Cross Country Skiing

[Crankin]

Skied about 11-12K (no GPS today) at Windblown. While it wasn't perfect powder, it was great packed powder/granular. No ice at all. Did the very bottom part of the Open Slope successfully. DH did not do so well, as he fell twice going down, as well as once from a standstill. He laughed though, and it's good for me to have a day when I do better at a sport than he does. Going back tomorrow, or maybe to Northfield MT. in western MA.
Ridebikeme, while we don't have as much snow down here, the roads are just yucky with sand/remelting, ice. I thought tomorrow might be the day for my first ride, but I am going to wait.

[ridebikeme]

Glad to hear about your day Crankin! It does indeed seem a bit strange to truly be wishing for snow earlier in the season and not receive a whole lot, and now that it seems most people are 'finished' with winter sports, we start receiving it ! HA! I guess that leaves more room for the rest of us.

AS for rides on the road, if I were to get a mtn bike out, I could certainly ride that.... and may start doing just that. The roads are abit too sandy here still, not including the hidden sections of ice here and there. But in the meantime, there's still plenty of skiing to do and the occasional ride outside.

Enjoy your ski team!

[Crankin]

Well, it appears DH tweaked his ankle and shoulder a bit in one of his falls, so we are axing the skiing today. I normally would go alone, but I am a bit sore myself and sort of enjoying a lazy morning. It looks like yesterday may have been my last ski of the year . We could take a trip north next weekend, but it's going to be 45-50 here and the bike is calling. We'll see.
If I had a mountain bike, I'd definitely be out riding. But, I'm basically down to 2 road bikes, so it will wait.

[Norse]

We received a nice little 8-9" snowfall the other day. Rain and sleet is predicted for tomorrow night and Saturday so last night after work I got out for a wonderful 4 mile outing under the lights on the trails at the local French Regional Park on Medicine Lake. Just after sunset along one of the lagoons, I heard two owls calling to each from across the water. What a great way to spend a weeknight and forget about work!

[ridebikeme]

Crankin you're right about predicted temps for the weekend. My plans are to get out early AM for a ski, and then head back and take my mtn bike out for a ride. It feels as though it's Christmas Eve; I'm soooo excited.

[Crankin]

Yup, I plan to do the same. Snow still falling here, and it looks like there will be about 8 inches at my house. Plan to ski tomorrow morning, before it gets too warm (just heard New Ipswich, where Windblown is has 9 inches now). The plan is to ride on Sunday, but since I don't have a mountain bike, it will depend on the condition of the roads.
Just got an email from my local (7 miles away) x country ski center and they are saying they'll be open at 11... I don't think I can ski fast enough to get it done, drive home, cleaned up, and to my client 30 miles away by 2:00 PM .

[roadie gal]

We got between 6-12 inches over the last 2 days. Yay! Since it was still snowing I took the touring skis to the cross country area. I'm glad I did. It was deep in some places and icy in others. But it was still a good day.

[Crankin]

Today was probably the most amazing x country ski day I've had. Blue sky, 13 inches of new powder, and temperatures between 45 and 52. I was skiing in my Sugoi sub zeros, a base layer, and a fall cycling jersey. The jacket was off in 20 minutes, the headband in 5, and the gloves came off after 30 minutes. It's the first time in 20 years I've skied without gloves. Could have been wearing a short sleeved shirt and a vest.
We did the hard part first, skied up the Back Forty to the first "Zig Zag," where we entered the Open Slope at a much steeper point than last week. Lots of people skiing down. For your edification, the Open Slope would probably qualify as a blue trail at an alpine ski center. I've skied it from the highest point of the "blue" designation, but it goes up higher, into black territory. I will probably never do any black trail at Windblown, as they all are steep mountains, although I have skied down a few black trails in other places, and climbed up many. I let the experts descend ahead of me, got some courage from some young skiers who told me I could "just walk down," (are they kidding?) and went off. No falling, not so elegant looking descent in a very dug in snowplow. DH fell again this week, and this time he listened to me as I could see what he is doing wrong.

[ridebikeme]

Don't you just love it when there are days like this? It sounds like you had a wonderful day, this is one of those days where you can be very thankful for the crazy weather!

We did not receive any snow here, although there still is plenty to ski on. I went out early before the trails became soft, so I could take my dog as well. It's tough on her when the snow gets soft. At any rate, we had a great ski, then I met up with a friend and we went out for ride! I have commuted back and forth to work over the winter, but this is officially my first road ride. My area has tons of sand on the road still, but I rode in an ajacent town and the roads were fairly clean for this time of year. I wasn't sure what I would get in to, so I opted to ride my mtn bike. Generally, I'm not one to ride a mtn bike on the road, but it was a great ride and I felt 'safe' with not knowing their road conditions.

Hope your day tomorrow is great as well... it's another to get outside and play!

[DebW]

I had 2 days of delightful skiing in Vermont last weekend. Stayed 2 nights at the Blueberry Hill Inn with a couple of friends. We were the only ones at the inn. It snowed Thursday and Friday night, so we had 3 inches of fresh powder to ski on Saturday. Skied a 9 mile section of the Catamount Trail from near Rikert Ski Center back to Blueberry Hill in 5 hours. No groomed trails, all backcountry powder. Saw 7 other skiers and one dog all day. Sunday morning we skied a loop on the Blueberry Hill trails with some climbing to a gorgeous viewpoint. Sunday afternoon I drove from the western side of the Green Mountains into the Conn River valley and skied 2 hours with a friend at the Strafford Ski Center. Not as much snow and groomed trails that were somewhat glazed but still nice. It was cold enough all weekend that I was skiing on extra blue and special violet wax. If that was my last ski of the season, I'll hang up the skis happy.

[Crankin]

Skied today at Great Brook Farm, as I had proactively moved all of my clients except one to other days, due to the impending storm. They said they were opening at 11, which they were, but they weren't done with the grooming. Usually I don't mind, even though my skis are really made for the tracks and not skiing in the skate lane. Today, the skate lane had little and some not so little piles of snow/clumps, so it was slow going for awhile. I finally saw the groomer guy and then I had a bit of tracks that were clear. When I got to the top of the one sort of hill there, half of the ridge had not been cleared, so I skied up and down the other steeper (not really) hill there, which I've only done once, since it has a terrible patch of roots and stumps near the end, that are always exposed. Today they weren't exposed, but I was constantly being slowed by the snow piles and then I realized the snow had become very wet. In fact, it was sleeting/raining when I got back.
I can't believe this stuff used to scare me. It was fun to be outside, but I have been disappointed in the conditions at Great Brook the last few times I've been there. However, it's 8 miles from my house, so I can't complain. Fresh snow and I am glad I went, since I skied about 11K, almost the whole place.
On Friday I may go up to Windblown, and ski there in the AM, as I have a client about 20 minutes south of there at 1:30. They got about a foot or more of snow, and no rain/sleet like here. While I do wish I was out on my bike, I love this opportunity to ski.

[ridebikeme]

It is amazing how quickly we can turn from one activity to another... I too, went out on ski's this morning. At the time, the snow was minimal and dry, which meant that I had very little glide. It did get a bit better once I turned around to come back to the car though. It was a beautiful day to be out, hopefully I'll get out again in the next couple of days... especially since I had to reschedule our Chili ride which was on Sunday.

[ridebikeme]

It's amzing how an hour can tire our fourl legges friends out, although if yours are like mine, well she runs more distance than I ski HA!

We had about a foot of new snow this week, and although today was supposed to be the 'Chili ride" for the shop, it turned out to be a day on ski's.(way too windy to ride outside today) Unfortunately, my four legged friend had to stay home today because the snow was too soft... too hard on her hips. But, I will say that the conditions are probably the best of the season, and like you Roadie, I too did a semi backcountry ski today. I followed someone elses tracks, and it was a blast although a LOT of work HA!

[roadie gal]

Wow. Our season is completely done. The cross country centers closed April 1st. The one closest to me had to cancel a bunch of special events. There is dirt all around the house. The snow level is up over 7000 feet! We're at a 50% snow pack for the year. That's really scary for the fire season this summer.

[ridebikeme]

I did a short late day hike yesterday (elevation only 1100-1200 feet proabably) and saw evidence that we still have lots of snow in soem areas... 2-3 feet. I'll definitely have to get out on ski's before its all gone though. We are in that in between season, where you can still find snow to ski on and some days are nice enough to get out and ride... others not so much.