The Nordic Skiing Blog

Hooked: Skiing on Natural Snow

Posted on by Harvey

My first time skiing was at Garnet Hill Lodge in 1989. I had a friend with a ski shop who convinced me to give nordic skiing a try. We bought NNN skis, a complete set up, boots, poles and skis for $125.

Natural-Snow

The first morning of our stay we skied from the lodge down to the ski shop via the Cut Off Trail. It’s pretty steep for a nordic trail with a 90-degree turn at the bottom of the steepest section. It was right after a rain/freeze and we were out before the groomer.

When I got to the corner, it wasn’t pretty. I spent a minute on the ground wondering what the hell I was doing.

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Tagged: Nordic Skiing, Ski Life6 Comments

Garnet Hill Ski Center Opens 2014

Posted on by Harvey

Garnet Hill Lodge had a Ski Shop Open House all weekend, with music and free skiing. On Friday after our drive to the mountains, we made some late day nordic turns on Upper Tailings, Old Faithful and Lift Line.

Trapper Trail
Rolled Trapper

Saturday Neve got her new gear through the annual GHL kids nordic gear exchange ($20/year) and we picked up our seasons passes. The girls headed back to the cabin to do some sledding. I was surprised they didn’t want to ski but I soldiered on, heading out solo towards the intersection of Trapper and 4H.

Like the day before, my intention was to check out the view from the Upper Tailings then head down 4H to Old Faithful. But also like the day before, after I enjoyed the view, as I skied past Lift Line… it sucked me in.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Nordic Skiing3 Comments

Viking Nordic Ski Center, VT

Posted on by Peter Minde

As we glided out of the woods, our daughter Laurel shouted, “This… is AWESOME!” We’d gotten to one of those classic Vermont xc ski vistas: a huge view across miles of rolling hills with woods and open fields, dotted with houses and barns. Then she double poled into a plunging, curvy downhill on to Viking Nordic’s Loki’s Run trail.

Viking-Nordic-Ski-Center

Last February, we drove to Landgrove, Vermont for Presidents’ Day weekend. Seeking respite from too much snow in New Jersey, so we drove north to …more snow. Just 40 miles north of Prospect Mountain, one of our regular haunts, I’d never been to this part of Vermont.

While there are plenty of unexplored touring centers on my bucket list, the plan was to stick close to our hotel and ski at Viking and at Wild Wings Ski Touring Center down the road.

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Tagged: Nordic Skiing, VT5 Comments