About Freakin Time: First Ski of the Season 11-11-2018
SNOW!
“YIS!” (G)
With ski season finally here, it’s time to continue the futile effort of teaching a coonhound skijoring. She loves the idea of it. The skis make me go faster, and she can pull me and we can go EVEN FASTER! The problem is, she hasn’t quite gotten the idea that she shouldn’t turn around to play with me or stop to sniff something while we are going downhill at 15 miles per hour. I’m sure as the season progresses, there will be more than one photograph of the inside of a pile of snow. But today, the snow was fast and firm. Not a day for tempting fate being pulled down a 600 foot hill by an unpredictable canine. Also, she was feeling wicked lazy.
“meh” (G)
So off I went to go skiing on a road by myself…
…and a few hundred of my neighbors. It seems everybody had the same idea. First weekend of real snow, fantastic weather, a slight sense of masochism… A fun day for all!
The descent was hairy enough, and I was out of practice enough that the camera went snugly into the pack wrapped with a jacket. I was reminded of muscles I hadn’t used since last ski season. There’s this thing on the inside of your knee and thigh. It’s a muscle of some kind. It works very hard when you ski on ice in leather boots and skinny skis. It was sore for two days. Now after two more days of skiing, it’s quite happy, but it wasn’t pleased with me this first run down.
This might be the season I get decent at skate skiing. It might also be yet another season I get 30-40 days on my old Rossignol BC70’s all the while complaining about how much I hate them. The problem is, even though I hate them, they are also the most damn versatile ski I’ve ever been on. Maybe some year I’ll replace them, but this year, I’ll just complain about them some more.