Pictures From the Skintrack

[Slim]

Creek skiing is one of our favorite outings here on the North Shore of Lake Superior.
red rock canyons, green cedar trees and white snow, the scenery is always great.

Otter slides diving into pools of open water, two deer skeletons picked clean to the bone by everything from wolves to ravens.

The rapids add fun technical challenges. And, the way out warms you up, and the way down is fast and fun.

Yesterday we did a big group ski with about 5 families as part of our New Years Eve celebrations.

Kids and adults all had fun.

 

[Primoz]

My leg is finally almost fine, but just to be on sure side, I rather continued my double poling sessions, adding another 70km in last 2 days, so soon I can be competitive to those Visma classic guys But tomorrow, I'm back on skating skis after more then 2 weeks of double poling only, and lets see what will happen

With pretty busy week of shoting some biathlon WC races followed by women alpine WC races, I will have at least some more time to rest... unless I actually do some of my own skiing before/after each race And hopefully temperatures will go down, as then +10c as we have around here lately doesn't look too good for snow.

 

[slow-line-fast]

Nice, heal up those legs. Hadn’t seen Visma before, checked it out, it looks like hundreds of people prone paddleboarding

 

[Primoz]

It's not really hundreds of people.... it's more like marathon version of xc skiing world cup, with few changes. Races are classic only, but on slightly easier and much longer courses, so everyone are just double poling on skating skis. And biggest difference is, there's no national teams, but commercial teams. Racers are still mostly retired WC skiers or those who were never good enough to be on WC (I would be good for this second option ), so it's not really "normal" local race

 

[chris_the_wrench]

With pretty busy week of shoting some biathlon WC races followed by women alpine WC races

You going to Pokljuka? Will JT Boe be back to his dominant ways?? Laegreid is making up some points in the standings! Im looking forward to them getting back to racing after the Christmas break.

 

[Primoz]

@chris_the_wrench from how it looks at the moment, I will be on Pokljuka for Thursday and Friday races, then Saturday in Kranjska Gora for first women GS, and Sunday is not clear yet... I might be free and can go skiing myself I have no idea what will be result vise, but based on last few races, it would be probably stupid to bet on anyone but Boe, but with biathlon it's always also luck part. It's not like with xc where you are good or you are not good. In biathlon you have some more wind and you are gone, regardless how good you are on skis, or you have some luck with wind, or luck just like this, and you can win even if you are otherwise in no position to win. That's reason why I really hate doing biathlon sprint races... it's impossible to tell who will win, and it can be pretty tricky sometimes to get winner, especially with 100+ athletes on start. But this time it's going to be easier... I just need photos of few Finns and Swedes and no need to bother about top 3 or top 5. So it's not going to be that bad, and with races starting around 2pm, I will probably have chance to finally go to at least short ski tour before the race, as there should be somehow enough snow on Pokljuka to do it
But until then, there was still some nice skiing in Planica... after 2 weeks of double poling, I tried skating skis today, and it went pretty good, so it looks like my leg is finally starting to be normal again... thanks god as it was about time to stop those stupid 30 or 40km double poling sessions

 

[Yo Momma]

^^^^^Hey @Primoz Where do you find those tights? They are Cool as Shizznit!?!? Lookn' good Man!

Wifey and I on our trails last week. Second pic is from last season. We snowshoe through the woods, to the pro-groomed/track-set trails, set up by my "Skida" neighbors ( https://skida.com/ ). The Olympic XC team trains in our back yard sometimes. Firmly establishes my POSER status in XC.....I need more colorful tights!!!!! Ha ha ha

 

[slow-line-fast]

I was doing a bit of double poling this weekend, but not 30-40km, more like 30-40m at a time. Your legs must heal, your arms demand it

 

[Primoz]

@Yo Momma I got one huge bag of goodies from Swix racing service as present in summer... 3 their racing service skinsuits were also in that bag, so I'm not sure you can buy exactly this color combo, but they have some nice colors for sale too
@slow-line-fast exactly that.... leg needs to get ok otherwise my hands and my back will start to complain too much

 

[Yo Momma]

@Yo Momma I got one huge bag of goodies from Swix racing service as present in summer... 3 their racing service skinsuits were also in that bag, so I'm not sure you can buy exactly this color combo, but they have some nice colors for sale too

I see a lot of the "Pros" whiz by us in specialty, custom gear. Then you go to the xc gear stores here in Vermont....... Black pants........ that's it........ more black pants... oh wait...nope.... Black tights.... for the women....... yup......... more black pants!

Typical XC store conversation;
Me- " Can I ask who orders your clothing?"
Store-"Yes, talk to the person over there."
Me- "...oh you mean the one in the BLACK PANTS?" Ha ha ha

To get color we have to shop up in Quebec for our gear. That doesn't happen often but try to get there when we can!

 

[cantunamunch]

Nice, heal up those legs. Hadn’t seen Visma before, checked it out, it looks like hundreds of people prone paddleboarding

Herself calls it 'penguining'.

 

[cantunamunch]

Creek skiing is one of our favorite outings here on the North Shore of Lake Superior.
red rock canyons, green cedar trees and white snow, the scenery is always great.

Otter slides diving into pools of open water, two deer skeletons picked clean to the bone by everything from wolves to ravens.

You lot get any fishers? I thought I saw one last year but was probably fooling myself.

 

[Primoz]

@Yo Momma but at least around here, xc ski stuff is pretty colorfull. Running on the other side is all possible colors as long as color is black. I mean black is cool, but come on... for running around (on skis or without skis) it needs to be colorful... at least they spot you easier when laying dead tired in some ditch

 

[Slim]

You lot get any fishers? I thought I saw one last year but was probably fooling myself.

They are there, but they’re a rare sight. (Didn’t see the otters either, with about 20 of us making a lot of noise. Just the tracks).

 

[Slim]

Since it was so good, and one of the out of town kids forgot her alpine boots, we went up a creek again on Sunday.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Since it was so good, and one of the out of town kids forgot her alpine boots, we went up a creek again on Sunday.

@Slim , I gotta give you props, you always seem to be getting that younger generation out there and doing cool stuff!

 

[Slim]

Thank you @chris_the_wrench , we try. It helps that our outdoor group of friends have similar aged kids.

It’s a lot easier now that they are 12 and up.

Last Tuesday, we had a candlelight ski event on a local XC trail. I worked there, but my kids just went off and skied on their own, then rode their fatbikes home on their own (all this in the dark).

While working, I watched a mom show up with a 4, 3 and 1 year old. Youngest tow in the stroller, not too happy. Trying to boot the 4 year old up. She wasn’t happy. Mom was outnumbered. But she kept at it. Those are the tough years, but you put in the effort then, instead of giving in and just turning on the tv, and it is so worth it now!

 

[Doug Briggs]

An easy tour on Baldy.

 

[Paul Lutes]

@Yo Momma but at least around here, xc ski stuff is pretty colorfull. Running on the other side is all possible colors as long as color is black. I mean black is cool, but come on... for running around (on skis or without skis) it needs to be colorful... at least they spot you easier when laying dead tired in some ditch

YES!!!!

Color in tights, and if really lucky ...... PATTERNS!!!
As much as we seem to be a "look at me" culture these days, I do not understand white skin tight clothings insists upon plain, dull aesthetics.

 

[Slim]

A new record for us! We were able to skin out the backyard, all the way to the top of the ridge, above the road, rip skins, and make it back all the way home!
I did flip my boots into walk mode for the rolling section , traversing the hill along the packed mtb/fatbike trail, but that’s easy enough to do.
The snow is great right now. As deep as it ever is here, with a couple of firm crusts, to keep you skiing up and over all the rocks and deadfall. Then, the top has a nice foot-boot top, layer of powder for fun, easy skiing.

The excellent grooming of the trail allowed us to glide on nearly level sections, then pump and double pole on the flat or uphill sections.

Looking out over Lake Superior at sunset: