick. When I got to the ridge it was nice and quiet there. Lots of cyclists there today, too. One older guy (well, he's probably my age), made a comment about my "two water bottles" in my pack. I told him and the woman he was with that I sweat and drink a lot. When I got back to the center, I was putting on my regular boots when they sat down next to me. He started yacking about how was a cyclist and he had this special drink in his bottle... I realized he had been on one of our rides awhile back, but I just said that he looked familiar. He went on for like 15 minutes about people we know in common.
I skied about 10K and I am pretty tired.

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Originally Posted by windhorse

Is that by any chance Wendell State Forest? I was thinking of heading out there today(sunday). I have only mountain biked there.

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That was Dennison. It's only 3 miles fom the house and I'll go there if I'm short on time as I was yesterday. Great conditions as it is well maintained but it is a state forest that can get a lot of snowmobile traffic if you go at the wrong time. I don't mind encountering snowmobiles at all as they are very considerate but I do mind the fumes if the air is still.

I ended up going to Wendall today but I didn't get there until 2pm. I rarely use the main access - I go to other less used access points. If you've mt biked there you likely know of them. Today I noticed that some of the trails were a little slick, depending where in the park you were skiing. The northeast side trails were good. I meandered over to the west side to parttake in the wood stove and noticed the western trails were a bit icy, but then I was there late too.

I skied Saturday at Prospect Mt. near Bennington Vt. It was great snow and good trails. A group of us did the Moonlight ski that they have once a month. You get a dinner in the lodge, then ski ~2 km to a pond where they have a bonfire. A guy does a visual dance swinging firepots while shirtless in 5 degree weather. We were supposed to be skiing by moonlight, but the moon hadn't risen yet, so most of us used headlamps. Did a lovely but not hard snowshoe hike today.

Just got back from another great day at Northfield Mountain. It was 30 when we started and went up to about 35. We did the same climb up to the top of the mountain, which felt long, but getting to the top was awesome. This time, we didn't eat at the top, though, and skied right down the blue trails. It didn't feel hard or scary at all.
After lunch, the 4 of us went up a green trail we had skied down previously, but then switched to a blue trail we had no idea about, as far as if it was a climb or a descent. It was probably the longest climb I've done on skis. Not super steep, but bad enough that I was saying "I am going to die," about half way through. Once I stop, like for lunch, I find it is a lot harder for me when I go back on the trail. But, we were finally rewarded with the long downhill on the green trail, where I got in a tuck position and sped down really fast. I kept hearing the voice of the guy on my winter training core video, saying " If you do this, you'll be able to stay in the tuck position for a longer time, on the bike." I have to say, my legs were screaming, but all the core work has helped.
A total of 9 miles. I am going to have ribs and beer tonight!
Next weekend we are going to Franconia for 3 days.

I have about 18,000 acres of either state forest or WMA within 6 miles of my house. About 2000 of those have access about a quarter mile from my house. This doesn't even include Wendell SF or the Quabbin, which is 25 minutes from me. First thing I do when I move to a new place is get myself a map and compass and head out to the woods, or explore by mt. bike. I've lived here for 7 years and have done a lot of exploring and am familiar with a lot of these places.

But today I went to an area to ski that I hadn't thought of which slipped off the radar years ago. You can connect to parts that I do know from it. I have to say after all these years I actually was in an area I had never been. I didn't recognize a thing, not a landform, nothing. It was great. It was so wonderful to not know where I was, to have this woodland experience be so fresh and new and full of antipation. I kept wanting to go further to discover what was around the bend, to see if it did finally connect to something I recognized. It never did. It was a larger area than expected. It was getting near 4pm and because I was unfamiliar with the area, wanted to get back to the car before dark. Nor did I have a topo map and it was cloudy with no sun. There were all sorts of diversions and offset paths heading to different areas. I wanted to explore all of them and see where they went. There were so many I'm not even sure I'd be able to explore them all with what winter is left. I'll have to come out on the mt bike to be able to cover greater area. But then it started to snow and there was one trail that was just too darn inviting. It went through a grove of white and red pines so you felt you were going through a tall cathedral forest. Likely a pine plantation of an old management practice that was once commonly used to quickly reforest abandoned deforested land. You see them a lot around here. The snow was falling softly. All was quiet. It was cleared. A snowmobile had gone through once but it looked like it had been few days ago. A thin veneer of snow was laid over the snowmobile tracks making for perfect snow conditions. So I shuffled through the pines, just me and the quiet. The snow and ski in such harmony that the uninterrupted kick and glide gave a zen like quality. I was in a zone. The fresh cool air, flakes falling so slowly and peacefully. It was heavenly, a perfect feeding for the soul.

Never know what fresh experiences lie ahead in the day when you wake up.

I learned today - we spent about 5 hours at Eldora between the lesson and the trails we went on. It was much easier than I was expecting, though I don't think I weighed enough for the ridiculously long skis I had. Hard to get the part beneath my feet to ever touch the ground, so going up hills was stupid slow sometimes. Next time I want to learn skate skiing.

We got ~8" of snow on Thursday, so DH and I finally got to try out our new skis! Rossi BC65s for me and BC70s for him. I am pleased to report that we chose well for our conditions- they're beefy enough for breaking trail without being overwhelming for our typical snow amounts, short enough to turn easily, and metal edges really do help when it turns icy.

Hooray! :D

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Originally Posted by mudmucker

I
But today I went to an area to ski that I hadn't thought of which slipped off the radar years ago.

Never know what fresh experiences lie ahead in the day when you wake up.

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Cool.