being outside playing, i have not put up any new posts for a bit, but there has been plenty of activity!
today, i am suffering heat stroke, so i have come inside to cool off a bit--that is almost true. i got back to the house between helping kate and matt load the moving van and going back to unload it after their closing. the thermometer read 42 around 10 o'clock.
this warm-ish spell comes after a couple of weeks of solid cold, interspersed with 4-6 inches of snow here and there. three weeks ago i took a 'before' picture of the path down to the compost, followed by an 'after' a snow shot a week ago.
unfortunately, the fairly frequent snow has been mixed some with frozen rain more than once. this has given the surface a substantial crust, which makes for really fast skiing. after a couple 'fast and furious' runs, i have suspended running cardigan for the time being. pam and i have been getting out around here, on snowshoes and skis.
we went up over town hill on yet another bright sunny day, down to the marsh between the beaver dams. it strikes me as i write this that i have heard several people talk about how they "wish the sun would come out once in a while." the series of pam on the way up features the sun overhead.
the one of both of us at the marsh has the sun on our faces--and reflecting off my forehead. if you click on that one and look closely, there is a set of fox tracks over pam's shoulder.
during the week i took a bunch of solo trips over at lasalette after work. i have been trying to get a couple of runs in before dark, finishing with the big hill. i forgot the camera the first night which was ok as it was too fast to stop for a picture. as i came down the field to the truck, i realized my jacket and hat were flapping. i don't think i had ever gone that fast down that section. i zoomed right by the two bird houses i usually weave as gates.
the next time i remembered the camera and stopped on my way to the glades to get a picture looking north over the potato field. up at that elevation, the snow was pretty deep and not too crusty. that got me excited to ski the trees.
the trees were deep in the snow, but the skiing was pretty sketchy. i could stick in the fall line for about 5-6 turns until the speed was too much for me. after a hockey stop and a breath for sanity, i turned back down hill. finally, with the safety of the wide open field within reach, i let it go and zoomed out of the woods in a big arc and long whoop.
that was almost too exhilarating. but, then again, i was upright and smiling. skiing out to truck i was thinking, more snow would make that run a lot safer/fun.
i came back one more weekday--without the camera--and things were about the same, only i stayed out of the glades and stuck to the woods roads. it was great and a coming snow on the weekend was promising to make it even better. i would have to call skip and bring him along.
the snow did come for the weekend after a 'bluebird' sky on saturday. pam and i went out around her little loop and i practiced a little rock hopping. it was again, like butter making turns in the field. the sun warmed and softened the snow to a perfect consistency, not super fast, but very comfortable. pam made a movie which turned out to be in slow motion--funny enough for me, but not exactly exciting.
it started snowing that night and dropped about 5" inches of medium wet snow. the temperature stayed in the freezing range. skip came over after lunch o'clock and we headed over to lasalette.
we left the skins in our packs and scaled up the main trunk. we turned around for a quick try on the top of that run and found the speed inviting enough to go back up and try the steeper side--moses johnson half.
since i brought the camera this time, we took shots of the two of us, ready to go.
the snow was super sweet. halfway down i thought to get a video of skip carvin' it up. but by the time i stopped and got the camera out, he came to a stop above me. i got that shot. the snow was really just about perfect. it had been tracked up by a couple of snowshoers and their dogs, but somewhat filled back in with the new snow.
almost to the bottom, i was flying around the final zig-zag corner when some hidden ice slid my skis out from under me. i went with the flow into a combination tip-/worm- roll. it probably looked pretty funny but skip missed it having his own fun carving his own turns above. when he finally pulled up, he still had a good laugh at me lying on the ground.
we made it to the bottom with whoops, hitting the bottom earth berms, launching us for some final air. we turned left and headed toward a short cut to the feast grounds, for a final pitch down the big field to the truck.
i had told skip about how fast things had been during the week, but today the speed was just about right. i remembered to weave the bird houses, hunting for the untracked patches down the big hill. it felt really good--both of us were smiling pretty big as we got to the truck.
it was a great day--a whole bunch of days--to be outside and playing!
today, i am suffering heat stroke, so i have come inside to cool off a bit--that is almost true. i got back to the house between helping kate and matt load the moving van and going back to unload it after their closing. the thermometer read 42 around 10 o'clock.
this warm-ish spell comes after a couple of weeks of solid cold, interspersed with 4-6 inches of snow here and there. three weeks ago i took a 'before' picture of the path down to the compost, followed by an 'after' a snow shot a week ago.
unfortunately, the fairly frequent snow has been mixed some with frozen rain more than once. this has given the surface a substantial crust, which makes for really fast skiing. after a couple 'fast and furious' runs, i have suspended running cardigan for the time being. pam and i have been getting out around here, on snowshoes and skis.
we went up over town hill on yet another bright sunny day, down to the marsh between the beaver dams. it strikes me as i write this that i have heard several people talk about how they "wish the sun would come out once in a while." the series of pam on the way up features the sun overhead.
the one of both of us at the marsh has the sun on our faces--and reflecting off my forehead. if you click on that one and look closely, there is a set of fox tracks over pam's shoulder.
during the week i took a bunch of solo trips over at lasalette after work. i have been trying to get a couple of runs in before dark, finishing with the big hill. i forgot the camera the first night which was ok as it was too fast to stop for a picture. as i came down the field to the truck, i realized my jacket and hat were flapping. i don't think i had ever gone that fast down that section. i zoomed right by the two bird houses i usually weave as gates.
the next time i remembered the camera and stopped on my way to the glades to get a picture looking north over the potato field. up at that elevation, the snow was pretty deep and not too crusty. that got me excited to ski the trees.
the trees were deep in the snow, but the skiing was pretty sketchy. i could stick in the fall line for about 5-6 turns until the speed was too much for me. after a hockey stop and a breath for sanity, i turned back down hill. finally, with the safety of the wide open field within reach, i let it go and zoomed out of the woods in a big arc and long whoop.
that was almost too exhilarating. but, then again, i was upright and smiling. skiing out to truck i was thinking, more snow would make that run a lot safer/fun.
i came back one more weekday--without the camera--and things were about the same, only i stayed out of the glades and stuck to the woods roads. it was great and a coming snow on the weekend was promising to make it even better. i would have to call skip and bring him along.
the snow did come for the weekend after a 'bluebird' sky on saturday. pam and i went out around her little loop and i practiced a little rock hopping. it was again, like butter making turns in the field. the sun warmed and softened the snow to a perfect consistency, not super fast, but very comfortable. pam made a movie which turned out to be in slow motion--funny enough for me, but not exactly exciting.
it started snowing that night and dropped about 5" inches of medium wet snow. the temperature stayed in the freezing range. skip came over after lunch o'clock and we headed over to lasalette.
we left the skins in our packs and scaled up the main trunk. we turned around for a quick try on the top of that run and found the speed inviting enough to go back up and try the steeper side--moses johnson half.
since i brought the camera this time, we took shots of the two of us, ready to go.
the snow was super sweet. halfway down i thought to get a video of skip carvin' it up. but by the time i stopped and got the camera out, he came to a stop above me. i got that shot. the snow was really just about perfect. it had been tracked up by a couple of snowshoers and their dogs, but somewhat filled back in with the new snow.almost to the bottom, i was flying around the final zig-zag corner when some hidden ice slid my skis out from under me. i went with the flow into a combination tip-/worm- roll. it probably looked pretty funny but skip missed it having his own fun carving his own turns above. when he finally pulled up, he still had a good laugh at me lying on the ground.
we made it to the bottom with whoops, hitting the bottom earth berms, launching us for some final air. we turned left and headed toward a short cut to the feast grounds, for a final pitch down the big field to the truck.
i had told skip about how fast things had been during the week, but today the speed was just about right. i remembered to weave the bird houses, hunting for the untracked patches down the big hill. it felt really good--both of us were smiling pretty big as we got to the truck.
it was a great day--a whole bunch of days--to be outside and playing!
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