Cross Country Skiing

[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.

[Crankin]

Went for a nice 2 hour ski at Windblown today. Somehow they preserved their base through all of the rain last week and had about 4 new inches. It was beautiful out, but18 degrees up there. So, the conditions were OK, some trails closed and others not in the tip top shape they usually are, as this more local place has the best grooming south of northern Vermont. We were shocked how quiet it was; there was lots of parking and although more came as the day went on, it was not busy. There's a lot of climbing here, so that was good. I did descend probably the second hardest trail i usually do here, with no problems. The hardest one, we thought about doing it from a lower elevation, but the trail to access that was closed.
I seem to feel tired at the beginning of my skis, but I always perk up. Still feel slow, but no falls. I think last winter of only 3 skis left me with some catching up to do on skills. Not terrible, but I feel it.
It's going to be 55 and rainy Wednesday. Sigh.

[north woods gal]

Good for you, Crankin'.

I've been getting a little nutty waiting for some decent snow (all my skiing is on un-groomed trails), but we finally got just under two inches, overnight. Not much, but just enough to cover the icy stuff and allow me to ski without breaking my neck. Got a good two hour workout, so feel much relieved. Supposed to get another 4" over the next day or so. Good news, of course, but also means I'll be breaking trail a lot, too. Have the skiing all to myself, though, so don't mind a bit.