Crystal Lake Skiers Association

Not Lying

Yes, we finally got winter! It's been snowing a little bit every day, and John has been able to trap the fluff and roll it into base. As of yesterday (Tuesday) there's about 2" of base covered with about 4" of powder and the skiing is quite good. My nowax skis made their buzz over tiny windblown twigs, but there are very few rocks and those are probably covered with last nights' new snow. I was the first skier of the season on zinger and superloop, both of which are less intimidating thanks to everyone's brushclearing efforts.

The photo shows me 'lying' on the snow to demonstrate that Anna's daily report is 'not lying' when it says all trails are open and conditions are good.

- Michael

Crystal Lake Ski Chase

Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007, 10:30 AM at Crystal Lake Ski Center
5 K Beginner Race & 15-20 K Advanced Race
$25 Registration Fee (includes trail fee and ski rentals)

Trail Shelter

We had a work day yesterday and installed a new trail shelter--the gift of the Harrisburg Kick 'n Gliders ski club. A skier can rest under its roof without removing skis or pack.  It sits overlooking the clearing at the top of boardpile, where you can see people arriving from eight nearby trails.  It was a beautiful, cold day.  The Harrisburg contingent, two Daves, both engineeers acting as carpenters, measured and remeasured with running commentary.  It was a 'Car Guys' show but in wood! The photo shows, from left to right, John Manifold, Dave Leroy, Michael Gross (me), Russell Cowles, and Dave Powell.  Missing workers are Mark Berger and Joe Smith.  Thank you all!

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This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Trail Work. Make your own badge here.

There Has to Be Snow Somewhere

I can only recall one Presidents' Day weekend without skiing at Crystal Lake.  So five desperate members of the Crystal Lake Skiers Association (the Smiths, the Barbours, and me) went up to the Tug Hill plateau for three days of skiing.  The snow cover there had been terrible, but lake effect snow covered the trails and then some over the weekend. We started in the small, groomed and (here) ungroomed Osceola Ski Touring center with windchill 20 below.  Here is our band:

The second day we went to Salmon Hills, a biggest, more groomed, but less Crystal Lake-y area.  But snow is snow, and it snowed all day.

Day three took us to Inman Gulf for what we thought would be an easy backcountry hour on a very beautiful trail along the rim of the gulf.  The photo shows the stream at the bottom.  The walls are both mostly cliffs!

But we we unprepared for the two feet of fresh powder, and found that the little hills turned into big ones, and the techniques needed are quite different from groomed trails.  But we all made it, and ended the day with the biggest hamburgers a sumo wrestler could imagine.

(And this desperate skier was introduced to the TV show Desperate Housewifes back at the hotel.  I prefer My DVD "The Joy of Telemark Skiing".)

Michael

Our Own Olympian

Congratulations to our local olympic skier, Prawat Nagvajara, for entering and completing the 15-K cross-country sprint in the Torino Olympics.  There was a column with some nice words about Prawat in last Saturday's NYTimes.  The website is restricted, so I'll quote:

...a pure competitor...part of a band of brothers bound by their singular representation of countries without mountains or snow or even the season called winter...
Prawat, a computer-engineering professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, was inspired by [a Kenyan XC racer] eight years ago to lobby the Thai Olympic Committee to establish a federation to sponsor his participation at the Salt Lake City Games.  There, Nagvajara [did not qualify to complete the event] but he made it home yesterday, falling five times and breaking a pole...

We've all seen how fast and well Prawat skis, and can't imagine keeping this pace for 15K.  And we fall very, very often when pushing ourselves to our personal limits.  So our ski hats are off to you, Prawat, and we'll hope for a few recreational days at Crystal when it snows again and you are back from Italy.

Michael

Any Skiing is Good Skiing

Well, there's just enough snow and so I'm back from blogging vacation.  I got out late Thursday afternoon and much of the morning today.  We lucky locals can get a lot more skiing out of our all-too-short season.  Here are some rules which have helped me.

1.  Believe the reports Dottie puts on the website and in her emails.  She has learned to be realistic even when delighted to have snow.  And her between-the-lines meanings are always obvious.

2.  Be strategic about when you go.  If the prediction is for a cold night and a warm day, get there first thing.  Skiing this morning was really quite fine until about 11:00, when it got soft and slow.  If the prediction is for a warm night and a warm day but you know the snow is deep, bring nowax track skis and plan to cruise in a tee shirt.  And don't keep waiting for those perfect weekends.  If the skiing is great midweek, grab it for an hour in case it doesn't last.  And if it's just adequate, grab it anyway, as it can always get worse.

3.  Be thankful for the good grooming.  John lives at camp, and can get onto the machine and trap snowflakes at any hour of the day or night.  The camp even has a cab on the groomer.  And with two setups, he, Tom, and their staff can touch up miles of trail quickly.

4.  Be a good citizen when the cover is scant.  Every twig and little rock hurts, and if we all pick them up it makes a great difference.  Left on the trail, they attract solar energy and melt precious snow. And each one might make a beginner fall.

5.  Don't expect to ski fast (or skate) when rocks and roots are exposed.  It's almost impossible to miss them all.  Learn to enjoy even this:  meditate on the blue sky and open woods without forgetting the snow surface.  Do a long and slow ski on the level upper trails.  Be social with the people you meet and tell them how much better it gets.

  ...and don't ski again, Michael, without a camera.  So here's grandson Levi's first ski, taken New Years Day.  He's three and just became a big brother yesterday.

- Michael

Thursday: still fine

4:30 pm: coming down the drop on lower Zinger.  Dave is moving fast and paying attention.  There's a dusting of powder on the hard base giving decent speed and control.  The snow is red, the color coming from the beautiful sunset.  Skiing at dusk is my favorite time, because of the colors, and because the lack of light makes you ski by balance and sound rather than sight.  I'm off to family for the holiday, but hope the weather holds so many of you can enjoy this wonderful early winter gift.
-- Michael

Perfect Snow

Two days of perfect, dry, fast controllable snow! Holiday preparations had to wait. Two passes with the new groomer had the major trails wide enough for skating, with a track set to the side. The woods were open to distant views through the trees and a blue sky overhead. My first photo shows Kevin, demonstrating the telemark turn on zig-zag and getting a good taste of the wonderful snow. Next comes relaxed Alex, down from Grandcentral Station, followed by less relaxed Scott and Bob. We did Superloop, Zinger, and Wazoo; conditions on the fast trails were fast but controllable and everyone who tried them glowed in the retelling.
--Michael

Crystal Lakes Skiers Association Information

The Crystal Lake Skiers Association was started in November 2004. The association is organized as a social club within the meaning of section 501 (c)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Its membership shall be composed of those who use the cross country skiing facilities at Crystal Lake Camps. The fundamental goal of the association is to work with Crystal Lake Camps to ensure the long term continuation of cross country skiing for its membership. Membership dues will be used to strategically position the association to assist Crystal Lake Camps continue the operations necessary for association members to cross country ski in the future. This may include trail maintenance, track setting and the operation of the ski shop. Membership is $5 per year. Here are links to a membership application and to the bylaws.Download clsa_applic_1205.doc

Download crystal_lake_bylaws110704.doc

More on Opening Day...

With temperatures steady in the mid 20's and a powdery snow in the afternoon, it was great to see most of the ususal suspects present and very happy to be skiing early in the season after a long layoff since last March.  Some whizzed by in mid-season form, especially "the Posse," composed of Prawat on his classic skis followed by skaters Tom and Pete.  There is always an open and welcoming comaraderie at CLC and first names are enough.  After a few visits, it's easy to get to know guys and gals like today's lineup that included Dottie, Paul, Bob, Pete, Alex, Tom, Bob, Roy, Rick, Mike, John, Michael (Doc), Prawat, Karen, and many others.

There seemed to be a buzz of excitement with the new season and the postive changes that are underway at CLC.  All things seem possible now and discussions on future plans and dreams were heard all day.  It was clear that a lot of work has been done pre-season to clear an abundance of downed trees.  The trails looked great with improvements evident.   The Dining hall looked very tidy and lunch was delicious as usual, especially the chile and oatmeal cookies.  The 2005-06 is off to a great start!   (by Jesse: 12/11/2005)

Here comes the posse....

...Tom and Pete in close formation

...there they go!

Lodge Shot...