With summer cresting, the winter season ahead has been on our minds more than usual lately. We’ve been tending to some ski maintenance, dreaming up longer ski tours with friends, and even starting to guess when our first day on skis will be – adhering to the “one inch rule”, that is. While last winter was unusually thin across the northeast, especially in southern regions and at lower elevations, it was undoubtedly a very memorable season – filled with many great ski days.

This image I recently stumbled upon, which we posted earlier this winter, had me cracking up. It illustrates some truly marginal ski conditions close to home last March – our last ski day on our neighbor’s pastures. Most of our neighborhood was devoid of snow, but a few lines nestled into a northwest aspect were still worthy of a fun sunset session after work. We had accessed this skiing by bicycle, carrying our skis in our trusty BOB trailers, and we enjoyed a handful of moderately-fast field runs before pedaling home for dinner. (This image was captured about two thirds of the way down one of our favorite runs in this zone, a run that starts on a steep pitch in the pines up the hill, shoots through a maze of hardwood saplings, descends a slightly steeper upper field, cuts through a stone wall and then finishes off with some gentle carving in the lower pasture (seen here) down to the road.)

Although we’ll happily take what we get, let’s hope Old Man Winter hangs out a bit more with us next winter. Meanwhile, enjoy these wonderful days of summer at its peak. (Click on the thumbnails of the images below to view enlargements)
-Brian

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