We had a great and unexpected xc ski trip to Prospect Mountain, in southern VT this weekend. I have not spent any time in this area, so it was an adventure. The ski area is at 2,290 ft of elevation, used to be an alpine hill, so they get snow when it is raining just 5 miles down the road. We stayed in Bennington, VT, a nice place, in a great small B and B. We were the only ones there. So, the snow shoe Nationals were at the mountain this weekend, so it was crazy there on Saturday, less so today, as it was a snowshoe marathon and we did not cross paths with that! On Saturday, it snowed the whole time we skied, so much so, it was like backcountry conditions. We skied to the summit, hard, but doable, and descended an easier trail for a bit, until we had to descend a pretty steep hill that was intersecting with the racers going up on a cross trail. I had stopped to size up how I was going to descend and then stop without running the racers over. DH had already gone to the point where he had to stop; as I was standing, getting ready to go down, I just fell over. From a standstill! Problem was, I was on the side of the trail, in deep snow. My pole was in deep and one of my skis was buried. I could not get up and my knee was feeling twisted from the position I was in. I screamed and screamed until DH came up and pulled me to a sitting position, where I managed to stand and not fall down on the descent. What a dumb thing! No worse for the wear, and after I got through the racers, I realized I was skiing down on what was once a downhill trail. A lot of concentration there!
Today we stayed on mellow trails until we got lost and climbed a lot, and I convinced DH to turn around. I think we were on the trail up to the summit, but since it was groomed, it seemed different than yesterday. The downhill was awesome and then we made our way around some beautiful forested trails. We only skied 3.7 miles today, but we were both sore from climbing Saturday, so we headed home around 12:30, stopping at a great diner in Wilmington, VT. It's near Mt Snow, so filled with downhill skiers on their way home.
We are getting hit with another 6-12 inches of snow on Tuesday.... probably one more ski day.