Pineland is Gorgeous

I was doubtful that Pineland got enough snow from this last storm to open back up but I got the lucky news tip from Erik O. that Pineland had opened all 25K. James Demer, Jesse Bastide and I took our rock skis expecting thin spots. Too Bad. Oak Hill was shockingly deep (4-5" of new snow) and while the Campus and River loops were a little thinner, all of it was in excellent shape. The drop into the Campus loop from that field where the Pineland Farm Trail Challenge finishes was wicked fast and fun. The wind was up and in my face on a few of the steep downhills on the Campus loop. Since these have sharpish turns at the bottom, I'm usually at full parachute. Yesterday was the first time ever I tucked low on these hills to try to keep all the speed I could get. 10/10 on the fun-o-meter. Props to Abby (Weissman) for putting our CNSC race on the NENSA site soon and to Heather (Jim's roommate) for giving me a lift from the visitor's center back to the Oak Hill parking lot.

After Pineland, we had a 5K time trial for the FHS nordic kids. The squall that nailed snowman nailed us, probably 30s earlier as it was moving fast. And it was just like he said. One minute it was cloudy. Then 5 minutes of white-out blizzard. Then five minutes later it was gloriously sunny and drop-dead calm, which unfortunately lasted less than 5 minutes as it the clouds and wind picked back up (and even another, smaller squall).

****

Distance: 11.81 mi

Time: 1:25:41

Food: 1 Debbie's (??) chocolate chip cookie (from the market) and some kind of black cherry drink. Umm.