Downhill

Cacky and I were hoping to drive to Sugarloaf and get some sweet spring skiing/snowboarding in but the weather isn't cooperating; from their website: "Temps today will be on the chilly side, with highs at the base expected to hit the low 20s", which doesn't quite capture the weather at the top of the lifts (see image to right from snow-forecast.com). Tomorrow morning I'm headed to Fort Collins Colorado to do some work with a colleague, and was hoping to get some nice spring trail running in. I'll be there and I'll be running, but not in sunny skies and 60F. Sam and I joined the Pennoyers for a great day of downhill yesterday at Sunday River. The Pennoyers had skied once this year, the Walkers zero (although Sam has been screwing around on jumps in our's and friends' yards). So we decided to park at White Cap lodge and do White Heat for our first run. The very groomed out crushed ice in combination with few other skiers on the hill made it surprisingly easy, especially for a first-run-of-the-year. Shockwave had also been groomed so we stayed on this side of the River for a few runs, then began to work our way North, stopping at Peak Lodge for lunch, continuing to Jordan Bowl for some afternoon turns, then one long run back to White Cap lodge. It wasn't spring skiing but it was better than I thought it would be. Niceley groomed crushed snow that never softened up into mashed potato except near the base, which we didn't see until our final run. No lift lines except Barker, which we only took once. And a mix of clouds, snow, and sun. We got our money's worth:
Total runs: 24
Total Distance: 69K
Total Elevation Gain: 8,400M
Avg moving speed (morning): 13.4 K/hr*
Avg. moving speed (afternoon): 17.9 K/hr#
*a moderate workout speed on skate skis
#race speed on skate skis