Ooo. Went skiing today in our local woods, after shuffling my feet for two weeks. It was excellent. Brilliantly groomed, even though the base is a bit hard and icy. I have new skis. Ooo. My 13 year old son is now an efficient and strong skate skier, almost as good as my dh, but I can report that I can still double-pole the h*ll out of both of them.