Quote:
Originally Posted by lph
LOVE night XC skiing.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lph
LOVE night XC skiing.
Yup. Trying hard to hang on to that feeling now that we have wind, rain and high temps and all the snow has fallen off the trees and turned to slush...:-(
Zoomzoom, that's so cool that your kid likes skiing! Skinny little kids can be amazingly good at it with a little basic technique, I have clumps of preteens blasting by me on a regular basis on my evening outings.
Bumping this thread up, since it's becoming more of a topic in the cycling thread.
And.... we are getting snow! Not so much here, but lots of it in the White Mountains, where I am headed on Friday morning. Like at least a foot, maybe more. So excited, and now don't feel guilty about not riding outside for the last 3 weeks.
For once, I planned a trip and the conditions will be stellar.
Ha! Didn't even know we had a ski thread, here, or I wouldn't have cluttered up the bicycling thread, though in my defense, I sometimes ski and bike on the same days. :)
Yup, heard about the blizzard headed your way, Crankin. I'd also take snowshoes if you hit a foot of snow. Have fun.
It is snowing like hell up north and we did not have a flake. Saw some snow showers at noon, and now torrential rain. However, about 10 miles northwest of my house, it's snowing. Just looked at the camera feed from Bretton Woods and it is all white.
Our plan is to drive up in the AM and try out a new nordic center that opened last year. Our friends have been there and report stellar trails, wide, one way, with good climbing. We'll get our ski legs back and then head to the inn.
We always bring snow shoes, though I am a bit nervous about heading out in the National Forest trails with DH.... despite our tracking devices, it is not a place one would want to be lost. We can either snow shoe at nordic center trails with separate snow shoe trails, or climb up Mt Willard, which is a small mountain, with a great view, and a start by the AMC Highland Center, where we can eat and buy gear.
Me, I might try the Nordic center trails, just because I so rarely get to ski with anyone around or have company. Just something different for a change, but would probably head out into the boonies before too long. :)
My trails are still to ice covered to be safe. When you slide sideways on your skis as much as forward, it's time for the snowshoes with teeth. My Crescent Moon Back Country shoes are perfect.
First day of skiing done!
We left home at 10 am and drove to Hearth Farm Nordic, a new ski area. We brought our lunches, ate, and got out on the trails about 12:45. Only 2 intermediate trails were open, sonwe warmed up on a green loop and off we went. It was beautiful, wide, one way trails, and not hard. We skied about 6k, just perfect to retool our skills.
I didn't fall and while the conditions weren't super, it was good.
Tomorrow we'll be at Bretton Woods, where they had 1.5 ft of snow.
Day 2 and 3 of skiing are done. Yesterday we went to Bretton Woods Nordic, at the Mt Washington Resort. It was fairly quiet for this place, when we arrived; beautiful, the most clear, sunny, and calm I have ever seen there. We wanted to do some different trails, so we did a couple of blue trails that were not that hard, and then an easy trail back to the center. I appreciated the scenery and quiet. We got back and ate lunch, and 40 minutes later, it was gray, flurrying, and a bit windy. We skied for another hour, again on a blue trail and headed back. We were exhasted from a total of 2.5 hours of skiing.
Had a great NYE dinner at our inn, allowing us to have lots of wine! Got up this morning very stiff, my SI joint screaming and my upper body feeling it, too. Went out to ski a little later than normal, as we went to the Franconia Trail system down the road. It's a collaboration of the Franconia Inn and local landowners. We did the most difficult skiing of our lives here, a few years ago, not just because of the serious elevation and descents. The trails are narrow and they lay the tracks in the middle, which makes it hard for me to descend, as I get out of the tracks to do that and here there isn't enough room. It would be better for them not to track these trails. So, we chose the intermediate loop, with a small loop of flats at the end. It is warmer today, about 35, so we lubed our skis, but it was sticky and lots of bare-ish spots. That, plus the above issues made it slow going. It was hard work and made me feel like a crappy skier, which I am not. Let's just say my descents were inelegant, but not falls, just spazziness.
Resting now and we will not ski tomorrow. Conditions will be deteriorating.
I'm with you on the steep descents. Would rather have fresh snow, than tracks or the ice hardened stuff we have, now. We really do need some fresh snow. That's the skiing game, though. Mostly stayed on the level to gentle stuff, today.
At Bretton Woods on Saturday.
Love the pic.
Went for a nice 2 hour ski at Windblown today. Somehow they preserved their base through all of the rain last week and had about 4 new inches. It was beautiful out, but18 degrees up there. So, the conditions were OK, some trails closed and others not in the tip top shape they usually are, as this more local place has the best grooming south of northern Vermont. We were shocked how quiet it was; there was lots of parking and although more came as the day went on, it was not busy. There's a lot of climbing here, so that was good. I did descend probably the second hardest trail i usually do here, with no problems. The hardest one, we thought about doing it from a lower elevation, but the trail to access that was closed.
I seem to feel tired at the beginning of my skis, but I always perk up. Still feel slow, but no falls. I think last winter of only 3 skis left me with some catching up to do on skills. Not terrible, but I feel it.
It's going to be 55 and rainy Wednesday. Sigh.
Good for you, Crankin'.
I've been getting a little nutty waiting for some decent snow (all my skiing is on un-groomed trails), but we finally got just under two inches, overnight. Not much, but just enough to cover the icy stuff and allow me to ski without breaking my neck. Got a good two hour workout, so feel much relieved. Supposed to get another 4" over the next day or so. Good news, of course, but also means I'll be breaking trail a lot, too. Have the skiing all to myself, though, so don't mind a bit.
Just booked our annual trip to Stowe, VT today. We didn't think we would be going this year, as our friends are in new jobs, without a lot of time off, but realized they both have Presidents' Day off. Unfortunately, this is also the start of school vacation week in southern New England, so we are actually staying in Morrisville, VT, a cool little town outside of Stowe, with at least 5 craft breweries. We will be close enough to ski in Craftsbury, also, one of the most awesome nordic centers around.
Last year when we were in Stow, I was deathly ill, it went down to -21 degrees one night, and there was no snow for skiing. So, I will take 3 days of good health and snow, vs. that!
There is going to be snow here in northern MA/southern NH tomorrow. I think we will be able to ski at Windblown this weekend.
Have a great trip in every way. Sounds like a vacation as much as a ski trip. Great combination.
I'm hurting for decent snow. Oh, we have plenty, but it's half ice, with the soaking it's had from rain and drizzle we've had for the past month and it's sleeting and raining, again, today. Not at all typical for us, this time of year. Tried skiing, yesterday, but too treacherous even on the flats. Went snowshoeing, instead.