Cross Country Skiing

[mudmucker]

Well, I lost a weekend of skiing - I had dental surgery on Friday and the dentist said no exercise. Not that I feel like it since my jaw has ballooned out and I'm a little under the weather. Painkillers are working though. So I did a little armchair gardening and made my final order of seeds for my grow lights.

And on the brighter side, I did some armchair skiing as well. I decided on the Madshus Epochs and ordered them online last night. Earlier in the week I went to a shop to see them in person. They are much lighter than I thought they would be. They also had the Rossi90s as well. The Rossis were a lot wider than I expected. But here is my decision. The Rossis had a stiffer camber and actually seemed heavier than the Epochs. I felt although it seemed more of a Point A to Point B ski with the stiffer camber, it might have a little less float and maybe more difficult to initiate a telemark turn. I was also a bit skeptical of their deep snow capabilities. They didn't have the Alpina Lite Terrains to look at but I more or less removed that from my list. I felt the sidecut was too drastic and would get a little too squirrelly on the level kick and glide. That and my kick and glide would be more of a shuffle because of the flexy single camber. Shuffle = not too fun and more geared for up to destination, then more control downhill. The Epochs seemed just right. Light. They have something called single camber plus, which is probably camber and a half - meaning a little stiffer and some Point A to Point B kick and glide capabilities, yet the sidecut allows for easier initiation of telemark turns.

The next concern I had is that my current backcountry skis tend to submarine in the snow rather than flexing enough for the shovel to stay level or seek the surface of the snow for better travel through. The ski seems flexible enough to do this. Then, in weight I was nearer the high end of the shorter ski and was concerned that I would collapse the kick pocket and have too much drag. I went with the next longer ski because I am confident in my abilities and I would salvage more kick and glide.

I am pretty excited. I have 2000 acres to access within walking distance of my house where there are 1600 to 1800 foot hills I can break trail and bushwhack to, to get some height in which to carve out a few turns. Twenty years ago I spent a couple of seasons trying to telemark. It'll be fun to practice the telemark turns again and mix that up with some of the rolling terrain too. I wonder if I'll even remember how to do them. It'll be fun to get out there with my map and compass again (yes I am old fashioned and still use that over gps) and explore off trail areas. And at about a half hours distance I can try out some other small hills like Mt Grace and Watatic, or even the back side of Wachusett. All without having to travel far.

[mudmucker]

Hmm. Double posted somehow. Sorry about that.

[Crankin]

OK, I was humbled pretty quickly at Franconia this weekend. I challenged myself, though, and laughed through most of it. I feel as if I am a confident intermediate level skier for groomed trails. I can climb anything and my descending skills have greatly improved. I've skied down a couple of black trails, too.
Basically, Franconia has narrow trails that are tracked. So, for someone like me, who gets out of the tracks to descend/climb, the challenge was there. Not so much the climbing, as I learned pretty quickly how to herringbone in a narrower stance after one face plant, going up. Serious, serious climbs here.
The issue was descending. I am not skilled enough to descend and turn and keep my speed regulated in the tracks, as there was not enough room to snowplow or turn if you were in the very small area that was groomed next to the tracks. Some of these descents were definitely black diamond rated. We finally found one yesterday where the steepest part was untracked, but the groomer had left a huge ridge of snow in the middle of the trail, which caused even my expert skier friend to go down. Friday was hell for me, but I improved a little yesterday. I was able to do 2 descents without falling, very slowly, but I had 2 falls that have my arms and wrists aching today. I think this would have been easier if they had left it ungroomed (with the right skis). We actually climbed one of Cannon's black alpine trails that is a shared nordic trail. That was fun.
Today, after we left the b and b, we drove to Bretton Woods, where it was quiet, because of Super Bowl. We skied 10.5 great miles, over to the AMC Highland Center for lunch, and back. At least I left with my confidence restored.
Pictures coming.

[Crankin]

Pictures from Franconia, NH

[limewave]

A friend gave us some children's xc skis. I took DD out this weekend. We just went around the backyard and around the block. She's a natural! I can't wait to take her out on some groomed trails!