It's MLK weekend and I wanted to get in a ski day. I'm going to Walden with the merfolk tomorrow, so today was the day. With my ski pass I can go to two mountains that are 1.5 hours away, and I decided to try sunapee today. Mistake. It turns out that the mountain was a little too advanced for me. I did the green dot a few times, but it was shorter, and full of little kids, and really steep. It rained yesterday, so the snow wasn't that great, and all the steeper parts were harder. I did manage to do them fine (go me!) but it was also so crowded that I didn't feel that confident. There were slower people in front of me (there are slower people, crazy) but also faster folks wizzing past me. After just an hour, I was like "I can waste the money that I spent to come here, or I can waste the day" and I decided that the money was a sunk cost, and left.
It was so crowded that when I got there I already had to park in the third of three lots. And there were more people coming! That lot was almost full by the time I left, and people were parking at the beach. It was craziness.
I did look at a map last night before I packed up and had seen the beach that was close by, and decided to pack my swim stuff just in case I wanted to dip after. Of course, after the complete bust of a ski day, I had to go for a swim. The parking lot was almost full, and I had to hunt for a spot. When I did park, though, there was a woman there who looked suspiciously like she was going dipping too. And she was! By the time I got changed, she had gone to the lake and returned saying that the ice was too thick, except in a spot that was deep and had a current.
There was a stream going by, which wasn't that deep and had a current, but we went in there anyhow. I got in first and sat down - it was deep enough to cover me to the shoulders. She got in after me, I think almost a minute after, and we just sat and chatted a bit. I brought the fish-momoter in, and it said the water was 34.4! Which is very cold. Apparently the woman has a stopwatch on her watch (cool feature) and she stayed in for 5 minutes, so I think I was in for about 6. I felt cold, but fine, except for my hands which were freezing. After I got out I tried to open my water to soak them in the heat, but I couldn't get the top off - I think it was frozen. Eventually I got the smaller cap off and soaked my hands (which really burned). I was surprisingly fine after the dip, except my fingers. My feet warmed up, and I shivered a little, but not too much. It might have helped that I was in the car with the heat blasting.
However, the tips of my fingers are still a little numb. As I type, I feel a funny tingling in them when they touch the keyboard. Hopefully this will clear up soon - I want to get in a good swim at Walden, but I might need to wear gloves tomorrow!
I think I'll stick with crotched mountain for now, and maybe go up to wildcat once? The pass is good for there, and they have a long green run. I'll have to decide if I want to do this pass gain next year - it's such a good deal, but not if I don't like the mountains.
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