Finally!

I’ve been able to get out the last 3 days for some fine xc skiing. It’s good to be back out – last year exactly at this time I underwent surgery, uncertain what the immediate future would bring. I did not ski at all last year because of recovery. A whole xc ski season lost. It felt DARN good to be out there again. Like cycling, xc skiing is a soul saving activity for me. All of my winter weekends are planned around it. Thursday was absolutely perfect conditions. It was invigorating, marvelous, and absolutely chi surging. Although Thurs and Fri reached 40 F, I waited until late afternoon and chose the shady side of the mountain so that the snow set up real nice and everything was fast. The snow was excellent and hadn’t deteriorated at all. I use waxable skis but I’m at the point I’ve been doing this for so long, 33 years, I don’t even wax my skis. Just throw em on and go. It’s all in the balance and I’ve been skiing for so long I’m as comfortable on skiis as I am walking. I pretty much only wax when I'm out while it's snowing, new snow, when I need green or blue. I thought I might have been out of shape but I launched right into skating immediately - that's the balance speaking, more balance, less work. I skate a lot using classic skiis. Skating is SO fun. I like to skate then go back to classic stride if I want to.

I don’t know about other state parks in Mass but I have 2 near me that groom their trails after every storm so there’s a nice wide, and I mean wide, 8-12’ swath. All for free! I rarely travel to a paid facility. I'll go to Dennison. On the spot by next day there’s a nice groomed trail. The terrain in the park though is rather flat, but that makes it perfect for skate skiing. The trails there are up to 12’ wide. I’ve been going to Dennison for 8 years now and I’ve only seen 2 other skiers. Free AND crowd free. Like cycling, most people around here don’t ski either. I go to Wendell as well. More narrow trails with a little more terrain. They have a warming hut with a wood stove. These are some of Mass best kept secrets for winter activity. I can go right out my door if I'm in the mood to break trail. Still though, at least twice a year I’ll go up to Windblown in NH. I’m partial to that place, I really like it and it gives some nice varied terrain. And I’m definitely there if there’s a winter with poor snow, which really hasn't been the case for the last 8 years where I live.

Today it reached 52 F. I still went out but waited till 3pm. Conditions had deteriorated but by 3:30-3:45 again, the snow was setting up and it was a lot slicker and I ended up having a very good ski. Wouldn’t have wanted to do it at morning or mid-day as it would have been a lot of work. Sigh. In New England, for xc skiing it’s all in the timing and knowing how to work that before conditions deteriorate.