Thanks to a return to seasonable weather (not getting above freezing during the day), a few fresh (albeit light) snowfalls, and good grooming by Paul Sawyer, trails at The Moulton are in great shape.
With the good snow, it was a day for the old wooden HeadT cross country skis:
I found these years ago in the dusty corner of a Butte, Montana pawn shop. They were brand new: no bindings had ever been mounted, no pine tar had ever been applied. Best of all, they were properly tied and blocked so they had retained their camber. They are a wonderful piece of craft work, and they'd be my main skis if it weren't for having to reapply pine tar in mid-season. When I step into them, I want to wear wool knickers and speak Norwegian and drink Aquavit. Maybe even eat a little Lutefisk! Ja, you betcha!
I am a bit of a Philistine, however, and fit them with NNN-BackCountry bindings instead of traditional 75mm 3-pins:
With Blue Extra wax, conditions were perfect for a sub-11-minute run on The Yankee Boy. Whew, first tracks too. Schussing down the one-way Yankee "exit" leads directly into Little Nipper for a cool-down lap. I like it when Paul grooms the crossover into L'il Nipper for a little nice gentle downhill skating:
Then it's a well-deserved pause ("Paus-e" as the Germans say to describe the mid-morning break for coffee & snack) for elk jerky & Gatorade and, for RTD, a biscuit:
We were back in the parking lot about noon, and it was wonderful to see all the folks out with their dogs & kids. For some years, The Moulton wasn't getting used much, and you knew virtually every rig parked there. It's especially encouraging to see a lot of young parents getting out there with the next generation of skiers.
Gute Langlauf!
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The Moulton: Montana's finest cross country ski trails
3 comments:
Pat,
Seriously, lutefisk and aqauvit? I have had the pleasure?, of both during my brief stays in Norway over the years. I think you'd be better off to a Yuengling lager and elk steak!
Dave
Well, like many things in life, the IDEA of lutefish & aquavit is much better than the REALITY (whatever that is). However, on a 9-foot long pair of wooden sticks on some Norwegian mountainside, it might be just the thing. Context creates reality as Einstein sorta said.
nice ride! should the next run be like this too?
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