Cross Country Skiing

[Crankin]

It is snowing like hell up north and we did not have a flake. Saw some snow showers at noon, and now torrential rain. However, about 10 miles northwest of my house, it's snowing. Just looked at the camera feed from Bretton Woods and it is all white.
Our plan is to drive up in the AM and try out a new nordic center that opened last year. Our friends have been there and report stellar trails, wide, one way, with good climbing. We'll get our ski legs back and then head to the inn.
We always bring snow shoes, though I am a bit nervous about heading out in the National Forest trails with DH.... despite our tracking devices, it is not a place one would want to be lost. We can either snow shoe at nordic center trails with separate snow shoe trails, or climb up Mt Willard, which is a small mountain, with a great view, and a start by the AMC Highland Center, where we can eat and buy gear.

[north woods gal]

Me, I might try the Nordic center trails, just because I so rarely get to ski with anyone around or have company. Just something different for a change, but would probably head out into the boonies before too long.

My trails are still to ice covered to be safe. When you slide sideways on your skis as much as forward, it's time for the snowshoes with teeth. My Crescent Moon Back Country shoes are perfect.

[Crankin]

First day of skiing done!
We left home at 10 am and drove to Hearth Farm Nordic, a new ski area. We brought our lunches, ate, and got out on the trails about 12:45. Only 2 intermediate trails were open, sonwe warmed up on a green loop and off we went. It was beautiful, wide, one way trails, and not hard. We skied about 6k, just perfect to retool our skills.
I didn't fall and while the conditions weren't super, it was good.
Tomorrow we'll be at Bretton Woods, where they had 1.5 ft of snow.

[Crankin]

Day 2 and 3 of skiing are done. Yesterday we went to Bretton Woods Nordic, at the Mt Washington Resort. It was fairly quiet for this place, when we arrived; beautiful, the most clear, sunny, and calm I have ever seen there. We wanted to do some different trails, so we did a couple of blue trails that were not that hard, and then an easy trail back to the center. I appreciated the scenery and quiet. We got back and ate lunch, and 40 minutes later, it was gray, flurrying, and a bit windy. We skied for another hour, again on a blue trail and headed back. We were exhasted from a total of 2.5 hours of skiing.
Had a great NYE dinner at our inn, allowing us to have lots of wine! Got up this morning very stiff, my SI joint screaming and my upper body feeling it, too. Went out to ski a little later than normal, as we went to the Franconia Trail system down the road. It's a collaboration of the Franconia Inn and local landowners. We did the most difficult skiing of our lives here, a few years ago, not just because of the serious elevation and descents. The trails are narrow and they lay the tracks in the middle, which makes it hard for me to descend, as I get out of the tracks to do that and here there isn't enough room. It would be better for them not to track these trails. So, we chose the intermediate loop, with a small loop of flats at the end. It is warmer today, about 35, so we lubed our skis, but it was sticky and lots of bare-ish spots. That, plus the above issues made it slow going. It was hard work and made me feel like a crappy skier, which I am not. Let's just say my descents were inelegant, but not falls, just spazziness.
Resting now and we will not ski tomorrow. Conditions will be deteriorating.

[north woods gal]

I'm with you on the steep descents. Would rather have fresh snow, than tracks or the ice hardened stuff we have, now. We really do need some fresh snow. That's the skiing game, though. Mostly stayed on the level to gentle stuff, today.

[Crankin]

At Bretton Woods on Saturday.

[north woods gal]

Love the pic.