Winter again

winter again
Originally uploaded by kenmore_photos.

Well its winter again... but only just. After a couple weeks of revisiting fall and a green Christmas the snows have returned. Tuesday we got a mini dump of wet snow. I tried to ski on it but it was terrible. Wet, sticky and none too deep made for an awful (and short) ski. Lafleur came to the rescue though on Tuesday night. As the temperature plummeted from +2 to -10C they went out and groomed the parkway and ridge - at exactly the right moment - so that a hard, skiable surface was ready on Wednesday morning. The Lafleur groomers have it down pat and can make (white) gold from lemons I'm sure.

Today another few centimeters of powder fell and I did my first long ski of the season. Skated about 25km on mostly perfect snow. Still too thin to groom a classic track although people have worked one in and it looks pretty nice (I’ll try it tomorrow and report back). In some areas the skis break through to the asphalt and there are a few rocks visible on Ridge road but for the most part it was great. No more precip. called for until the new year so I'll have to make due with what we've got. Time to put some miles on.

Argggggh

Argggggh
Originally uploaded by kenmore_photos.

Not enough snow left to ski.... too much ice to ride.
I tried to go for a ride today on the Parkway. +10C is not our typical pre-Christmas weather but its been like this for a week. The rain earlier in the week more or less washed the snow away but it left a thin sheet of ice. The ice wasn't everywhere - just enough places to make it awkward. Getting to a stretch like this forced you to get off and walk on the shoulder (which was too squishy to ride). I guess it was kind of a Duatholon, walk/ride/walk/ride.... but I'd like a little snow as soon as possible if it isn't too much trouble. Christmas break is coming up and I'm not sure what I'll do if there isn't any snow.

I took this picture at 3pm...... sunset?
Dark days indeed.

Black Lake hill

Black Lake hill
Originally uploaded by kenmore_photos.

Got a lot of good skiing in this weekend despite it being somewhat gray and bleak out. I did 3 long slow skis and felt good (as good as can be expected) on each one. Topped off Sunday with a 20km loop that took me off the parkway and onto Ridge road for the first time. The trail was in pretty reasonable shape although it hadn't been groomed and there were a few rocks poking through. What killed me were the little drainage ditches the NCC cut to prevent erosion of the trails in summer. With another foot of snow they will get smoothed over but for now they are jagged gullies that destroy any momentum. Frustrating.

The snow on the trails continues to hold up well although I am pretty pessimistic about what will happen this week. Rain and warm air don't bode well.... could be back to dry land training by next weekend. I guess well see.

LT badges

LT badges
Originally uploaded by kenmore_photos.

A nice early Christmas present arrived Friday in the mail. My Long Trail badges! My trip report has been accepted and stored in the Vermont Long Trail storage locker in a fine government facility in Montpelier for all eternity. Now the thousands (tens of thousands?) of curious folk who delve into the third subterranean basement (with a flashlight cause the light is burned out) of Vermont state building 6C, to dig through the thousands of trip reports (3376 so far), can read about my journey and feel inspired. My patches are now ready to be installed on my pack. I guess I have to figure out what will be the best way to do it.... duct tape, caulking or perhaps epoxy ;-) I’ve got all winter to figure out the best procedure.

Skiing continues to be good but I fear we may lose the little snow we have next week as a warm front is heading our way with rain. Afraid my colleague Tripper may come back from his business trip to find the same green (ish) grass as when he left. Sorry man. Fingers crossed tho’. One never knows what the weather will actually be until it happens so it may turn in to snow up in the park….. It could happen!!

Snow.....

Parkway
Originally uploaded by kenmore_photos.

Finally some snow that stayed. We actually didn't get much snow on Friday. It was a crazy mix of snow... then rain... then some freezing rain... then ice pellets... and finally some more snow to top it off. A bit of everything! This strange concoction of precipitation seems to have done the trick. There's maybe only 2 inches of ... . of ..... uhmmm, stuff (?!) on the parkways but its hard packed (no grooming necassary) yet with sufficient texture to hold a ski edge. It makes for great skating and somewhat less excellent classic skiing. No grooming as of yet - it's probably too thin to get the groomers on it. It was however durable enough to withstand the traffic of hordes of eager skiers who flocked to the Park over the weekend for the first ski of the season.

I got three skis in over the last two days. Did a '2fer' on Sunday and then took my flex day to ski on the less crowded Monday with the retirees and the unemployed ;-) . I'm now aching in places I didn't know I had! It never fails to surprise me that - no matter how much dryland training one does - there are always some muscles (usually small ones) that haven't been used since I took my ski boots off last April. These muscles traditionally dictate the pace for the first week or two but little by little I'll get up to speed and the distance will of course come.

So it begins.....