more soft, deep snow, but things were shifting toward the heavy and sticky--read skiing was getting pretty slow.
i called skip last night and asked if he would like to try lasalette in the morning. he was not sure as noah was supposed to be coming around noon. i figured i would hit it early and maybe go out again with them later.
when i woke up it was down about 20˚F which made me smile. after breakfast i did a little shoveling and a compost run. the snow was still deep and soft which made me smile more. i packed up and took off.
it seemed warmer than friday morning and as i started skiing there was a fairly solid crust of the top snow layer, where the sun had warmed it in the afternoon. i was hopeful that that crust would disappear in the woods where the sun doesn't shine. to keep the glades for noah and skip if they did want to come out, i decided to go the big loop and finish on the 'little sherburne'.
going up was interesting in that sometimes i was on mostly buried snow shoe tracks and sometimes i was breaking trail. that was weird because i was following the main trail. whoever set the snowshoe track was following the beat of a different drummer. as i was figuring out their path, all of a sudden a fresh ski track joined the mix. i met the skier heading back down about 15 minutes later. he was a bit confused about trails so i gave him some options to further mess him up.
when i got to his 'high point' it was right where i thought it would be, a large-ish creek crossing. on the rest of the uphill after that point, the snow got really deep. i snapped another pole-average snow depth pic. it also seemed to be on the edge of sticky. i was hoping the downhill would still slide well.
i topped out soon after the picture and stopped to switch into downhill mode. after a little water out and water in, i pushed off. it was really slow and toward the bottom it got even slower as i had to go a bit off trail to avoid water in the trail. it was still beautiful, but i was looking for more steep. at what i call the 'upper junction', i went back to free pivot and turned right, headed toward the 'potato field'. i thought i would meet the snowshoe trail again, but i was breaking it out again.
i didn't see any potatoes in the field and the snow was still right on that sticky edge. i hit my uphill track from yesterday and instead of going back to the pond, i headed down the 'little sherburne'. making turns in and out of the old track was the only way to keep speed--it was almost grabby. a quarter mile past the 'lost pond' turn off, it finally got steep enough to leave my old track completely and ski all fresh.
it's hard to see in the pic but the turns were sweet. i had left a wide open side, sticking to the far right on yesterday's uphill. the old road this trail is on has a number of water-bars pushed up and i took one as an opportunity to stop and look back uphill. when it is faster, and you time your hops right, you can even get a little air.
it wasn't that fast today. but it was steep enough to not be slow either. as i came to the last corner, i cast a look down a real narrow ditch i sometimes ski. it can be really tight and always has less snow than the wider-open parts. i saw a bunch of branches sticking out of the snow so i swung back to the road. at the next bend i cut off left into the woods headed toward another alternative route--'the spine'. the line follows a narrow path with a steep drop to the left and moderate one to the right. it is always exciting, especially at the end where it falls down to the main train all at once. if you land it right, it feels like you drop out of the sky back onto the trail--hopefully nobody is in the way.
nobody got hurt and i was down! as i slid out to the truck, i was thinking again, "if it gets cold tonight, maybe we can get one more day of deep and soft out of this--we meaning, i would have to drag skip out if he was at all reluctant.
i called skip last night and asked if he would like to try lasalette in the morning. he was not sure as noah was supposed to be coming around noon. i figured i would hit it early and maybe go out again with them later.
when i woke up it was down about 20˚F which made me smile. after breakfast i did a little shoveling and a compost run. the snow was still deep and soft which made me smile more. i packed up and took off.
it seemed warmer than friday morning and as i started skiing there was a fairly solid crust of the top snow layer, where the sun had warmed it in the afternoon. i was hopeful that that crust would disappear in the woods where the sun doesn't shine. to keep the glades for noah and skip if they did want to come out, i decided to go the big loop and finish on the 'little sherburne'.
going up was interesting in that sometimes i was on mostly buried snow shoe tracks and sometimes i was breaking trail. that was weird because i was following the main trail. whoever set the snowshoe track was following the beat of a different drummer. as i was figuring out their path, all of a sudden a fresh ski track joined the mix. i met the skier heading back down about 15 minutes later. he was a bit confused about trails so i gave him some options to further mess him up.
when i got to his 'high point' it was right where i thought it would be, a large-ish creek crossing. on the rest of the uphill after that point, the snow got really deep. i snapped another pole-average snow depth pic. it also seemed to be on the edge of sticky. i was hoping the downhill would still slide well.
i topped out soon after the picture and stopped to switch into downhill mode. after a little water out and water in, i pushed off. it was really slow and toward the bottom it got even slower as i had to go a bit off trail to avoid water in the trail. it was still beautiful, but i was looking for more steep. at what i call the 'upper junction', i went back to free pivot and turned right, headed toward the 'potato field'. i thought i would meet the snowshoe trail again, but i was breaking it out again.
i didn't see any potatoes in the field and the snow was still right on that sticky edge. i hit my uphill track from yesterday and instead of going back to the pond, i headed down the 'little sherburne'. making turns in and out of the old track was the only way to keep speed--it was almost grabby. a quarter mile past the 'lost pond' turn off, it finally got steep enough to leave my old track completely and ski all fresh.
it's hard to see in the pic but the turns were sweet. i had left a wide open side, sticking to the far right on yesterday's uphill. the old road this trail is on has a number of water-bars pushed up and i took one as an opportunity to stop and look back uphill. when it is faster, and you time your hops right, you can even get a little air.
it wasn't that fast today. but it was steep enough to not be slow either. as i came to the last corner, i cast a look down a real narrow ditch i sometimes ski. it can be really tight and always has less snow than the wider-open parts. i saw a bunch of branches sticking out of the snow so i swung back to the road. at the next bend i cut off left into the woods headed toward another alternative route--'the spine'. the line follows a narrow path with a steep drop to the left and moderate one to the right. it is always exciting, especially at the end where it falls down to the main train all at once. if you land it right, it feels like you drop out of the sky back onto the trail--hopefully nobody is in the way.
nobody got hurt and i was down! as i slid out to the truck, i was thinking again, "if it gets cold tonight, maybe we can get one more day of deep and soft out of this--we meaning, i would have to drag skip out if he was at all reluctant.
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