22 January 2007

The Moulton Journal: a good skinny day




Paul finished grooming Saturday and yesterday brought an inch of fresh snow and the predawn morning temperature was in the high teens: all in all, good portents for a fine skinny ski day. Most days, I step into a pair of Fischer E-99s: a not-too-heavy back country ski, traditional 210 cm length but a bit on the wide side with some side-cut and steel edges. They are the 30-06 rifle of cross-country skis, able to do about anything I can do and a lot that I can't. [And on days when I'm sure I won't scuff the pine-tar off, I'll be on a beautiful old pair of wooden Head BC that I picked up "brand new" (never had bindings installed) for $10 at a Butte pawn shop. ]

But today was a day for the classic skinny Madshus. They are a lot faster than the E-99s, of course, and with my mediocre sense of balance I can barely stand up in them. Light but stiff, they hold wax well and conjure sweet visions of racers of yore. They are lovely on a groomed track, and the closest I ever come to enying those who skate ski.





Lots of work to do today, so I was on the snow at first light and kept it fairly short--a couple of loops around Nugget and then back down to the truck. Saw Rick Rossi's rig, he's back into his daily ski rhythm by the looks of things. And oh yes, the moose was out too.

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