Finishing up Jan with some SHRED

Saturday we got out on a line Bill and I scouted in the Fall.  It had taken us two seasons to figure it all completely out and it was great for it to finally all come together.  It was an interesting tour for sure.

Got to glissade down a steep descent with a few tricky cross fall line spots.  Made it feel very 'alpine'.  Just a bit of boot packing up and over a little obstacle and luckily we spotted our in without much issue.  Getting on the line was much easier than anticipated.  The riding was great.  Nice little pitches with some little traverses thrown in.  Got off track a bit descending into a small drainage when we should have been traversing but luckily we spotted our error in time and were able to get back on track trudging through some deep snow while hoping we wouldn't find any tree wells to explore.

The line only got better as we dropped down into the drainage that would be our out.  Things opened up into a great glade with all kinds of options for awesome.  We dumped out onto a little slice of New England ski history and made our way out to our spotted car.

Ben threw together a great edit in no time flat and really made me want a GoPro again/more. I'm the guy in the front most of the time, black jacket, gold helmet. Not the guy getting stuck under the tree with the huge pack. That would be JPMV haha.




I layered a bit better this time around and I continue to wrack up my AT experience.  All the little tricks of the trade.  Packing more efficiently, with the things you need most frequently in easy to reach locations.  As well as pacing and on this trip a tiny bit of route finding.  I am beginning to get a bit more familiar with my G3 Baron's.  Overall a pretty good AT ski.  Decently light but I did notice them feeling a tad 'noodly' and very unforgiving if you get in the back seat at all.  Granted I shouldn't be back there.  I think if I get enough days in this year and get a bigger knowledge of local locales to hit I will look into getting a slightly better setup next year.

And to finish off the weekend I snagged a few miles on my new (to me) waxless set up at Gunstock.  Had a blast and I will definitely be keeping Nordic in my bag of tricks moving forward.  Quite the work out and the trails at Gunstock are great.



My classic technique probably sucks but I was starting to feel much better getting around.  Granted I was in the track most of the time.  I was either straight lining descents or locking out in a snow plow, haven't tried any tele turns yet.  Doesn't feel like it would quite work on my setup.  I was pretty cooked after only about 5 miles.  Even small hills are pretty brutal and they are probably made worse because of my inefficient technique.

It was kinda funny being reduced to a gaper as members of the nordic community blew by me on skate setups.  It's been awhile since I've been the one struggling and seemingly not moving as everyone else glides effortlessly by.  But the best part is most definitely the fact that I am wearing my cold weather cycling gear which in essence makes me look somewhat 'racer' inclined and I think I very much look the part of a decent xc skier...until I start moving.  NORDIC POSER 4 LYFE.