Yay! My holiday wish was to go cross-country skiing ASAP, and my wish was granted!
An unanticipated Christmas snowfall across northern Vermont hills and mountains added up to five to eight inches of snow or so in higher elevations. So when I heard the snowplow outside my house this morning, I was excited to check in on our area nordic centers to see if we might be able to ski!
We packed up the Subaru and headed to Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, which opened up more terrain due to the snow. They had about 15K of trails available, which was plenty for the first outing of the season.
We arrived midday to sunshine and fresh snow on the trees and in the scenic meadow. The temperature was quite warm, as well. There were quite a few happy people skiing back and forth on Sugar Road and Russell Knoll, while some others did loops on the racing course that runs near the sugarhouse.
I donned my skating skis to get my legs really working, while the Skimeister was out on his classic skiing gear for the first time since ACL surgery. (Hurray!) For me it was fun to try to remember how to both propel yourself and balance on the skinny skis, and then to try to make skidding or small step turns around corners. Whoa — always exciting early in the season.
The groomed trails had a thin, but soft base of snow. Every once in a while I'd poke the sharp point of my ski pole down to the ground when I was pushing off. And there was about 8 inches of powder in ungroomed areas of the teaching meadow and Picnic Knoll.
It was a gorgeous afternoon to be out in the fresh snow and sunshine. Thank goodness for winter surprises!
