same storm, different snow...

tuesday's storm was a "piddler" as pam called the few inches that was supposed to be 5-8.  the couple inches of snow predicted on wednesday turned out to be 8-10. i'll take that!

the extremely heavy and wet snow, made things pretty messy. a mound left at the end of the drive by the town plow, seemed a formidable wall and pam was still planning on going to work. the roads were bad enough to delay or close schools in the area--in mascoma's case both: delay first; closed when the snow kept coming down heavy. so i suited up to go out and clean up the vehicles and drive.

with things clean enough for the fit to get out, i came in to call skip and suggest a ski. he had a few errands to finish up before he said he would come pick me up. i called speight in case he wanted to go with us, but he picked up from down in florida, on a drummond family vacation. he would have to wait for a backcountry experience.

by the time skip pulled into the drive i was ready. we decided to hit lasalette first. pulling into the big parking lot, a former student going sledding greeted us. we took a warm-up run on the 'big hill' with him and his family. it was wicked easy going up, no skins needed. coming down was pretty slow, but the steeper parts were better.

as we headed over towards the steeper 'glades' and 'little sherbie', we got excited. at the top of the glade run, we had to find a tree to scrape off underfoot, before pointing our tips downhill. it was fast enough to have to stay on top of your line, avoiding the trees as you picked up speed on the steepest sections. it was so good we pointed up again when we got to the bottom.

at the top of the little sherbie run, it seemed even stickier--i ended up scraping off underfoot twice before the skis would run smooth. just for fun, and to make sure i didn't clump up again, i didn't stop, even when skip pulled off ahead of me. having not skied since just after thanksgiving, the quads were burning at the bottom.

as we headed back to the truck, we speculated that with the coming cold, this snow was going to dry out and turn to powdery goodness! too bad skip would be back in school--being retired i could just skip it if conditions went to excellent.

and excellent conditions went. thursday had the temperature falling later in the day, as high pressure moving in cleared the clouds out. down around zero friday morning, the snow was now fluffy and light, and i was packed and headed for cardigan. when i pulled in to the winter parking area, only half of it had been plowed. a trail had been broken out, but nobody on it yet that day.

nobody had been on the ski trail at all, so i skinned up that way to check for blowdowns and knock snow out of the bent over trees. i didn't have goggles or glasses, and no helmet, so the more branches i could unbend and raise out of the trail, the fewer i would get whipped with on the return--under speed.

as i came up into the ledgy, spruce only zone, there was no knocking snow off the branches. branches were loaded down and frozen solid--beautiful, but stiff as a board.





i stopped for a couple of pictures of all that beauty. the left is looking west, the right looks east. put together, they almost look panoramic. shortly after the trees thinned out and shortened, letting snow blow off or pack into huge drifts, carved into the shape of the winds path.

where there were no trees, only a thin crusty layer remained. it looked cool, but with the wind blowing 25mph steady, gusting 35-45, i didn't need to stay up enjoying it. a couple of snow encrusted spruce gave me enough of a wind break to strip off my skins, buckle down, and put on my big mitts.

the first couple hundred yards, off trail in the spruce, was an interesting mix: wind-packed where the openings were large enough; deep, soft drifts where the wind wasn't. by the time i dropped back onto the trail, i was ready for consistent, fast snow--a little speed would liven things up.




back full in the trees, not only was the snow consistent and fast, it was deep. i was finding boot top depth everywhere with knee deep pockets--it got really fun, as skip would say, "best skiing ever!"

i stayed on the ski trail where i could and after taking that picture of tracks on the section above the water fall, i didn't stop till i got back to the truck. the snow shoer i passed on the summer road, slowed enough to say hi and hear my, "it's beautiful snow!" but neither of us really stopped.

both of us were smiling big though, glad to be outside and playing!

the last of the ice...?

maybe, maybe not--the winter will tell!

for years, i have been bugging pam about moving to a climate where winter is still winter. of course i am looking for more snow. the problem is, a warming climate precludes that we could find such a spot, at least a place where it is a given. things are changing every where and while there are areas with more snow than 'wintery mix' it would be hard to find a guaranteed deep snowpack anywhere. in anycase, pam loves our spot now and friends tell me i should just have multiple winter sports in my quiver.

i mostly agree--the upper valley has a lot to offer in the outdoors. i was out on the ice a couple more times around the new year. monday, the 31st i went with the pendletons--including eben and simon--out on goose pond.

considering my last foray onto that ice, we drove to the boat launch at the north end. the recent rain left the parking area a solid sheet of ice. si and i found a walkable path at the edges and watched the others each slide about and fall once or twice getting down to the frozen edge of the pond. once we had our skates on, moving was more controlled and less anxious. we skated south, zigging and zagging our way to the dam, where simon took this panoramic.


along the eastern and western sides of the pond, we skated by dramatic evidence of the changing water levels. the influx of all that water from the last two heavy rains--we got 1.6 inches in the second event--raised the ice significantly. a week later, frozen chunks were left jutting up around boulders and sunken tree trunks.


the last time i was out on goose, i had found a couple perfect lifts that made great launching pads for a fast skater. i looked for one particular one, but in the shifting levels it was lost.


back toward the boat launch i went by a promising ramp and picked up some speed making a loop headed back for it. the approach was bumpy and i will use that as an excuse for why even though the launch was good, the landing went wonky. after a brief upright-ness, my skates slipped out to the side and i went down fairly hard onto my upper arm, even scraping the ol' temple enough to leave a mark.


ok, no more of that is necessary--just skate.

and that is what we did, plus visits with a former student ice fishing, and a pond side resident who had built his own ice boat, thrown in.

with our skates off, we all tromped along the edges of the parking lot / ice rink without incident. as we loaded gear into our trucks, and wished each other a happy new year, i was glad to be outside and playing! with such good friends.

ps--i heard that a good crew made it out once more on the 2nd, back on mascoma lake this time, before we had snow and freezing rain the 3rd. the ice was supposedly fantastic. with more wintery mix in the next week, and a heavy wet, 8-10" of snow just last wednesday, the skates are back in the quiver and i have skis and the sled out.