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A tricky cross-country ski tour today

Posted Sunday, December 30, 2018
— Cross-country skiing, Bolton Valley

Skiing past an icy rock face on lower Broadway.

On Maple Loop.

A challenging downhill stretch.

I'm going to reiterate the request that I shared at the end of our last blog post: Pray for snow, people!

This week's rain did more damage to the snowpack. We took our metal-edged Nordic skis out for a spin on Maple Loop at Bolton Valley Nordic Center. It was challenging.

Here's what we found late Saturday morning:

  • On the trails that were groomed recently and skied on, the snow was hard-packed and tough to get "kick." Icy stuff, and no place for beginners.
  • On the sides of the trails and in the trees where no one had skied there was a few inches of damp, very soft snow. It was quiet to ski through it. And you could actually get some kick.
  • We skied through and around dirt patches and ice patches, while other stretches were well-covered with snow.
  • We saw a lot of standing water and pretty little waterfalls. 

It was great to get out for a ski tour, but we need some more help from Mother Nature — even at 2,000 feet in elevation where we were today. (We go to Bolton frequently because it has one of the highest base elevations in the state.)

Think snowy thoughts!

 

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