Cross Country Skiing

[Norse]

We've had such little snow here in the Twin Cities this winter and what little we've had always seems to be preceded or followed by freezing rain and/or sleet. Bleck. Up north is a different story though and we are headed up to the North Shore of Lake Superior for what should be a glorious extended weekend of nordic skiing!

[Crankin]

We arrived in the NEK yesterday around 2. Everyone was in agreement there would be nothing more strenuous than drinking wine and dinner, which is what we did. Of course, I come to the coldest place in VT and today was about 40 degrees. Since the snow was thin and mushy, we snowshoed about 10k on the Darling Hill Trails. It was awesome, did mostly black trails that are really hiking, winter and summer mtb trails. Since it's my first exercise in almost 2 wks., I think it was a better idea. Lots of climbing and saw several fat tire tracks on these very narrow single track trails. We saw a large sugaring operation in the woods and also saw the sugar shack.
Later, after lunch we went to E. Burke Sports Shop and they had Vayas with huge fat tires. I bought a top and hat on sale and chatted with the sales guy who was very happy that we had flattened the trails with our snow shoes, for his bike. He was also mildly impressed 4 old people had gone that far on that terrain.
Tomorrow we will ski on the groomed and tracked trails at Dashney Farm, which in 1992 is where I took my first x country ski lesson, while the rest of my family was alpine skiing at Burke.

[Crankin]

Skied about 11k at the Dashney Trails Nordic center, part of the Kingdom Trails network. Conditions were on the edge of being horrible, but we planned a route with the help of the staff, where we would be going up in the spots that were exposed.
This is a gorgeous place. I have to come back here when there is powder. It was fast and slick today, but no falling, just some very spazzy moments in the beginning.
We were done around 12:30. Went into town and had lunch at the Country Store and then went to the home of the man who runs the sugaring operation we saw on the trails yesterday. We bought some syrup from him, it was cool to just knock on his door, as our innkeeper told us to.

[ridebikeme]

Isn't it wonderful when people are so friendly that you can knock on their door for something? I have not skiied in the NEK, however I know the terrain fairly well,a dn always smile when I think of the first time riding there and coming up on the sugar house... great memories! I've also enjoyed eating several lunches at the general store, love the atmosphere!!

I have to admit that losing the snow that we just received is a bummer; I'm hoping that the weather will change here again adn give us some more snow. I see the snow changing here each day and I'll admit that it does make me sad... probably not something that I should admit since I own a bike shop LOL!!

Here's to hoping that your day of skiing is good today and that the snow gods will come back and make another visit.

[Crankin]

We didn't ski yesterday, as it was about 9 degrees with a 20 mph wind, gusts up to 40. If the snow had been powder, yes, but as it was, my lungs were starting to act up again. So, we drove to Montpelier, where we spent quite a bit of time in a bike/ski shop and I bought a Marmot jacket for 30% off and DH bought some new ski pants and then had a late lunch. I was seriously looking at real estate ads in the NEK at breakfast!
I am hoping the snow Gods pay another visit, too. Next weekend may be a possibility, but tomorrow is going to be 47 here in the Boston area, which is bad enough, but it's supposed to rain, too. Maybe that rain will be snow up at Windblown .

[ridebikeme]

Ohh I hope you're right about the snow!! It has definitely been windy here the past couple of days, gusts over 50MPH and that was quite often. In fact, the wind is still blowing ARGH!! But I guess it is better than rain.


I too, thought about a move to the NEK! Wondered if I could move the shop and actually survive over there; I'm sure many people have shared those same thoughts.

Have a good week and hope that you are feeling better!

[DebW]

I skied a piece of the Catamount Trail past Stratton Pond on Sunday. Joined an official Catamount tour, where the leader was the maintainer of the section we skied. It was cold, below 10 all day, and quite windy, though a beautiful day in the woods. The original plan was to ski 9 miles with an optional bail-out at 6 miles, but the leader decided we would all stop at 6 miles given the weather and trail conditions - the last 2 miles of the longer tour would have been a steep downhill on crusty snow. The route included some woods roads, part of a hiking trail, and some snowmobile track and was well-marked and maintained. We started on the Arlington-West Wardsboro Road, stopped for lunch at the shelter at Stratton Pond and finished near some condos at Stratton Ski Area. A really nice day of skiing.

[Norse]

We had a glorious weekend skiing up along the North Shore of Lake Superior! Snow conditions, perfect. Weather, perfect. Ski trail, in perfect condition! Beautiful.

[Crankin]

Here's a view from the Dashney Farm Trails in the NEK.

[ridebikeme]

Thanks for sharing Crankin!! How much snow have you received at home this weekend?

I just got back froma short ski, absolutely gorgeous out! The snow falling from the trees was tending to amke things a bit sticky, but nonetheless it was great!! I would guess that we received about 8", so received another 9-10" earlier in the week, so as of now things are pretty nice out. But as you know, temps are going to be warm this week.... we'll see what happens.

[Crankin]

It was raining/sleeting until about 9 AM. We have a couple of inches of wet snow, but it will come down hard for awhile and then stop, start again. It's supposed to snow until 5 AM, and we are supposed to get 4-8 inches here in the western suburbs. I am planning on skiing tomorrow; hoping Great Brook Farm in Carlisle will open, so I can do it close to home. Otherwise, I will drive to Windblown, that has received a lot more snow, and go directly to my one client from there.
Am about to go out and do a quick snow shoe on my neighborhood/conservation land trails.

[ridebikeme]

Glad to hear that you received some snow instead of just rain! I would guess that we reeived well over a foot in this last storm, so about 2 feet this week. I just finished shovelling the driveway for the second day in a row, I'll eat some breckfast and then head out for a ski. It's supposed to be warm all week, so it will be interesting to see how the snow lasts....

Have fun on your snowshoe today!

[Crankin]

Just got back from 10K at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle. It was great to sneak in a ski during the week, but I should have driven to Windblown and just gone to work from there... it was 35 degrees when I left, so I knew I had to get out there when they opened at 10. The conditions weren't awful, as I've seen it really bad there, but they just don't groom like other places. The tracks were slushy, which I'll take over icy or twigs and rocks, but there was plenty of powder in the skating lane, so I skied there a lot. Other places will take the new snow and put it on the tracks. I went on one new trail there, which is kind of hard, since there's only ten miles of trails, but it was the best of the day, since it's rated black and mostly beginners go there... great powder and good hills.
It was getting very busy there when I left at 11:15 or so and it's already 40 degrees. More snow on Wednesday!

[roadie gal]

We haven't had any substantial snow since late December. It's getting scary for the upcoming fire season.

I hadn't skied in about 3 weeks. I just lost interest for a while. But I went out and skate skied the last 2 days. I tried out the "Map My Run" app on the cell phone for my skiing distance. I have no idea how accurate it is. I 'll have to do a road run and compare the app with a known distance. But both days it says I did about 5 miles. I'm good with that.

[ridebikeme]

Well, the past week and a half has dropped about 2 1/2 feet of snow here, although the warm temps have made the snow melt/freeze several times. Got out for a short ski today, and although the sun was missing it was AWESOME to be out!! With all of the snow, more than likely it will be quite some time before we are riding outside on a regular basis.. so here's to cross training!