Skiers,

Yesterday’s snowfall gave me courage to take my chances at Highlands Nordic for the first time this season.  I was away when the early snows allowed for some grooming, and by the time I got back that was only a dream.  Today though, in spite of scant coverage and no grooming, I  had a lovely ski.

There is only a skiff of snow over ice at the beginning of Whitetail, but it was surprisingly easy to ski on and I never hit the gravel.  The fog made me feel like I was breathing liquid air and the trees were lightly coated in frost and snow, all lovely.  Before I reached the hut, I ran into a friend who said her fishtails were clumping and she was calling it a day, but my twin-skins performed perfectly.  I went up Windsong, hoping for better snow and I was not disappointed.  Even before the junction the snow grew deeper and the sun began to shoulder  its way through the fog, scattering the clouds until they formed a white web under a blue sky.  To the west, the little larch trees were still in the mist and made a visual silver wall, and at the junction with Stinger, there was a bright patch of sun on snow. From there to the top, the climb approached a true winter ski.  The trees gathered the sounds of cross-bills, and there were  many snowshoe hare tracks and lots of deer trails down at my level.  All I could think of was how great  it was to be skiing in the Highlands again!

I worried that I might not be able to control my descent on the ungroomed snow but it wasn’t a problem.  As I came down, so did the fog, and as the depth of the snow decreased, so did its speed.  Still I skied into the parking lot full of gratitude for the earlier work that supported what I could do today.  So, if you don’t mind ski touring conditions…

Come ski!

Patti