a late start, plenty of snow, a grand day! we could pretend that we were waiting for the inches to build up, but honestly, we were skating and eating again. tecumseh, another nh 4000 footer, sticks up above the waterville valley ski area, about an hour away from canaan. a 2.5 mile trail follows the tecumseh brook up, mostly paralleling the north side runs. we were planning on skinning up to the summit, cutting over to the ski area, and flying down one of their trails. it all sounded doable, even pulling out of the drive at 12:30p in heavy snow.
simon was the designated driver, it was his new car that he just bought from his grandmother. noah road shotgun, i took the back seat and nestled in for a long winter's nap. the roads were slippery but the subaru was all about tracking right along. despite a few pokey drivers, and who could blame them with the conditions under wheel, we made it up to the ski lodge, parked, booted up, and walked about a hundred feet to the trail head. it was a bit sketchy crossing the brook in ski boots, trying to balance on the stones sticking above the waterline. that done with no big splashes that i heard, we stepped into our bindings and started up. noah hung back and took this picture as we wove through the trees.
at that point the trail was fairly wide, snow coverage was ample, the turns rather gentle, and the pitch, not so bad. that didn't last too long. the rocks grew enough to stick out of the snow in lots of awkward spots. the turns got twisty and tight. the pitch, save for one little segment pointed straight down to the open brook, got steep and stayed steep. did i mention that the trees, changing from hardwoods to evergreens, seemed to close in on us too?
it got steep enough that we put up the climbing bails under our boot heels and trudged on. at one point i slipped on some ice under the powder and slid back on one knee, into noah, pushing him down the hill a couple of meters. i suggested he go ahead in case that happened again. lucky thing he did as i went down several more times, genuflecting and sliding--only not praising god at the moment. simon's comment later was, "i almost got annoyed with that trail--it went on and on, up and up--i didn't think it was going to end."
it did end, finally. si's phone/camera ran out of battery right after he took a picture of noah and the summit sign. noah pulled his out and we group-selfied or how ever you say it.
we seemed to be smiling right here, but the immediate decent down the summit cone, put me in a highly focused, less jolly state. noah took off, passing me and careening around the first steep corner, not to be seen again until we got to the cut off. i offered si a pass too, but he said he was good. since he never ran into me i believed him. noah removed his skins at the junction and convinced si to do the same. i kept mine on and should have suggested the same to simon, as our skis had no scales like noah's. i was glad to have them on and si let his brother know it was a 'bum steer' he had been given.
soon enough though we popped out at the top of the ski area, where they waited for me while i de-skinned. we pointed them left and down and scooted along as it was getting darker. i stopped at a headwall and put on a knit cap under my billed hat--going down was a bit chillier than climbing up. the snow was mixed, deeper on the edges and icy-ish in the middle. it was fine skiing though and we flew along. at one stop i did admit to my legs being "right next to officially tired." that got a laugh as we slid away.
we found the road and car shortly there after. it felt good to get the boots off and everything stowed. the subaru pulled right through the pile a plow had pushed around us. we were headed home. to celebrate i found a chocolate bar--dark, with raspberry--that the pendletons had christmased me with and passed it around. i hadn't brought my thermos of tea this trip. the roads were not all that clear, but we got along with only one stop to clean the windshield. thank you sadie and otavio, we used the new scraper you left in my truck christmas eve. simon passed around a few of his mom's famous cookies too--thank you linda.
as we pulled into the pendleton driveway, linda, the famous cookie making mother, was at the door on the phone with pam. we were home (at least i would soon be), happy, and hungry...number 2 of the 48 nh 4000 footers had gone on skis!
thank you simon and noah for guiding and helping carry on the MOC tradition!
simon was the designated driver, it was his new car that he just bought from his grandmother. noah road shotgun, i took the back seat and nestled in for a long winter's nap. the roads were slippery but the subaru was all about tracking right along. despite a few pokey drivers, and who could blame them with the conditions under wheel, we made it up to the ski lodge, parked, booted up, and walked about a hundred feet to the trail head. it was a bit sketchy crossing the brook in ski boots, trying to balance on the stones sticking above the waterline. that done with no big splashes that i heard, we stepped into our bindings and started up. noah hung back and took this picture as we wove through the trees.
at that point the trail was fairly wide, snow coverage was ample, the turns rather gentle, and the pitch, not so bad. that didn't last too long. the rocks grew enough to stick out of the snow in lots of awkward spots. the turns got twisty and tight. the pitch, save for one little segment pointed straight down to the open brook, got steep and stayed steep. did i mention that the trees, changing from hardwoods to evergreens, seemed to close in on us too?
it got steep enough that we put up the climbing bails under our boot heels and trudged on. at one point i slipped on some ice under the powder and slid back on one knee, into noah, pushing him down the hill a couple of meters. i suggested he go ahead in case that happened again. lucky thing he did as i went down several more times, genuflecting and sliding--only not praising god at the moment. simon's comment later was, "i almost got annoyed with that trail--it went on and on, up and up--i didn't think it was going to end."
it did end, finally. si's phone/camera ran out of battery right after he took a picture of noah and the summit sign. noah pulled his out and we group-selfied or how ever you say it.
we seemed to be smiling right here, but the immediate decent down the summit cone, put me in a highly focused, less jolly state. noah took off, passing me and careening around the first steep corner, not to be seen again until we got to the cut off. i offered si a pass too, but he said he was good. since he never ran into me i believed him. noah removed his skins at the junction and convinced si to do the same. i kept mine on and should have suggested the same to simon, as our skis had no scales like noah's. i was glad to have them on and si let his brother know it was a 'bum steer' he had been given.
soon enough though we popped out at the top of the ski area, where they waited for me while i de-skinned. we pointed them left and down and scooted along as it was getting darker. i stopped at a headwall and put on a knit cap under my billed hat--going down was a bit chillier than climbing up. the snow was mixed, deeper on the edges and icy-ish in the middle. it was fine skiing though and we flew along. at one stop i did admit to my legs being "right next to officially tired." that got a laugh as we slid away.
we found the road and car shortly there after. it felt good to get the boots off and everything stowed. the subaru pulled right through the pile a plow had pushed around us. we were headed home. to celebrate i found a chocolate bar--dark, with raspberry--that the pendletons had christmased me with and passed it around. i hadn't brought my thermos of tea this trip. the roads were not all that clear, but we got along with only one stop to clean the windshield. thank you sadie and otavio, we used the new scraper you left in my truck christmas eve. simon passed around a few of his mom's famous cookies too--thank you linda.
as we pulled into the pendleton driveway, linda, the famous cookie making mother, was at the door on the phone with pam. we were home (at least i would soon be), happy, and hungry...number 2 of the 48 nh 4000 footers had gone on skis!thank you simon and noah for guiding and helping carry on the MOC tradition!
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