Saturday, January 8, 2011

Ringing in the new year

I haven't posted in awhile due to the fact that I've been on vacation in Maine. There's nothing like a week-long ski trip to ring in the new year. Although the conditions weren't great this week, we still had a lot of fun. I went cross country skiing at Windblown in Mass, then to Black Mountain in NH, Saddleback in Maine, and Sunday River in Maine 3 days in a row. Unfortunately there were a few warm days that melted a lot of the snow before we went, which meant it refroze later, making the trails icy. But navigating ice is part of New England skiing, so you kind of get used to it.

Skiing, I think, is one of the closest things to flying I've ever experienced. If you get up to speed, you can just soar down the mountain with the wind whipping your face and plumes of snow flying out behind you. It's one of the most awesome feelings in the world. If you happen to go off a bump, you can catch some decent air. It's both exhilarating and rather scary. You have to hope that when your skis find the ground again you'll still be balanced and you have to be prepared for the impact as you come down on the snow. But those few moments where you're in the air are priceless. People who don't ski don't know what they're missing!

Skiing was especially fun this year because Tristan and Emily got to come up to Maine with us. Leslie, Emily, and I took turns teaching Tristan how to ski, and she picked it up pretty fast. By day 2, she was off the bunny slopes doing some green trails off the chair lift. As for Emily, we introduced her to some double black diamond trails. Not sure if she liked them all that much, but she could get down them without falling, which is pretty good for a skier who's never skied in New England before. All in all, it was a fun trip. I can't wait to ski again next year, hopefully with a little more snow & lots more trails open. PS. Pictures are coming soon!

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