With last week’s rain followed by the cold weather on the weekend (and early this week) we’re back to fast, icy conditions. Pete was staying in town for a rare midweek overnight so we headed up Wednesday night to ski along the Pine road. Conditions were beautiful with the icy winds of Monday and Tuesday no longer a factor and the temperature climbing to a comfortable -6C. After spending some time on Pine road we popped into Herridge shelter to warm up and debate the merits of Ottawa’s new goalie vs quality defence men. It was a long debate and I’m not sure who won… of course it’s all irrelevant if the home team returns to winning form next year. Skiing back to the car was nice and fast under an almost full moon. The moon was so bright in fact that (moon)shadows of the trees were cast on the snow. Makes it a little tricky sometimes to discern the trail from the snow banks when moving at speed. Conditions were so nice in fact – and we’re headed for a big warm up over the weekend –that I decided to get right back out for a ski before work the next morning. Things were a little cooler (-15C) but the snow was still lightening fast. The trails were pretty good although somewhat well “used”. I did hear the groomers out working the tracks though so the midday skiers would get some nice fresh trails (edit: apparently I was hearing things... NCC website reports no new grooming :( so no luck for skiers later in the day). I haven’t been out before work since before the bus strike. It certainly makes for a nice way to start the day – quick ski then home for a shower and a bite of food before heading off to work. I’ll probably do a fair bit more of that now that spring is around the corner. It’s nice to take advantage of the colder overnight temperatures and ski on some fast snow rather than ski in the slush after a warm day.