Peter Minde
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
Day One: The VIC
Tuesday morning. Snow on the ground, and a morning physical therapy appointment. I worked like a dog to clear the driveway berm from last night’s snow storm. The great thing about early AM appointments is that they leave the rest of the day free for, you guessed it, skiing!
Heron Marsh
At home, I changed into ski kit and organized my stuff. Perennially behind the eight ball on ski prep, I grabbed my Fischer classic skis that I’d prepared for a race 10 days ago. The temperature was the same as it had been for the race. I grabbed a few tins of kick wax from my box. Threw everything into the Fortunate Son and lit out for Paul Smiths.
After being sidelined with a cold for 9 days, I was finally feeling better. In the intervening time, we’ve had several snow storms, including one that dropped a foot at Paul Smiths VIC. I was jonesing for what promised to be great skiing.
As I drove north, it began snowing again. Light flakes pelted out of the dead sky. Where the highway wended through open fields, windblown snow covered Route 86. I turned on to Route 30 and then the VIC parking lot, surprisingly crowded for a weekday.
In the lodge, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Several families with small children had come in for a day’s ski. Water bottles, snacks, rental skis, coats, and tiny shoes were strewn everywhere as kids milled about. I found a bit of space and pulled on my ski boots and heart rate monitor.
Snow continued to fall as I clipped into my skis. Indeed, it fell all day. I skied down Bobcat towards the Logger’s Loop. The five layers of kick wax I’d crayoned in a week ago worked just fine.
When I last skied the VIC a month ago, there was just enough snow to call it good. At that point, we received an inch here, a couple inches there most nights. The storm that clobbered Titus totally missed the VIC. There were dirty spots and icy spots that you could avoid. I called it good skiing for how little snow we’d received.
Today was different. Snow hung heavy on the trees. A half inch of fresh pow covered the corduroy the Pisten Bully set earlier in the morning, and it continued to snow. Off trail, it was at least 20 inches deep. The persistent wind made it seem colder than 18 degrees, and it took a while to get warm.
On Easy Street, I had freshies skiing the back way to the biathlon range. When I last skied here, some segments of the two FIS race trails were closed due to low snow. Not today. Everything was open and I had the place to myself. With the rolling terrain in this part of the world, the VIC’s FIS loops flow nicely and are way more skiable for, uh, skiers of a certain age than the brutal World Cup loop at the Ho.
The downhills were fun, but with the flat light and falling snow, visibility wasn’t great and ya had to watch it in the turns. I returned to the stadium and continued skiing Logger’s Loop clockwise back to the lodge.
The families that had been there when I arrived were gone. As I ate my lunch, I was floored listening to two middle school aged kids animatedly discussing physics. There’s hope for the next generation.
Day Two: The Ho
Tuesday night and early Wednesday, I exchanged text messages and phone calls with my training bud, Randy W. Back in the day, Randy went to national championships and competed for the Fischer Factory team, a powerhouse of the late 1980s and 1990s. On Wednesday, we met up for more classic skiing at Mount van Hoevenberg.
Van Ho snowmaking
Wednesday afternoon was partly sunny, and although it was colder than Tuesday, there was no wind. Overnight, the new snow had set up nicely. Dodging the snowmaking in the stadium, we skied over the access road to the old biathlon range and in to the woods.
Someone at ORDA thought it would be cool to refer to “the north side” and “the south side” in conditions reports and on maps. Sorry, my dudes, it will always be the cross-country side and the biathlon side. And don’t get me started about Innerloopen and Outerloopen. We gotta cop to the fact that it’s a sexist sport. It was originally called Ladies’ 5km because it was the women’s 5 k Olympic relay loop. They didn’t send the women up Hi-Notch. Respect history.
Three trails
As with the VIC, in January, there had been just enough snow for good skiing on the old Olympic trails. With the snow drought of the previous two winters, the World Cup loops were pretty much the only game in town. I’ve run plenty on the 1980 trails during the summer, but there’s no substitute for skiing this place.
The bumps and compressions that are exposed in low snow conditions reward finesse; you can use them to make speed. After skiing here for 40 years, you’d think it would be second nature. But I’ve had to re-learn how to ski the 1980 trails, especially the downhills. It’s a stark contrast to the billiard table smooth World Cup loops. While there’s less snow at van Ho than the VIC, it was still most excellent skiing.
Randy gunning it
“This is the best I’ve seen it in 10 years,” Randy commented. He’s right. I haven’t put in this many kilometers on the 1980 trails in three years, and I’ve barely been on the World Cup trails this winter.
We kicked and glided around Perimeter and Double Dipper. There are endless options for loops back here and we made the most of it. Running uphill on Three Trails and zooming down, it was so fast that I barely stayed upright.
Back across the old stadium to the lodge. I was tired and stoked. It was a hooting and hollering kind of day. This is the kind of winter I was hoping for when I moved here. The season is upon us.
Tuesday morning. Snow on the ground, and a morning physical therapy appointment. I worked like a dog to clear the driveway berm from last night’s snow storm. The great thing about early AM appointments is that they leave the rest of the day free for, you guessed it, skiing!
Heron Marsh
At home, I changed into ski kit and organized my stuff. Perennially behind the eight ball on ski prep, I grabbed my Fischer classic skis that I’d prepared for a race 10 days ago. The temperature was the same as it had been for the race. I grabbed a few tins of kick wax from my box. Threw everything into the Fortunate Son and lit out for Paul Smiths.
After being sidelined with a cold for 9 days, I was finally feeling better. In the intervening time, we’ve had several snow storms, including one that dropped a foot at Paul Smiths VIC. I was jonesing for what promised to be great skiing.
As I drove north, it began snowing again. Light flakes pelted out of the dead sky. Where the highway wended through open fields, windblown snow covered Route 86. I turned on to Route 30 and then the VIC parking lot, surprisingly crowded for a weekday.
In the lodge, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Several families with small children had come in for a day’s ski. Water bottles, snacks, rental skis, coats, and tiny shoes were strewn everywhere as kids milled about. I found a bit of space and pulled on my ski boots and heart rate monitor.
Snow continued to fall as I clipped into my skis. Indeed, it fell all day. I skied down Bobcat towards the Logger’s Loop. The five layers of kick wax I’d crayoned in a week ago worked just fine.
When I last skied the VIC a month ago, there was just enough snow to call it good. At that point, we received an inch here, a couple inches there most nights. The storm that clobbered Titus totally missed the VIC. There were dirty spots and icy spots that you could avoid. I called it good skiing for how little snow we’d received.
Today was different. Snow hung heavy on the trees. A half inch of fresh pow covered the corduroy the Pisten Bully set earlier in the morning, and it continued to snow. Off trail, it was at least 20 inches deep. The persistent wind made it seem colder than 18 degrees, and it took a while to get warm.
On Easy Street, I had freshies skiing the back way to the biathlon range. When I last skied here, some segments of the two FIS race trails were closed due to low snow. Not today. Everything was open and I had the place to myself. With the rolling terrain in this part of the world, the VIC’s FIS loops flow nicely and are way more skiable for, uh, skiers of a certain age than the brutal World Cup loop at the Ho.
The downhills were fun, but with the flat light and falling snow, visibility wasn’t great and ya had to watch it in the turns. I returned to the stadium and continued skiing Logger’s Loop clockwise back to the lodge.
The families that had been there when I arrived were gone. As I ate my lunch, I was floored listening to two middle school aged kids animatedly discussing physics. There’s hope for the next generation.
Day Two: The Ho
Tuesday night and early Wednesday, I exchanged text messages and phone calls with my training bud, Randy W. Back in the day, Randy went to national championships and competed for the Fischer Factory team, a powerhouse of the late 1980s and 1990s. On Wednesday, we met up for more classic skiing at Mount van Hoevenberg.
Van Ho snowmaking
Wednesday afternoon was partly sunny, and although it was colder than Tuesday, there was no wind. Overnight, the new snow had set up nicely. Dodging the snowmaking in the stadium, we skied over the access road to the old biathlon range and in to the woods.
Someone at ORDA thought it would be cool to refer to “the north side” and “the south side” in conditions reports and on maps. Sorry, my dudes, it will always be the cross-country side and the biathlon side. And don’t get me started about Innerloopen and Outerloopen. We gotta cop to the fact that it’s a sexist sport. It was originally called Ladies’ 5km because it was the women’s 5 k Olympic relay loop. They didn’t send the women up Hi-Notch. Respect history.
Three trails
As with the VIC, in January, there had been just enough snow for good skiing on the old Olympic trails. With the snow drought of the previous two winters, the World Cup loops were pretty much the only game in town. I’ve run plenty on the 1980 trails during the summer, but there’s no substitute for skiing this place.
The bumps and compressions that are exposed in low snow conditions reward finesse; you can use them to make speed. After skiing here for 40 years, you’d think it would be second nature. But I’ve had to re-learn how to ski the 1980 trails, especially the downhills. It’s a stark contrast to the billiard table smooth World Cup loops. While there’s less snow at van Ho than the VIC, it was still most excellent skiing.
Randy gunning it
“This is the best I’ve seen it in 10 years,” Randy commented. He’s right. I haven’t put in this many kilometers on the 1980 trails in three years, and I’ve barely been on the World Cup trails this winter.
We kicked and glided around Perimeter and Double Dipper. There are endless options for loops back here and we made the most of it. Running uphill on Three Trails and zooming down, it was so fast that I barely stayed upright.
Back across the old stadium to the lodge. I was tired and stoked. It was a hooting and hollering kind of day. This is the kind of winter I was hoping for when I moved here. The season is upon us.
