Cross (country ski) season is here...

[Clydesdale]

A couple inches of snow on the ground and several more coming. The road bike is strapped in the trainer and the skis are waxed and ready for tomorrow.

I ski like I bike - slow and steady, but I have a great time.

Any other CC-Skiers out there?

[jacknife]

The weather guesser is calling for 5-6 inches of snow here this weekend, my skiis are ready! Can't wait!

[spiderman]

...you, senior clydesdale, on a road bike...??
steady yes,
but slow...?
that did widen my smile by a mile...

i'm going waxless,
but am interested in getting out for either:
two wheels or two skiis...
...or both...

[Clydesdale]

slow is a frame of mind I guess. Come to think of it, I'm not that steady either, especially on skis.

I'm guessing the local golf course will be prime for skiing by the afternoon.

[spiderman]

grooming the cross country ski area
by riding through on my studded snow tires...
...hopefully the drifting
will remove any evidence of my journey
so when the peleton meets at the bike shop tomorrow
and goes out to ski together
the trail is as pristine
as what i found today in the middle of the blizzard!

[erikbrooks]

Any other CC-Skiers out there?

I just returned from 4 days XC at Silver Star, BC. 9 hr drive each way, but worth it to me. Conditions were excellent. 10 to 19F each day, with ~85% of the trails open. It's been voted the best XC area in North America by various groups, including the US and Canadian ski teams. It's certainly the best I've seen, and it's usually the first one open with significant amt of trails. The elites go either to there or West Yellowstone at this time, so there are plenty of fine skiers to emulate.

Silver Star is also an alpine ski area. They opened for downhill yesterday, but the previous days were only XC'ers, on this huge mountain. If you're looking for a single destination with A++ nordic plus very good alpine, this is the place to go.

I got in 5/6 hours each day, sking classic in the AM, and skating in the PM. I live in Seattle, at sea level, and I was feeling the elevation - ~6200 ft at the top, and 3800 at the village. We had to, no, I mean we get to, ski from the village to the top, where the best trails are, twice each day (but can ride the chairlift up now, since downhill opened). Anyway, lotsa climbing. Everybody was grinning at each other and saying, "Isn't this just great!". Whata sport!

To top it off, it's snowing in Seattle as I write. That doesn't happen too often. It'll make the bike commute Monday interesting, if it sticks.

The other ski thread asks us to list our quiver, so here's mine.
Atomic RS11 skate ( for very solid skate surface)
Atomic Beta Skate (soft snow skating)
Fischer RCS classic (hard wax)
Fischer RCS Zero Classic (unusual difficult waxing near freezing)
Fischer CS classic (Klister ski)
Plus some backcountry stuff and some old Tele gear. Next year I'll do more of these, but just now I'm focused on the masters world champs this spring.

[Karin Kirk]

Great report Erik!

Sounds like some lovely skiing up there - what a great way to kick off the year.
Have you done any racing so far this season? What's the racing and travel schedule like?
Where are the master's worlds?

Just curious - it sounds really cool!

Oh - my ski report for the day was just ~1 hour of classic in about 7 degrees. I started out skating but the wind on my face was too cold, so I switched to classic to stay warm.

My alpine season begins tomorrow, with a brand new pair of boots and a brand new group of new hire instructors to train. I wonder which will be easier to break in? :p

[Blue Jays]

Yet another sport that I wish to embrace! I'm a proficient downhill skier, so this is the next logical type of skiing to add to the mix...

[Steevo]

I ski like I bike - slow and steady, but I have a great time.

+1 on That.

Its snowing here in NY Metro, hopefully we'll have enough to get those skis out this afternoon. Going up to Mohonk this week for a work meeting. Some XC up there would be great.

[spiderman]

A couple inches of snow on the ground and several more coming. The road bike is strapped in the trainer and the skis are waxed and ready for tomorrow.

I ski like I bike - slow and steady, but I have a great time.

Any other CC-Skiers out there?

was out today and found more ice than snow.
how about you?

[Clydesdale]

Hit the local trail at night after the snowmobiles had groomed it for me. Not too bad but hard and rough in spots. Good thing it was at night, there were some definite "water buffalo on roller skate" moments that I would not have wanted witnesses to see.