New Skis

Just what I need is more sporty equipment - but of course I bought more. I went up to waterville valley and got cross country skis today, and then went for my first ski in the woods, and it was amazing! I checked online and the ski shop sells half day passes beginning at 12:15, which was perfect. I was able to sleep until my usual time, have some coffee and be lazy for a bit, and still drive the two hours up to NH and arrive at the ski shop by 11:30. The woman there was really helpful and I bought some fischer spider skis which are the widest skis that will fit in the tracks, and have metal edges to be more stable off track/backcountry if I ever am good enough to do that. With my new skis I also got a ski pass for the day - it couldn't have been more perfect out!

Parking for the trails is by the trailhead for mt osceola - one of my favorite 4000 footers. I was lucky and got a spot, and then sat in my car and ate a sandwich. It's so easy to put on cross country boots, and to walk in them! I was suited up and ready to go in no time. 

To get to the beginner trails you walk across a small bridge and then put your skis on on the other side. I was a little nervous starting out - I only had the one lesson and wasn't sure things would go well. But, it was pretty awesome! It started with a lot of uphill, but pretty gentle. I took it slowly and kind of walked, letting my heart rate go up and getting in a rhythm. I need to work on the foot positioning and the whole sliding thing, but there were a few points where I felt like I was gliding a bit. And, there were a few downhill bits. The trail there is groomed - I chose the green which was lower osceola, moose run and easy trail, and they were quite manageable. The only thing that was a little difficult was that the tracks ended abruptly on some of the downhills, especially a couple that had small bridges over a creek at the bottom, which just seemed wrong. But, the hills were small and I didn't fall in :). There were several areas that seemed kind of groomed, but didn't have the nice tracks in the direction I was going, but then I got to practice without tracks for a while. That was harder, but doable. The way back was so much faster than the way out since it was so downhill.

I got to the end of the trail and realized I hadn't asked the woman at the shop how to release the bindings. I tried all kinds of things - poking things with my pole, pulling, pushing, but nothing worked. Fortunately some other skiiers came along soon, and one told me that you rotate the thing - I never would have guessed that one. It's a good thing he knew because it was going to be hard to drive home with my skis still on :)

I looked at my apple watch after I skied - it said I went 4.35 miles with 279 feet of elevation gain in one and a half hours. My heart rate was in zone 4 for almost an hour of that, and in zone 3 for another 21 minutes! That's a good workout, and the best part is that it didn't feel like it was that hard of a workout - probably largely because I was trying to balance and coordinate my arms and legs, and to get a little slide in. Also, because it was so nice being out in the woods in the snow, just enjoying the view. 

According to weather underground it was about 30 degrees out - there wasn't any wind on the trails. It was sunny out, but I was in the woods and didn't even need sunglasses. I wore my purple ninja hoodie, a tshirt, little puff, my spandits fleece lined tights, wool socks and my thick heated gloves (not turned on) and I was kind of warm. I was wishing I had lighter gloves on - I tried taking my gloves off, but I didn't have anywhere to put them, so I unzipped my puff instead. I can see that it's pretty easy to over dress for cross country skiing. Also, I didn't bring a backpack or anything with water and I kind of regretted that. All and all, a nice day, and so glad that I decided to get my new skis up in NH!