Cross Country Skiing

[Di bear]

Yeah, that was me. I skied from 4:20 to 6:10. I twisted my ankle earlier today, so skiing was a little painful after about 10K.

[Crankin]

Just got back from 4 days in Jackson, NH. Went up New Year's Eve and stayed at the Inn at Thorn Hill. We've been there before and it is the nicest inn I've been too. The breakfasts and dinners are included in the room price, although you can go there and not get the dinner included. Thursday was the coldest day in a long time! We started to ski out of the inn to connect to the Jackson x country area and it was a mess; covered with branches from the ice storm and very icy. After I fell like 4 times we all turned back. I was hurting and not in a good mood when we finally got in the car and drove there. So, we decided to just do the river trail while our friends did some blue trails. It was a good idea, I got my ski legs back a little and didn't fall for the rest of the day. I was very glad our room had a jacuzzi, though. I noticed one little bruise on my lower hip.
Friday we went to Bear Notch, which is one of my favorite touring centers. It is small and has homemade soup and bread for lunch. We did about 6-7K with lots of climbing and a few good downhills, which I managed to stay upright on. And, it was a balmy 25 out. When we got back, I noticed that I now had 3 bruises (2 small) on my right hip, butt, and hamstring. No wonder they started aching after all of the downhill. Today we checked out and drove to Bretton Woods. We did about 10.5k with a little climbing and some nice intermediate downhills. It was freezing again and the wind was whipping across the open field you have to cross before getting into the woods. I was unzipped quite a bit when we stopped at the yurt for a snack, but the last 1k on the way back was brutal, blowing snow on icy terrain. Bretton Woods has a nice locker room with showers, so we changed and cleaned up before heading home. As I was changing, someone called my name and it was SheFly! She had been trying out skate skiing.
A good vacation and I am very sore!

[yellow]

Crankin...a shower after finishing is nice. Sounds like the trip was good but cold. But then again it is winter, right? Sometimes I don't mind storm skiing but other times I stay inside to avoid it and end up getting grouchy about everything. Lawd knows I certainly have all the right clothes...

It's a gorgeous day here but I think I'm going to wait a bit before going today. I'm still beat from yesterday's WRONG WAX skate on cold snow anyhow. It was a green wax day and you cannot make green wax by combining yellow and blue, contrary to what they taught us in kindergarten. So I used blue and c-r-a-w-l-e-d for 18k. I am one day older and wiser today...I will classic ski today!

[Aint Doody]

The area close to me was groomed on Thurs., but more snow fell. A group of us went up, but it was classic only. It was so gorgeous. Lovely fresh snow and no wind. Intermittently is snowed, and then the sun would shine. On the way up, the second car saw 3 big cougars, and we saw their tracks often. Needless to say, we stayed together as a group. Nobody want to be a snack! Great day to be out.

[Skierchickie]

I'm pretty sure I don't want to come face to face with any cougars while skiing. Go ahead - call me a wimp if you want.

So my first race of the season has been canceled, due to lack of early registrations. I'm not exactly heart-broken, since it's only supposed to get up to about 5 degrees that day.

I do have to go to Yuma for work later this month, getting home the night before what will now be my first race of the season. Not ideal - acclimating to 70 degree weather with no skiing for 5 days, then plunging myself into a potentially 0 degree race. Hope it's more like 30. At least I'll be rested.

The skiing is GREAT here.

[Miranda]

Question for you fine TE xc-ski queens..

How far are your skiis suppose to sink in the snow?

Ugh... I know I bought the wrong type of ski last year for my "real primary" interest. I have a traditional set that's meant for groomed trails. Well, I really should have bought a back country style. But, I'm trying to plow away where I can.

I went out today for the first time this year (lovely powder snow storm here in the midwest yeah), and sunk. I know my skiis fit right to me (weight etc.).

So, how much sinking is to be expected? Maybe I'm not totally sure what to expect? Like, a few inches? Six inches? What?

Oh, regardless... it was still fun to get out . Just ackward.

[SadieKate]

I just want to say crapola. I finally suck it up and sign up for classic lessons.

Wouldn't you know the first lesson occurs on the same day as the USAT National Winter Tri Championship. Lesson will be right next to the bike course and during pre-race activites. I'll be sure to wave hi to Deadly Nedly and Mike Kloser in between face plants.

[SadieKate]

[B]So, how much sinking is to be expected? Maybe I'm not totally sure what to expect? Like, a few inches? Six inches? What?

It depends on conditions just like any other ski so I don't think anyone can answer not knowing what you're skiing in.

I have Karhu XCD GTs which can easily sink that much on fresh ungroomed powder, but they'll only submarine to a point and keep gliding. There is definitely more flotation than a classic ski meant for track and more sideways stability.

But there are some "ungroomed" trails that get so much traffic that you could skate on them.

It really depends on conditions.