a warm saturday on town hill with pam

the day: february 12. the temperature around 40°F. sunshine and clouds--happily sharing the sky. no wind to speak of down in the trees although i can see some branches moving about up high. the snow is definitely soft and still 3~4" deep after settling a couple of days in the above freezing temps.

the adventure: up over town hill to the marsh, pam on snowshoes and me on skis.

the memories: the skiing was mostly slow save for the two or three steep sections. even then it wasn't so fast that it ever approached furious. i took this shot of pam as she reached the top of town hill. she was happy, and warm enough to unzip her jacket.

notes:

• pam got warm enough to shed her unzipped jacket!
• except for one, not really enough speed for hitting my favorite launch rocks, at least if you wanted much air
• when this snow freezes, there is going to be a wicked crust

go outside and play!

still skiing friday's freshies!

the day: february 7. the temperature maybe 20°F~ish. sun now and again, but it wasn't warming up much. no wind in the woods, and none whipping up on the ridge either. all the 6~10" of dry, fluffy snow on top of that thick crust from thursday night, was there, ready and waiting.

the adventure: skip and i went back to wolfeboro road to hit the 'secret sherbie'--i had left it fresh on my way by yesterday.

the memories: there were lots of animal tracks--deer mostly--headed up the trail. the snow was plenty deep and fast. it was all that we could ask, four days after a storm. wicked sweet! we took two runs. why go to work when you can ski. stopping back on wolfeboro the final run to go back and put the cable back up, i took a movie of skip and took screenshots of three smooth turns

notes:

• parking at the gate doesn't seem to bother whoever plows to the house up to the left
• the secret sherbie stays fresh as long as the cold holds

  go outside and play!

a glorious sunday in our lady of the snow

the day: february 6. the temperature maybe around 20°F, but the thermometer on the shed is still frozen up. bright sunshine with a few wispy clouds. not as much wind as yesterday, even less in the woods. 6~10" of dry, fluffy snow on top of that thick crust from thursday night.

the adventure: skip will be jealous, but i hit the wolfeboro road, turned off on the AT and went up to south peak. not exactly the steepest trail around, but nobody had skied it. a single snowshoer had tracked out the AT, which actually made it nice for my descent.

the memories: talked a bit with snowshoer adam from leb, about his winter adventures in the mtns. he was very enthusiastic about being outside playing. the snow was heavenly on the way down--made all the turns "like buttah!" one of pam's favorite expressions. 

and speaking of pam, i forgot my camera, but she snapped this of her own free heel magic out in our field.

notes:

• a couple asked me to take their picture up on so. peak--i couldn't see a thing it was so sunny. hope at least one came out.
• skins are faster than scales when the snow is not at all sticky
• skip, the secret sherbie is looking really sweet--tomorrow

go outside and play!

two days + four skis = a lot of fun

the day: february 4 & 5. at some point around 3am the heavy sleet changed to snow. snow did not stop until the evening of the 4th. it was somewhere in the 20s, and not all that windy. the 5th was much colder, in the single numbers, but sunny. it was a lot windier, around 15mph.

the adventure: the adventure was actually 4 adventures and could have stretched to cover tomorrow's and monday's outings as well, but...let's get it out now and just make another later.

1. fri early~ish, i geared up after first breakfast and went to the height of town hill for a test run in the new snow. the heavy frozen rain crust was set up really solid under ~6" of heavier powder. it made for almost fast, very smooth turning. everything was now definitely covered, so you could ski anywhere--even right through trees!

2.  fri late~er, i met up with skip and simon and we went up the west ridge of cardigan on the ski trail until we got to hurricane gap cutoff. simon convinced us to go to the summit on the hiking trail with the promise of "the rock will be all snow covered..." 

to be fair it was, but mostly with a bombproof crust, the snow blown off. above treeline would not be the part skip would call "the best skiing ever!" that was back down in the trees. the snow was getting faster--the steep parts still to the fun side of furious.

3. sat early~ish, i skied my commute, 'over the river and through the woods' for the school deliberative session. the two days above freezing, one of them with rain, made for a really slushy crossing. i had to stop and scrape off a healthy layer, going to and coming from. 

and speaking of to and fro, the trail along the river made for  nice before and after shots--ahead and behind. i ended up looping the entire 'koby's way', tracking it out for skip and the 4Hers coming to snowshoe it at noon. 

4. sat late~er, skip and his brother richard were supposed to ski the shaker wildlife management area with me at 3:00. i went early and thought i would take a run and meet them coming up the trail. that never happened but as i enjoyed some final turns down the big field, skip appeared. we took a final final run and he snapped this picture of me setting up to video him. that's cardigan in the background.

memories: each of outings had plenty sweet snow! surprisingly, the deepest coverage was in our driveways. 

notes: when it snows, ski!

• don't wait for richard--he never showed
• warn skip when the river is wet--and risky
• get at swma early if you want freshies--especially on weekends

go outside and play!

sharing the love in the backcountry

the day: january 30. cold~ish, down in the single numbers but the sun was shining bright. wind up high, fairly calm down in the woods. the well below zero temps overnight 'dried out' the already dry snow. it was not at all slow like yesterday.

the adventure: the "secret sherbie" up off wolfeboro road. this time skip and simon joined the party. our tracks from the week before weren't totally filled in, but more so than on town hill. the snow on the edges was plenty deep for silky turning.

memories: it was a treat having si along. he and his brother noah are smooth telemark skiers and always fun to ski with. he even looks professional--the bottoms of his poles match!

notes: i was a bit pressed for time, so we only took a run and a half.

• dry snow is fast!
• fast is good!
• too fast maybe not so good...
• stay out of the young beech trees--getting whapped in the face hurts!

go outside and play!