Cross Country Skiing

[Zen]

I was going to go to the park today but there was nowhere to park at the park. It hasn't been plowed. I stupidly bought skate skis instead of the wider back country type. This is too much snow for me to ski in unless I find a trail

[Cataboo]

Zen, I was struggling with the wider backcountry skis. You can't actually ski in this stuff - after goign over my tracks a few times, it was almost skiable.

Did you actually get skate skis or just thin skis?

[Zen]

Thin, but will work for skating.

[Skierchickie]

I'm jealous of all you DC people. I haven't had to move snow in 2-3 weeks! Normally we've got 3 feet on the ground at any one time, and are pushing it around daily, but not this year. On the bright side, we have enough, and a good base. Nearly nothing in November, 96" in December, and then back to nearly nothing in January. January is when we normally get belted.

Anyway, the skiing has been awesome (sorry Zen - I have 1 trail with 28k groomed on my way home from work, another (more awesome place) 15 minutes from work, and a couple of others near by - you should move here!). I've been too busy skiing to check in here. I've been trying to get out a couple/few times during the week, and one long ski and one medium/short ski on the weekend. I did 64k on Sunday (skating) - I'm pretty excited. I wasn't sure how ski season would go, with the ankle I broke in July. Turns out, it prefers skiing, because if I miss a couple of days it hurts when I walk.

My dog is soooo happy they turned 2 of the loops at the nearest place into multi-use, dog-friendly loops. She doesn't get there much, but loves it when she does. Tonight we went skijoring. We only crashed horribly once. It's a lot of fun, but can result in pileups.

[Zen]

Tonight we went skijoring. We only crashed horribly once. It's a lot of fun, but can result in pileups.

Whoa! That's like skitching! What was pulling you?

I went out tonight and tried to blaze a trail but it's snowed about 6 inches since then. The skis kept me on top of the snow so the effect was more like snowshoeing but my poles sank way down so they weren't ski poles, they were ski canes

[Crankin]

Yay, the snow is coming here! About ten inches, I would say. We have planned a ski weekend for Valentine's Day; it will be local, but after being in VT. last weekend, I am motivated. Probably will go out to Northfield Mountain in western MA on Sunday and do our local touring center on Saturday. DH went to REI and bought new skis and boots yesterday. He is so frustrated that this sport is so hard for him. Anyway, he decided on skis that are called back country, but they are skinny enough for the tracks, have metal edges that are a bit thicker than on the skis we have, and most importantly, are shorter. They had stopped making the type of bindings he had, hence, the new boots.
I am going to get new skis, too, because mine are so long, they seem like trees. I will probably go to one of the local LBS, which also sells x country stuff in the winter. They have skis I want and I don't need new boots. Plus, I get a discount there, since my son worked there at one point.

[DebW]

I just got myself a new pair of skis - my first waxless ones. I've been skiing at a commercial area this year and the snow was so crusty and variable that wax wasn't the best. Now I've got 3 pair of skis: old waxable 195s, newer waxable 180s with metal edges and lots of sidecut (good for tele turns on easy terrain), and waxless 185s with metal edges (narrow enough for groomed areas, wide enough for backcountry). So bring on the snow!

[Skierchickie]

Whoa! That's like skitching! What was pulling you?

My dog! That's what skijoring is - skiing with a dog attached to you. There is bikejoring too, but that looks way too scary to me (for me AND for my dog).

Here's a website with some video from a recent local race. There is other stuff there, too, but you can see which has the dogs in it. I didn't go - thought about it, but decided to do a long ski that day, instead (yes, I chickened out)

http://www.doe.mtu.edu/photos/ski/index.html

What is skitching?

[Crankin]

The snow never arrived.....