BC/XC anything but resort skiing.

[indiggio]

9 hours ago, AirheadD8 said:

Wait till you try putting them on in a 20mph wind 😁Mine are 9yrs old and still work well. The rubber bungee type hook works on both sets of skis. 

I ran across this video that has some tips about halfway through for removal/install in the wind...

 

[abe]

Quick jaunt by the state game lands off 322 between Brickerville (501) and Cornwall (72) on this sunny afternoon.

I drove through here numerous times the past few weeks and noticed how much snow was still there as of yesterday on this north side of the ridge.  Lebanon valley got a lot more snow than us here on the other side in Lancaster county and it seems to have not melted as much especially on this ridge in the valley 322 goes through.

Driving from home there is basically no snow except from piles or drifts and I was beginning to think I'd be hiking but sure enough as soon as you roll through to the other side of this ridge holy smokes it's winter again.  More snow here than in Stroudsburg.

I made my way up the hill following some footsteps and deer paths to the Horshoe Trail but the trail itself running along the top was melted out in the middle from exposure and foot traffic.  Snow disappeared as soon as you get tocoming over to the South side, really night and day demonstration of the north face effect.

Brush was pretty heavy in spots it was a good thing I was wearing work pants and gaiters, had to sit on me bum a few times to check my speed with not enough room to maneuver.

Trees had been thinned out towards the bottom and I found some remnants of logging roads then which were quite a bit better.

[mbike-ski]

I thought about taking the dog skijoring one day, she loves it on the longboard

[toast21602]

Took out the new xc skis for a short cruise around the local park before the rain storm. Plenty of open soccer fields and a nice trail loop there. My dog joined in on the fun too, and took a nice shit mid ski.

These things are FAST and fun. They glide so well and grip on inclines fairly well too. Even managed to go over the trampled footprints just fine. The Alpina boots fit perfectly and are so much more comfortable than I expected. I estimated well on the pole length too. Truly™️ excited to take these out with @Mixilplix @mbike-ski and others the next chance we get!

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by toast21602

[Mixilplix]

Some XC skiing through the hood this afternoon......

 

[abe]

Lancaster County Park yesterday morning.

A bit sticky buy doable once I rubbed on some fresh wax.  Was better later that night.

Somehow I missed the memo I was planning on driving up to Crystal Lake but no reason to do that with 4" of snow here when I woke up

 

[toast21602]

I got out this afternoon on my way home from work at Bicentennial Park and it was really enjoyable. I was hoping to get on the Nor-Bath trail but bozos took snowmobiles on it and dug up a bunch of gravel. I just cruised around the park in the snow. A few other tracks out there from yesterday. Lovely afternoon to be out!

 

[mbike-ski]

Minnewaska SP 2/2722

Last night I was searching for some favorable  XCD conditions within day trip distance and was coming up empty when I stumbled on a decent snow report for Minnewaska SF XC trails. After some communication and navigational challenges got on the snow solo around 10:30. Some guidance in the parking lot had me on my way to the Castle rock trail on the skinny NNN  setup, great fast snow, bright sun, mid 30’s and a breeze (quite stiff on the return NW exposures). 

 

As an intermediate at best classic skier it was cool watching the skater boiz and girlz fly by me. I had never really skate ski’d and worked on it for a while until the ball of my right foot and arch objected , I even passed some little kids lol

 

Such a cool place with endless vistas of cliffs, hills and the mountain (Bearpen?)to the north. Ended up doing almost 9 mi for a great loop, hopefully not the last hurrah.
 

 

[AtomicSkier]

@mbike-ski and I took a chance and toured up Bearpen Mountain ... about 25 minutes from Hunter/Windham.  There was some liquid precip yesterday and the temps were cold last night, so our backup plan was a tour up Windham.  We arrived in the middle of nowhere and did a quick snow check.  It was *ok* with a slight crust.  We hoped it was better up high.  About 2/3 of the way up we came across a skier coming back down the snowmobile trail and he said he dipped into the woods and it was rough so he bailed.  We were that far, so to the top we went.  The grade was perfect.  Nothing as steep as Hunter/Windham's uphill routes.  After reaching the summit and enjoying a beer, we scoped out the lines from earlier in the week to have some knowledge for a future trip.  The top half was still firm, but the lower half was insanely fun spring snow.  Had we waited 30-60 minutes at the summit, I think most of our run would've been like that, but we both had a huge smile on our face at the bottom.  It was fun.  10/10 would do again.

 

[mbike-ski]

a fun day for sure!

[Barb]

Some of the local ladies said there was just enough snow to XC at the Marble Mill site Park. They used their HOK skis but I was anxious to try out my Madshus. They have  so much glide to them! 
 

In the first 5 minutes we went down a very small hill, and down I went. lol. By the next small hill I figured out how to descend without falling. Not graceful, but I got down it. 
 

The park is where they used to process Marble. There are a lot of random pieces carved and the old marble foundation pieces. 15 degrees and brilliant sunshine!  Snow moving in this weekend. What a great spot that is a 10 min drive from my house to get some quick cardio in!

 

 

 

These 2 ladies are in their 70’s but getting out there in a regular basis. I hope to be this active at their age. Plus they have such great stories. 

[Barb]

Tried out the HOK skis today!  We got about 4+ inches overnight and it was snowy all morning. There were 5 of us today and we went to the same park but went in the trees more. The HOK skis are definitely good for that, walking over logs etc. 

Descending the small hills is so much easier. With the permanent skin on the middle third it really slows you down. It fees much different then trying to descend with full skins on my touring skis. These don’t grab as much. 
 

 

 

Overall we just tooled around looking for little hills do go down. Some look like they will be fun when they get filled in more. 

[Barb]

I admit it’s a little lame of me that I haven’t been downhill skiing yet. But today we woke up to about 6” of powdery snow. On my morning dog walk the neighborhood roads had not been plowed yet. 

 

 

So I immediately went home and got my new XC skis and skied from my front door all around my neighborhood on untracked snow. Some fun sustained “downhill”.  Took it slow, still getting used to going downhill on XC skis. 

 

Husband had his own fun fooling around with the snowblower. 
 

[mbike-ski]

If I had woods and snow to noodle around in all the time I’d probably never do another “downhill” day again!

[Barb]

So far it’s been a lot of fun. Not sure if I would do a true backcountry day here because not only is the terrain very steep, but it is very avalanche prone. We have already had one avalanche on 11/25 that partially buried 4 skiers. CAIC issued an avalanche warning for this weekend naming 2 entire mountain ranges and “The mountains around Marble.”  

[Barb]

Beautiful cold morning here. We got about 10+” of snow in the last 48 hours. Nobody had skied at the park. I broke trail all over the place and it was fun and deep!  About 9 degrees and after an hour my toes were frozen and my dog ripped all his booties so his toes were cold too and we called it a day. 
 

 

 

 

 

[Mixilplix]

That looks fantastic...

[Mixilplix]

Been a minute since I had something to post here....Early evening 4ish mile tour through the hood..I even saw a train...Sorry for the sub par pics...

 

[mbike-ski]

Couple miles wit da new boots

[abe]

Awesome conditions in the Laurel highlands today after a bummer of a year last year for xc in PA.  3" base with 5" yesterday and steadily snowing all day a couple additional inches.  It is amazing how much more snow they get there.  They had about 20km groomed plus some nice shin deep snow on the ungroomed trails that descend down the ridge. Great seeing the crowd that was there having fun - they were only open I think for one storm last year and the snow was rapidly gone there by the afternoon which was not ideal to say the least

 

I was happy to see as well that the Crystal Lake center over by Williamsport may be back in action if they can accumulate a little more snow.  Had some sort of staffing issue last year.

 

Edited January 8 by abe

[Shadows]

People actually ski here?

[abe]

The place was pretty happening today, parking lot about full.  Was a lot of fun.  They have a nice warming hut with snack lunch a wood stove and resident dogs.  I am appreciating the xc experience more every year although I wish there were closer places like this with maintained and groomed trails

Got about 25km in twice around red once around blue orange yellow and black and they were grooming all day to keep the snow fast as it came down

Edited January 8 by abe

[Shadows]

Could probably just do the velodrome trail. It's paved. 

 

[Shadows]

Or irt.

There's a nice trail in palmer too. But that's easton

[Shadows]

Or srt.