January 1, 2012, Summit Nordic - Windy Acres etc.

After 2 fun days pounding the legs and being social with downhillers at Alpental I was up for a more aerobic burn, but also into sleeping in. When I saw the weather and realized that Yanna has the dog with her in Idaho, I decided to use the season's pass to XC the upper trails at the summit. When we XC we usually choose ungroomed areas so we can bring the dog along. I had kind of forgotten how fun tracked skiing can be. Three hours of daylight left was enough to get to the top of Windy Acres, which was indeed windy (LOTS of snow on the move there as well as plumes coming off several peaks), as well as up to the Rockdale viewpoint before running the gauntlet of the warming hut based patroller who wanted to be sure I knew how to get down before dark. It was nice to see that after a few years of AT skiing I can still get telemark turns going on the skinny double-cambered skis. And nice that the warmup held off until later than I'd expected.

Met some AT-ers who had tried Silver but turned back in 40MPH winds that had scoured the north basin. Forgot to suggest that they try the 400-ish foot laps off the ski area side of Radio Tower Peak on their way home as a possibly very fun consolation prize. Looked nice in there as I passed by on the way to Rockdale viewpoint from the looks of the one track heading in/up. If you guys read this, nice to meet you...

Was up there midday, doing the Catherine loop with my dad and my daughter. Something my dad and I try and do once a year and this year I thought my daughter was up for it too. Really nice conditions on the Nordic trails. Good definition on the classic tracks and decent firmness in the lane, very little ice or chunks. Great views across to Kendall Granite et al.

I myself have NO telemark skilz on 60mm double camber rigs ...

Yeah, conditions were quite nice. And as for those telemark turns, I did learn on skinny double-cambered skis, and I only used them on nice wide groomers today. My snowplow skills got a little work today too .

Went around the corner to Silver Peak basin and up to the wooded knoll beneath Silver. Wind was howling and JetBoil was recalcitrant. I really coulda used a cup of hot tea up there. Snow in the upper basin alternated between wind-scoured ice and blown-in pockets of transported powder: not great! As usual the lower glades were decent. Still a beautiful day in the mountains.