Don't mess with this guy

Gratuitous, narcissistic intense glare shot. Taken by Kevin of velophotos.net. From the start line at Greenbrier, right before I crushed my field, coming in 18th out of 28. The Bike Lane is gonna start wanting their money back soon....

Greenbrier race and camp

I spent the last 3 days at Greenbrier for the race. I was there Friday helping mark the course, then took Oliver and his cousin Tiffany camping there Sat. night, and then raced the SS class yesterday afternoon. Was a fun weekend, but one crowded with other events I had to miss, like the big TravFest, a Buzzard Rocks/Veach Gap ride, and a family visit with an uncle I rarely see. I committed to the Greenbrier thing months ago, so I just stuck to the original plan.

The Greenbrier type course is hardly my forte, but it was cool seeing everyone again, and PVC does a great job putting on this race for such a small club. This year, with it being a UCI event for Olympic athletes, Jim was under enormous pressures and rules, and has been working on this event for a full year. He did a great job. An NBC news truck was out there, as well as reporters from the Hagerstown paper. Wonder how it will turn out for next year? And I wonder if fishermen will be allowed inside the ropes again for a UCI Elite race? How many World Cup mountain bike races can you think of where the pros are sharing a 2' wide lakeside trail with fishermen?


Here's Anne, mother of 2 little-uns, and co-owner of the Bike Lane, smiling in the middle of her Marathon race. Her 5-year-old boy had some tough comp. in the Kid's Race with that Levi kid, and those McClain boys.

My race was nice and uneventful, and slower than usual. I was a little hoarse, sunburned, and wore out from all the pre-race socializing (and climbing those parking lot hills). I rode a 32x22, 3 gears lower than the last 2 years, and it naturally made me slower. Not that I minded, I don't think I ever was at a spot where I thought "gee, I wish I had a harder gear right now..." I can't think of many 7-mile laps that can hurt as much as that course can. Even the rocky singletrack downhills, which usually are more my forte, were hard, and I often couldn't wait to get back climbing again. Yea, seriously. Somehow I think Michaux-50 is going to hurt less than that. Yeah, right, something's wrong with me.

sometimes I like Mondays

Sometimes I'm glad I have a job just so I can have some forced recovery. Otherwise, I'd be on trails every day, and would be whipped and sore every day instead of just a few days a week. And this is just the beginning of the season. It's now Tuesday night, and I finally feel relaxed, if not recovered.

I got out for an unexpected short Saturday exploratory ride when a friend offered to take Oliver and her boy to that famous restaurant/arcade. When I got home from riding, Kim and Lee Ann were chilling on the back porch, so it was "top off the boys" time for a couple more hours of riding and skootering the alleys and neighborhood, trying to drain the last energy out of the 4 and 5 year olds.

Sunday was a special treat ride. A place, everyone has described as "actually fun to ride", unlike what we're used to I guess. Tomi and Shawn planned a Rattling Creek ride and invited me along. The trails were fun. The premiere ridge trail of the system reminded me of the type of trail/terrain like Massanutten West, but without the big climb to get there. There was hardly any climbing of the sort we're used to. Nothing even close to a hike-a-bike. We rode about 22-25 miles (I'm guessing) on GW-like trails, with Schaeffer-like climbs. OK, probably tougher climbs than Schaeffer, but I can't think of a similar place., I kept waiting for the ride to get harder, but it never really did. I started over-riding everything, trying to bust moves on sections that didn't require any move. So, I was frequently landing off the trail or on a bad line, and dabbing very unnecessarily. I felt like an idiot putting a foot down anywhere on these trails. 'Twas also a good day for many breaks, and lounging in the sun at an overlook. The kind of peaceful rest that rarely comes on a Michaux ride.

When I got home from Tomi's, my excess energy was put to the test. Oliver and Kim had just woken up from napping, and it was time to play wear out the kid again. I didn't even put the bike away, just took it off the roof, gathered Oliver and 2 neighbor kids, and off we went on a ride around Wilson College, down to the fishing creek, down the dirt road, back thru the alleys, back to the house, back down the alleys again, home again, a little soccer, more kids join, more riding, more balls in the yard. Finally Oliver was coaxed into the neighbors picnic with a group of other kids, and I sat down for the first time, and finally downed some food in the garage, about 3 hours after getting home. Whipped good.

Was glad yesterday was a Monday.

gearin' back down

There's a lot of new signage in the western part of Michaux, though only on the drivable roads. Can anyone guess where this is?

I discovered that being out near Mt Cydonia sand quarry, the far point of the course, with 2 bottom to top climbs remaining, is no place to be without my lowest gear.

A group of us set out to scout the western part of the Monster loop yesterday. It'd be all the stuff after Dead Woman's Hollow and before 3-Mile Trail. We were 100% positive that we started off down the right road, Three Turn Rd. We had some discussion on whether we found Long Mountain Rd or not. We took it anyways, and stopped at an unmarked fork a little ways in. Two maps, one compass, five opinions, one flat, and a safety check later, we picked a course. Another turn or two finally led us onto terrain familiar to some, and a woods climb that most instantly recalled. We hit a "T" junction with what we thought was Tobacco Patch Trail, so we did what we were supposed to do at Tobacco Patch, turn left. Problem was, that wasn't Tobacco Patch, and was just some other un-mapped trail that took us right back to the base of that recognizable climb. No one was jumpin' at the bit to repeat that climb so we decided to take the roads and get back on course on Hogshead Rd.

Out of the woods we rolled, past the trailer homes, past the sand quarry, got a positive fix thanks to a street sign, and then immediately made another wrong decision. Seems the actual roads on the ground near the CCC dam, Big Pond Rd, Lane Rd, and Hogshead don't exactly match the map. So, up the wrong road we go, and not figuring that out until we hit Red's Trail, which we should've been coming down. So, we gave up on backtracking down the mountain (some not without a fight), and decided to just go ride the familiar fun stuff, 3-Mile, Rattlesnake, Lewis Rocks and call it a day. We missed Tobacco Patch, Buzzard Rocks, Hairy Springs, and Reds Trail. Bummer, mission not accomplished.

We rode 25 miles someone said, and took about 4 hours with our stops. Four hours?? And that was with a long road descent, and road climbs? Just how long is this 50 going to take? Those road climbs hurt! I thought I was going to have to walk the last bit of Big Pond Rd. Yikes, I don't want to be walkin' any road climbs, in any race. If that starts to happen, maybe I'll have to re-think this single-speed experiment. Back to the 32x22 for me!

50 miler

The first Michaux 50-miler looms a few weeks away.
The crew have done several rides there since the snow gave way. We've done 15, 20, 25 mile loops. These have taken at the very least, 3 hours. Everyone is talkin' about how long 50 miles is gonna take. I'm figuring about 3/4 of my Shen. Mtn 100 time (somewhere around 8 hours?). I hope it's not more than 3/4.

Bummer that's it's the same day as the 12-Hour Lodi race, I know a lot of Virginian friends won't be making the trip up for Michaux.

Buzzard Rocks pics

Nick Daniels, Nov 2004

Here are a couple shots from Buzzard Rocks Trail, GWNF near Front Royal. Been talking it up so much around here that I thought I better put up something. I got these 2 published in The Riders Eye. My first and only photos published any where. This trail is so photogenic, and under-ridden, that they'll probably publish any shot from there.

Barry O'Melinn, May 2005

token post

It's been a while since words filled this space. I've actually been biking more than blogging lately, how 'bout that? I see my last post was about skiing. Skiing seems so far away already, and it's just been a couple weeks.

Have done a bunch of short road rides, and one medium one, and have had a few good mountain bike rides. Last weekend was the first local crew ride since before the snows took over, and it was a big, fun group. The ride was a bit chaotic, but it was cool seein' everyone out again.

One day last week, Darius' friend from State College drove down for an afternoon ride. His friend is working with Chris Scott to put on the Stoopid 50 in June. We rode southern Michaux from Mont Alto for almost 4 hours, and finished up on what is by far, my favorite trail in Michaux. It's named "Heaven or Hell", and to me, is pure heaven. It's the closest trail I've ridden so far that is anything close to Buzzard Rocks type terrain (from the GWNF). It's a long descent, very low speed, sketchy rock sections, serious drop-off penalties on many sections, ledges to bridge and lots of cool balance moves. Darius started building this trail a couple years ago and has taken folks on it, but none, no one, ever wanted to ride it again. We spent a few work sessions on it over the winter and have it in fine shape right now. Can't wait to start showing some of my GW pals this trail. They'll be very happy. Will get some pics of it posted soon. It was nearly dark when we rode it the other day, and we had no time to stop for photo ops.

no turns

I skied Whitetail a couple times in the past few days, and I didn't make a single telemark turn. I skied a wedge down every run. And it was good! How can that be? I skied behind Oliver, holding onto a kid's ski leash.

This is Oliver's 3rd winter wearing skis. He's not actually skied much, but wearing skis around the backyard, the living room, hiking trails and such all helps. Plus, he's had several real ski lessons at Whitetail this season. And to help instill a love of snow play, I've taken him sledding every single day we could sled since he was born.

But he doesn't actually love skiing. He made these comments in the past week:
"I wish winter only lasted for one day"
"I'm bored with skiing, can't we just go home now"
"I wish Whitetail would just close"

I have this dream of O and me taking road trips every winter weekend to somewhere fun to ski, West Va, New York, Vermont. I think it'll be a few more years....

The other night, on the way home from Whitetail, I asked him what was his favorite part. He said, "riding the chair lift". After a few more minutes he said, "..you know what my favorite part was? Going fast."

Chasin' part II

I keep thinking my ski season is finished, and keep gettin' surprised. Yesterday was a sweet Alberta Clipper type storm. None of that Gulf moisture, or rain/sleet crap to worry about. Just light, dry, cold, blower snow. Perfect also in that in snowed in PA and not much in VA, so I didn't have to pull snow duty and be tied to the computer, or stay up all night.

Kim worked only a 1/2 day, so as soon as she got home, I was out the door with 3 sets of skis, and 3 pair of boots in the car. Not sure where I'd end up, so I took the lightweight gear, the medium, and the resort setup. One thing I've been trying to do this winter is check out many fairly close places to xc/backcountry ski, and try to figure them out, so when it snows next year, I'll know right where to go and when. I've checked out Sideling Hill, Laurel Ridge, Laurel Mountain, Blue Knob, and Cowans Gap.

First stop was Sideling Hill for a short x-c loop to check out some more terrain there. The snow was deep and good, but the old ice base was gone, and I often broke through to bare ground. I did an hour and a half loop there, and would soon wish I'd gotten out of there sooner.


Drove out to Blue Knob from there to either ski the State Park, or the lift resort. Since I was pretty worn out from Sideling, I went for the lifts (and the $22 ticket - Nice!).

Now I wished I'd gotten to Blue Knob sooner. Nice, cold deep powder everywhere, hardly anyone here. I've only skied Blue Knob twice, once was my 2nd day on skis way back in 1980, and the other was an unremarkable day on a snowboard sometime mid-90s. Now, I'm learning, this place is cool! Low budget all the way. No grooming, natural snow only on the good terrain, lots of trees and out of bounds. Hell, they even call it "out of bounds", rather than "closed". Is this a little like a PA version of Mad River Glen? It's a very interesting ski mountain. Lots of traverses, and tree runs in unexpected places. I arrived there with about an hour and a half of daylight and explored what I could before the lights came on. I saw tracks heading away from the Bowl and followed them. The tracks soon became boot prints from snowboarders. I could tell that this place is not kind to snowboarders, lots of traversing is necessary to get to the interesting terrain. These boot prints were going pretty far, and I figured that anything that snowboarders would hike this far for, ought to be good. It led to a nice, fast, long, narrow powder run down what was probably a fireroad, which dumped out slightly below and near the lift.

I spent the rest of evening skiing the poofy bumps, with patches of ice lurking. I skied Stembogan and some others, and actually skied bumps more aggressively than I ever have before. Even making some jump turns and really committing hard to the landings on ice. I was skiing them really fast though, cuz they weren't huge bumps (like the ones under the lifts), more like obstacles in a powder field. I still think I need to learn how to ski moguls at a much slower speed, and really bite a hard edge with each turn to check my speed. At least this is the way I watch the good bump skiers at Whitetail do it.

I skied for a few hours, then I thought I'd take one more run. Well, I ended up taking about 8 last runs, because it was so fun, I couldn't see any reason to go home, other than my legs burning on each run. Maybe something about the upside-down resort, where you park at the top instead of the bottom? And at Blue Knob, you can ski either the bottom half, or the top half of the mountain, and last night there was fun powder to be had from either. I reeallly want to get back to that place again! And I mean soon.

Chasin' down winter

I'm not ready to give up the snow just yet. And with things coming up the next 2 weekends that don't involve skiing or biking, I knew I had to get on it today, as it was probably my last chance of the winter for x-c skiing. I opted for another place I'd always wanted to try, Laurel Mountain, a PA State Park, and now abandoned ski area. It's adjacent to miles and miles of ridgetop backcountry ski and mountain bike trails, in Speedgoat country. I'd done the 33-mile mountain bike race, the Laurel Classic about 15 years ago here, and knew of the potential. Especially the winter potential after the ski area shut down. This was also a much shorter drive than White Grass, and after leaving Chambersburg before 0530, I was at the trailhead about 2 hours later, and the first car in the lot.

This was a solo trip, since one of my potential ski partners is skiing the Sawtooths and Tetons right now, another is nursing a new (hopefully temporary) knee injury, and many others have already gotten their road game on. No matter, there are no friends on powder days anyway right? And that's just what this was. It started snowing at Fort Loudoun just 20 minutes away, and was a decent squall going over Sideling Hill. The snow quit for a couple counties, and picked up again when I hit the Allegheny tunnel area. Kept snowing all the way in, and squalled on and off with sunbursts all day.

breaking trail to the goods

my favorite kind of Closed sign


The goods; a bit icy under the fresh, and a lot had been windblown off, but certainly still worth skiing. The singletrack trails were also fun to ski on the skinnier sticks, and look like they'd be cool on bikes too.

Handlebars as an ice ax

Had a sublime ride today with Jake and Buck. All other folks were probably skiing so we three scored the primo conditions by ourselves. The first hour or so, the ride was incredible: I was understanding the slickrock references folks were talkin' 'bout on the front end of this ice storm. Yes, 11 days after the Valentines Day ice storm, with a warm period in between, and the crust was still hard and ridable with great purchase. Sticky love was flowin'.

We dropped this no-name twisty gully (known as the gully that knocked Buck out once), and it was off the charts. I couldn't stop laughing and grinning the whole way down.
Bobsled-like,
banked turns that you could really rail.
Apparently this trail isn't that fun when it's dry; it's real rutty and rocky, but the snow had it completely filled in and we rode on top of it, as fast as we wanted.

We tried a descent called Asscrack Trail. A steep, hard to follow, off-camber drop off Piney Mountain. The crust was slick, too hard to walk, but easy enough to ride, until the trail started slanting sideways.
Then it got interesting
Many tire slip falls had us in "slide for life" situations, sliding on down until we hit, or could grab a tree. If we still had our bike with us, we could jab the handlebars into the snow and do a self-arrest. Then we'd have to kick steps to get back up to the trail.
Sketch City.
Jake took a fall, did not have the bike with him. He slid quickly downhill, far below his bike until he met a tree. That sketched him out pretty good. He'll be taking a big bruise to Peru next week. Lucky he's not taking a cast.

The snow had picked up by then and was giving us a few inches of freshies, and no more great purchase. Jake took the quickest way home, and Buck and I continued on searching for some more fun. It was still fun at that point. The many off-camber sections of Community Service started squeezing some of the fun out for me, but the rest of the trail was sweet. Deeper snow after that, and it turned the usually mild Log Sled climb into a hike in several sections.
Yes, walking up Log Sled,
starting to get a little workout in now.
trying not to sweat

I got back just in time to get the Subaru up Jake's long steep driveway before that became sketchy too. Thanks to Mrs. Gettier for the fine turkey chili to top off the day!

keyword: michaux

moguls

I know some peeps will be quite surprised to find a pic of a mogul field here. I've never been a fan of moguls, mainly cuz I've always sucked at skiing them. I couldn't ski them in my alpine years or snowboard years, and now I'm trying to ski them in my telemark years. I'd rather ski anything instead of a mogul run; corduroy, ice, a cat track, a golf course, hell I'd even rather skin uphill than ski down moguls.

I've always known though that skiing moguls is the key to being a good skier. If you can ski moguls, you can ski anywhere. And by anywhere, I mean the steep and tight trees of White Grass and any other Eastern woods shots. I want to learn how to ski them. I figure, I learned how to telemark ski at age 40, so maybe I can learn to ski moguls at 45 right? I mean, the knees oughta be in fine shape from the years mashing around on a single-speed eh?

Yesterday was warm and sunny, and I had an hour or two free, so I book it to Whitetail with a plan to head straight for the mogul run and try to learn something. I like soft mushy corny snow. It's almost like powder, only it's not. But it isn't ice, and that's what I like about it. You can lean hard into your turns, and the variable depth and consistency tend to keep you off balance so you have to work to keep from flipping over the bars. If I'm gonna learn moguls, soft snow sure beats icy snow.

Pull outta the alley here at home at 1:17, and am ready to hop on the chairlift just after 2:00. I go to adjust my poles back to resort length, and what's this? The flicklock cam is gone from one of them! Hmmm, maybe that's what I heard rattling around in the back of the Suby. Ran back to the car in my loosely-buckled T2s, luckily I'm only parked 4 cars from the front. I find the missing part and use the only tool I happen to have in the car, a multi-tool from my road bike kit. Run back up to the area, this time noticeably slower up the stairs.

Onto the chair and head straight for the mogul run with a confident attitude. I know you have to be aggressive in skiing moguls. And it's that aggressive stance, quick thinking, and quick feet that you need to ski the trees, steeps, and any other challenging terrain.

Now, here's where my story breaks down. My mogul runs were spectacularly unspectacular. No different than any other mogul run I've had in my ski life. I was simply trying to link 5 decent turns together in the fall line. I think I got to 5 once, and I think I even hit 7 once. Two runs and a ball of sweat later, I bail and head for some confidence-building groomers on Far Side. Maybe I progressed a hair. This is going to be a really long road.

missed this boat, big time

OK, so you folks have been reading about me telling you all how great it is here in PA, and how I've been scoring on all these epic rides, snow rides, and ski sessions. Well, it's become pretty clear that I definitely missed the conditions of the year for both skis and bikes. Who the hell woulda thought that the same weather event would cause both to go off the charts?? I guess that thick, solid, sleet crust that everyone south and east of Chambersburg got was great for biking on trails, because it was so solid, that you didn't bust through. And apparently the snow north and west of Chambersburg was a lot better than my 2 days at Whitetail would lead me to believe.

These various quotes from friends have brightened my inbox in the past several days. I was coordinating with some of these guys about a xc ski, but I never could pull the trigger on a decision, and just took the easy default, Whitetail.

It started off from Tomi (doesn't it always), who was the first on it Friday at Blue Knob,
"handful of runs with first/second/third tracks to start, then picked apart the edges.....

......some noiiiice knee deep stashes to make the day....."

from a western PA mountain bike friend about x-c skiing Laurel Mountain
"Larry, By far the best conditions of the year. There was 8 inches of new powder on a 2 foot base."

now for the biking crew,
from buddy Andy Neal about riding in his neighborhood
"...I just finished another insane ride here at the lake, so enjoyable, other worldly. I rode the lake for over a mile.. mid 20's psi and it was like slickrock.
......I've stayed local and having a blast, 4 rides in 3 days. I feel like a kid and bruised all over. "

from Scudamore, I guess even Wakefield has gone all time.
"Unbelievable!! The hookie ride this morning was surreal. It was like riding slickrock. I have never ridden the trail system at Wakefield so fast. The Jeep Road was like a superhighway. As was the non race course stream valley section. We also rode behind the ReCenter in the fields it was like I was a little kid again."

this from the understated, soft-spoken Joe Whitehair about riding the Watershed,
"Conditions have been crazy fun but will be gone by Tuesday."

oh yea, and how about White Grass?? Outta the freakin ballpark! How 'bout these few choice and painful words from Chipper. "every-few years epic conditions!"

"Every few years epic conditions..." Can you believe that? And what the hell was I doing but sitting on a chairlift with my thumb ....... Nuff said. Time to lick my wounds and figure out how to not miss the next "50-year storm" (name that cheezy movie). Yea, yea, I know I just wrote about how cool it was to ski the past couple days with friends, and it was. I just didn't know I was missing epic everywhere else. I sure hope this warm week isn't the end of winter.

And just for kicks, check out what else was happening from this storm. I hope my nephews scored this one.

downhill slide

Why does downhill skiing hurt so much more than uphill skiing? I can ski all day when I have to make my own way to the top, but only a few hours of lift-served skiing burns the hell out of the legs. The local x-c skiing hasn't been that great since our ice storm. I went back out to Sideling Hill for some more exploring and definitely found some trails which will be much better after this snow softens up or gets more fresh. Found a nice gradual descent into the Roaring Run drainage. A steep, smooth fall line doubletrack bisects this drainage giving skiable lines on both sides and both aspects. It's damn steep too, and would definitely require me to bring the heavy gear and helmet. A bit on the narrow side as well. That particular spot would be worth bringing the skins to, but the rolling trail in and out might be a pain with the skins.

I missed 2 good chances to x-c ski out in western PA and instead hit Whitetail the past 2 days . Whitetail is about as good as it gets right now, and it's the first time I've ever seen their half-pipe open (not that that matters to me). Yesterday I shared a couple chair rides and runs with a pair of telemarkers and their snowboarder friend. Turns out we know each other from the Wild 100 and other mtn bike scenes. Chad and TJ are damn fine tele skiers too. Today started off in a little snow squall which would've really made for a great day, but it didn't last long. Met up with Quigley, Buchness, Tom & Julie, and Dianna and skied a few hours with them. Good stuff, no rest, a few mogul runs. I think I want to spend some more time in those moguls before they melt away in March. Think I'll take my shorter, softer, and lighter Atomics on them and see if I can't learn something.

What to do tomorrow? Maybe Oliver and I can find some more snow somewhere.

crust

This is such a solid unbreakable crust that Oliver's scooter doesn't even sink through.


Sledding on this high speed crust was interesting. Do you how fast plastic sleds go when they don't break through? Sketchy sketch...

new trails

So I missed the Sunday Michaux ride from Jake's today, and missed a good chance to go x-c skiing too. Instead, I joined 7 other guys from State College and Huntingdon, and walked around the woods of Raystown Lake staring at a GPS receiver, trying to walk a line which had been loaded into it. This line is to be part of 30 miles of new singletrack mountain bike trails being planned for Raystown Lake by IMBA and the Corps of Engineers. The trail's designer, Clark, had digitized this line in his GIS software, and downloaded it onto several GPS receivers that we would use to follow it on the ground, measuring with a clinometer, and flagging the corridor along the way. Sometime in the future, the IMBA crew will come in with their magic trail building machines, and transform our flags into sweet singletrack, or bloggable flow trails as some would call them.

It was a cool learning experience, and another nice hybrid of my avocation and vocation. Not quite as much fun as riding or skiing, but nonetheless....

After the work, Darius and I took a short ride on some of the trails they built last summer, and messed around a bit on this section.

Now I'm off to Virginia for a couple days to work the predicted big snow event of 2007. Hope we get some of that around here so I can take a day off and get some local x-c skiing in when I get back.

9 degrees F

I have to say, that I think I just had my second best mountain bike ride ever tonight. Still my favorite ride by far was an unexpected treat about 10 years ago with Misters Quigley & Junkins down the Duncan Hollow Trail. A few inches of snow turned that otherwise ordinary 4-mile descent into a sublime experience. We probably only touched our brakes about 10 times in those 4 miles. Using snow-pillowed rocks as moguls to check our speed when necessary; and rest assured, we were quite safe.

And tonight, in Michaux, was a reaalll close 2nd. Darius and I got out to Michaux around 8:00 tonight, and rode Ditch Trail, LollyPop, and Heislers Campsites in 2"-3" of fresh, dry snow. The snow arrived overnight, and the temps all day never got above 22 degrees, so the snow was perfect dry powder, no crust at all, Just incredible.

I'm not a good enough writer to describe how fun it is to ride in perfect snow. Those who know, know.

I've been riding with Darius since Oct., and neither of us has flatted in all that time (other than a roll off). Tonight, we both flatted, no doubt from thorns somewhere on a trail. Changing a flat when it's 9 degrees adds a certain amount of calmness. Seriously. And surprising.

my 3rd best mountain bike ride might just be last week's snowy night ride w/ Darius, Heisler, and friends. What is it about snow rides.

the Massanutten range

Scott Scudamore forwarded this cool image taken from the Space Shuttle. It shows the entire Fort Valley and Massanutten range clearer than any similar image I've ever seen. Buzzard Rocks is there at the top, Little Crease, Signal Knob, and Short Mountain are easily recognizable. You can even see the slopes of Massanutten Ski Area at the southern end, in "The Kettle". Shenandoah Nat'l Park on the right, and the I-81 valley on the left.

I can't figure out why there's what looks like snow in the open valleys, but not on the mountainsides?? Maybe just the reflectivity of bare ground with the sensor being used??

PA x-c skiin'

Went out for a couple of local x-c skis in the past few days, in this marginal snow season. The first spot, Sideling Hill, is only an hour from town (as in, in my ski boots within the hour). Was barely enough snow, and I only had an hour to ski before I had to get back and pick Oliver up from school, but this place begs for further exploration. Lot's of smooth double-track trails that were skiable with a tiny amount of snow. Some good downhills too. Might even be more fun when icy. Might even need a helmet then. It looks like a perfect place to night ski. And night skiing might also be the best time to avoid the snowmobilers who claim this spot as their home. And they're certainly right, as sled-heads outnumber nordic skiers about 1000:1 in this part of Pennsylvania.

Checking the bases after the ski. No problems at all. What were all those scraping sounds???



I had the next day off after working snow-duty the previous night. Had thoughts of going to sleep for a couple hours after taking O to school, and then figured, why waste daylight with sleep? I could finish building some trail with Darius, or ride, or hit Whitetail where a couple of my nephews were boarding all day, or go x-c skiing. When I really broke it down, x-c skiing was the logical choice, since it's the one activity I have the least opportunity to do. So, I called Darius and talked him into heading out to this place with me. I've looked at Laurel Ridge's web cam every winter day for the past several years, but have never been there. Their camera is a great indicator of the snow conditions all over the Allegheny spine.

Laurel Ridge was about a 2-hour drive from town, on the always intense Pennsylvania Turnpike. The snow there was great, and was getting fresher and deeper by the minute. We toured for a couple hours, then I had to beat it on back home. Some nice trails there, and some fun downhills. Not bad for 2 hours away, and was another world from town.

Groundhog Day

I hate that movie. And I hope the critter is wrong again too.