Bump!
Did my first x country ski today. Our wonderful semi-local center, which has owners who are geniuses at grooming, opened last weekend. They had a few "rock ski" days, and then some overnight snow on Tuesday, which we did not have. So, there's 8-10 inches of packed powder, with 75%tracked and/or groomed. They discounted this weekend, not for conditions, but because they knew most people are out shopping! It was a bluebird day, temperature around 25 up there, which is just perfect. Hardly anyone there, too. The conditions were pretty good, not exactly powder, only a little slick, and not icy. We did all the easy and one harder downhills, with some climbing, too. The intermediate trails here would be expert in other places. The most difficult trail i do here would qualify as a downhill ski run; I can do it from about 2/3 up the mountain. But, the trails that access this were closed and you could only get there in a round a bout way. Probably not a good idea to do it on the first ski of the year anyway. We skied for about 1.5 hrs., went back to the lodge, had some soup, and then went back out for another 45 minutes, to do the hard downhill.
No crashes, good fresh air, and all is right in the world.