It's Easier Than Hiking

It's the SnowMBTApocalypse! 

This has definitely been my snowiest year in Boston, and unlike most I really enjoy it. Sure, it's unfortunate that the MBTA is imploding. I have had screwed up commutes since the first big storm like everyone else. I've shoveled, I've trudged through the slush and ice, I've stood outside in single degree temps waiting for a train that's 30 minutes late, I've groaned about where to park the car... but it's NEW ENGLAND! It's cold and snowy in the winter. That shouldn't be news to anyone who lives here. Sure, it's snowier than average, but it has to be above average at some point, right? 

Snowbanks on Beacon Hill are taller than me!

Another reason I am happy to have all of this snow is so I can go skiing. Sure, mountain's make their own snow so you can ski in the winter no matter what, but there's something more magical about real, fresh snow. Adam and I planned a 2-day ski vacation about a month in advance, and it just so happened to fall on the days of Boston's next big snow storm (~ 2 feet this time). Our 2-day ski trip turned into a 3-day ski trip when we added in Pat's Peak. Kelsey and Stephen braved the first day of the storm and met us up in NH for a day on the mountain. I really love Pat's Peak because it's not a huge resort but there's still plenty to do (for me, at least). We had a blast in the mini-trick park. I even did a black diamond!...........For 30 seconds.........okay it was actually really flat glades with widely dispersed trees, but it was really fun. I had never gone through the trees before so it was a nice, easy introduction.

Adam and I left Henniker for Lincoln and drove 2 hours through the snow to arrive at our little cabin. Pemi Cabins is awesome, I would recommend it to anyone. These adorable cabins have everything you could need - small kitchen, fireplace, extra blankets, comfy bed, screened in porch overlooking the the Pemigewasset, and even though they're close to the road it feels like you're in your own private cabin in the middle of the woods. It's also a pet-friendly place, and I was delighted to meet a loving cat name BooBoo and two dogs in the office. 

The second stop on the Tour-De-NH-Ski-Mountains was Bretton Woods. It was much quieter than the last time we went there, which was on a weekend, and it was nice not to wait in line for the lift. We started on a green run to get our ski legs. Halfway down I had to stop and adjust my boots. To make a long story short, just before we left for this trip we somehow pulled the ultimate Hail Mary of ski boot shopping and found me a pair of boots that would fit my bindings. Again, long story short, the bindings were originally mounted to Adam's boots; I didn't have my own and had been using his, but they're a bit too big so we wanted to find new boots. Unfortunately, the bindings couldn't be adjusted enough to fit my size boot and they couldn't be remounted, so I ended up having to buy the size that isn't ideal for me but that fit my binding. Why not just use Adam's boots? Well, the binding on his telemark ski ripped out and is getting replaced, but with the storms they didn't come in fast enough, meaning we had 2 skis but only one pair of boots and he would have had to rent for 3 days (very expensive).

ANYWAY. It was only my second day using the new boots so I wasn't honed in on the best way to ratchet them yet. I realized one was too loose, causing my foot to do all the work through the turns instead of using the boots to my advantage. It started to get really painful, so I stopped to tighten the boots. All was well until I caught up to Adam at the bottom of a steeper section. We stopped while I explained what happened, then he said "alright, now you just get to relax and enjoy skiing!". We aimed towards our trail, crossing a big, wide open intersection that was relatively flat but still sloped enough to get some speed. When we got to our trail I saw some snowboarders to our right, so I stayed left and started my turn to bring down my speed. Nothing happened. I tried to put pressure on my left foot to turn to the right and away from the trees. Nothing happened. My foot had totally Charlie-Horse'd and was basically a useless brick. I immediately aborted and tried to make a semi-controlled fall, but what happened next will live in infamy. I remember falling to my side, aka my "controlled fall" that I'm actually pretty good at, and getting somehow turned around onto my belly. I felt something hit my lower back/butt area, but my main goal was to get my skis up so I didn't get too tangled. My skis were in the air when I stopped, goody for me! Adam stopped and asked if I was okay (I was), then told me to look where my ski was. I didn't even realize my ski popped off, so I did a 360 scan on the trail looking for it. Nowhere to be found. BECAUSE IT WAS IN A TREE. 

 This is not a joke

That's right, folks, my ski flew into a tree. What I felt hitting me was my ski popping off, rocketing off ass, and somehow landing perfectly balanced horizontally a tree. How it stayed so straight is beyond me. We stayed there for a few minutes just admiring this wonder of physics because it will surely never happen again in my whole life. 

Mt. Road Traverse, Bretton Woods

My skis stayed on the rest of the day, thankfully. Adam and I visited another part of the mountain that I had not been to last time we were there, and it was frickin' lovely. We took a multi-use XC, snowshoe, and alpine ski trail, pictured right, to cut over to another trail and had the entire run to ourselves. It was really flat and would be boring to anyone seeking an adrenaline rush, but it was beautiful and quiet. As I glided peacefully along the fresh snow, I realized how long it had been since we went on a hike and how different the experience would be on snow shoes. It would have been equally as beautiful but at least 10x harder than standing on skis and going on a bonafide conveyor belt ride. I looked at Adam and said, "This is just so much easier." Of course then you hit a slight uphill and have to skate ski when you lose your momentum and your legs start burning because you've been skiing for three hours... but it IS so much easier. Nothing wrong with that, though, right?

Not only was our cabin adorable, but it was close to the mountains. This may sound obvious, but it was SO. DAMN. NICE. to not have to drive 2.5 hours back to Boston after a day of skiing. Even better, it was 10 minutes down the road from Loon, our final destination. I woke up on the morning of day 3 with a sore back. I tweaked at some point the day before and it made me ski with more caution. I already ski with a decent amount of caution, so I was basically a grandma at Loon. Despite my sore back I was excited to get back to Loon. 364 days earlier I was there getting my first and only ski lesson. I'm no expert, but hey at least I graduated from those pizza turns I was doing a year ago. 

View from the top

The grey, snowy sky finally cleared and we had awesome views from the top of the mountain. We quickly realized that Loon doesn't have nearly as many trails for me. There's a few greens here and there but it's mostly blues and blacks. I skied my first blue a few weeks ago at Wachusett and loved it, but not all blues are created equal. I have the skill to get down just fine, but my confidence isn't great and my sore back made me more apprehensive. All the same, I skied my narrowest, steepest run yet with no mishaps. 

It was steeper than it looks!

Though I successfully did a handful of blue runs and was proud of it, I was mentally exhausted. I had to give myself mental pep talks the whole way to stave off the fear of the steep slope, but as Adam said, "that's good, that means you're more confident". True, more confident, but also tired, and sore. But also happy. Yeah, my lower back sometimes felt like it was exploding, but what better way to spend the day? I took it easy for the last half of the day and stuck to easier stuff. On our last run together Adam went rogue and made his own path off trail for a few feet, which ended with him snapping a branch off a tree and face planting in the snow. That's when I knew we were nearing the end of our day.

I indulged in a Tuckerman's Pale Ale and watched people come down the half pipe (right) while Adam skied two more runs. We finished our day with a steam engine train ride back to our side of the mountain. It only last about 3 minutes, but it was the coolest thing ever. 

Now it's back to reality. We considered asking the owners of Pemi Cabins if we could upgrade to a lifetime rental, but sadly we had to trade in the cabin for our apartment in Newton. Now it's back to the 9-5, back to the shitty commute, back to the slushy sidewalks... blegh. Is it the field season yet?