XC Ski - Skate1:06:00 14.56 km (4:32 / km) +550m3:49 / km ahr:143 max:156
On Tim's Rossignol combi skis - not set up for warm conditions. Rubbed on some Swix HC8 red and corked it in good, then brushed. OK in the shade, but there were a lot of wet spots out in the sun where it just dragged. Could feel the suction slowing me down. Need to invest in some high flouro wax for next year.
Not sure how many more skiing days there will be this year. Gunstock is scheduled to host the New England school champs next weekend, so assume they'll be grooming through then. Haven't had much in the way of open spots appearing - must have put a couple feet of snow down on the section next to the entrance road over the crest of the hill.
XC Ski - Skate1:21:00 18.2 km (4:27 / km) +600m3:49 / km ahr:147 max:161 shoes: '03 Yellow Fischer Skating
Cruising around at Gunstock. A couple groups of juniors - looked like Nina was working with about a dozen girls, and a bunch of boys from Souhegan. Probably checking out the trails for next weekend's New England Champs.
Was warming up fast - still a few remnants of powder in the woods in a couple spots, but a lot turning to corn snow. Places in the sun were really soggy.
Swapped out the broken Pilot bindings on my Fischer warm skate skis for a set of SNS skate bindings that were poorly mounted on another pair of skis. Front part is OK, but the plastic piece under the foot needs to be reset - back screw hole is too far back.
Snowshoe hills 2:10:00* 7.16 km (18:09 / km) +600m12:48 / km ahr:117 max:144 shoes: RedFeather Race Snowshoes
From the base of the Belknap Carriage road, up the Red Trail to Piper, over to the Yellow Trail to Belknap, Blue Trail over to Gunstock, then down.
A lot of folks out today. Ran into: a gal and 2 dogs, a guy and a dog, 5 people and a dog, a guy (no dog), gal and a dog, couple and 2 dogs. 11 people, 7 dogs. Dogs were mostly well behaved, as were the people. Temps in the upper 40s a bit of a breeze in spots. Reported temp on the top of Belknap - 38F.
Probably would have been ok with just boots as the trail was well packed, but had running shoes. Appreciated the cleats on the snowshoes in many spots - need to get a set of yaktraks, or something comparable.
Still a lot of snow up top. Big chunks of snow and ice coming off the spruce up on the top of Belknap - some ice chunks bigger than my head. A few bowed over trees and some snapped - a lot of trail cleanup to be done soon.
XC Ski - Skate42:00 8.0 km (5:15 / km) ahr:143 max:157 shoes: '84 Fischer Classic Wax White-
Classic skiing at Gunstock. Wax was the red/silver combo left on my skis from a couple weeks ago. Only worked welled in a couple spots at higher elevation where it was a bit cooler and dryer. Really needed some yellow klister in the mix. Slipping elsewhere, so was skating and herringboning a lot.
So worked on double poling a bit and enjoying the downhills, which were nice and fast.
XC Ski - Skate57:00 12.55 km (4:33 / km) +400m3:55 / km ahr:146 max:165 shoes: '02 Peltonen Skate Skis
Evening decompress at Gunstock. Got there a bit before it was fully dark, didn't have to use my headlamp for the first half.
Warm conditions, although it was cooling down with a slight crust in a few areas - these were faster. Then would hit sections where it was still warm wet powder and could feel the anchor dragging behind me.
Did some double poling work - experimenting with turnover rates and length of push.
Paul, the XC center manager, was just leaving as I got there. He'd been out classic skiing - yellow klister with a bit of silver mixed in was the wax of the day, but was really fast for him.
Pulled my skis out an discovered I had SNS boot and Pilot bindings. Made it work - ski tails were dragging at times. Adjusted how high I lifted my leg and the angle of my foot while recovering, worked ok, but wouldn't want to have to do this during a race.