Any skiers here?

[Edd]

Wondering who here skis. Took my skis in for a tune yesterday and I can’t wait to get started, although there’ll be some COVID compromises to deal with.

Living in NH, I spend most days in the Mt Washington Valley to ski. However, I ski Maine and VT as well as a trip west every year. My season got cut at 28 days last season due to COVID. My best year was 49 ski days. Yes, I count them. I’m also tracking the dates, who I ski with, which skis I use that day, and how often those skis are tuned. I am a ski nerd.

 

[Mark]

hi
until several years ago i mainly downhill skiied over these more recent years, but about 5 or 6 years ago i began to do more and more back country skiing.
i think last season i didn't downhill even one time - pretty much gone over to BC entirely (other than doing some time trials training for an annual cross country ski race i have participated in for many years; did XC somewhat over the years).
last week most of the mountains around me closed for the hiking season. and right on time, some of those mountains received their first heavy snow a few days ago.

 

[Edd]

hi
until several years ago i only downhill skiied, but about 5 or 6 years ago i began to do more and more back country skiing.
i think last season i didn't downhill even one time - pretty much gone over to BC entirely (other than doing some time trials training for an annual cross country ski race i have participated in for many years).
last week most of the mountains around me closed for the hiking season. and right on time, some of those mountains received their first heavy snow a few days ago.

Where do you live for doing BC, if I may ask? I’ve dabbled with it using skins and so forth. The year I was doing it, though, I tore my ACL on a regular ski day, ending my season so I never got back on the horse for BC.

 

[Alli]

hi
until several years ago i only downhill skiied, but about 5 or 6 years ago i began to do more and more back country skiing.
i think last season i didn't downhill even one time - pretty much gone over to BC entirely (other than doing some time trials training for an annual cross country ski race i have participated in for many years).
last week most of the mountains around me closed for the hiking season. and right on time, some of those mountains received their first heavy snow a few days ago.

I dislike heights and speed when combined, so I never did downhill skiing. But I always loved XC, and was a member of the XC ski team in high school (upstate NY). I kept my skis with me in college in Ohio, and used them during the blizzard that closed campus and caused the National Guard to come rescue us. I was happily skiing all over town.

I got rid of the skis many years ago. It doesn’t snow in south Alabama. I do miss it though, and am still in touch with a friend from high school, who always wanted to be a ski bum when he grew up.

 

[Mark]

@Edd70
BC in Hokkaido. Niseko.
b e s t p o w d e r s n o w i n t h e w o r l d
mostly new zealanders and australians and europeans who make the yearly circuit. powder junkies.

@Alli
Orchard Park East along 20/20A into Warsaw, all the way over to Canandaiqua.
Orchard Park South into the towns of Colden, North Boston.
Southern Tier from Salamanca all the way over to Horse Heads and Corning.
WKBW. Lake effect snow squalls. hurrah. snow days. no school.
broke my leg on an illegal trail that my friends and i made to connect (the two separate companies but adjoined ski centres at that time) of Kissing Bridge and Glenwood.
i learned to XC ski at a county park called Chestnut Ridge but only came back to it since i had a friend who enjoyed it and he had taught his entire family to XC - and every other year or so we went to Bretton Woods Nordic until i moved to Asia.

this is the XC event i have participated in 4 times over the last 6 years.

 

[Edd]

Wow, you’re doing backcountry skiing in Japan, which is a dream destination for me. I bet I’ve skied more than 60 different resorts but I’ve never skied Japan. I’ll listen to any advice you have about it.