Yesterday my man
John, my buddy Steve, and I snowmobiled over to a secret little back country ski spot, we are calling "The Nugget". Well, that is what Steve calls it. It is a sweet little chute that is fairly accessible if you are willing to work a little to get there, Caratunk's own little private stash of back country skiing.
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| "The Nugget" - that white line down the center of the mountain |
As you can see, we are in full on winter still around here. And I know it looks all sunny and warm, but yesterday it there was a high of about 20 degrees with a windchill factor of WTF (for you
Jon - ha ha). Seriously, it was not typical spring skiing weather at all, more like mid-Feburary than mid-March.
We snowmobiled across Pleasant Pond (my swimming pool, to give you an indication when I will be getting into open water to swim) and on a local snowmobile trail. Someone had to ride in the tote sled that was behind the snowmobile.
We picked Steve because he was the only one with a helmet. Things went well for the most part.
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| The purple sled is for wind protection. We are all about safety. |
Except we dumped him out of the sled twice.
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| I made him lay back down to re-enact the crash. |
After John and I
were done laughing made sure Steve was OK, we loaded everything back in and kept going to The Nugget. We put our
skins on our skis (these attach to the base of your ski, so you can ski up hill)
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| Climbing skins |
It was a short 15 minute ski to the bottom of the chute.
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| The Nugget, lower portion |
It was a good 45 minute climb to the top with really awesome views to the northeast.
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| Check out the wind blowing the snow around. It was blowing pretty hard. |
We had tons of fun skiing down, conditions were really nice, some powder, some ice, some crud. Lots of face plants (funny, we didn't take pictures of that!) If this weather stays cold like it is supposed to, this hill will be skiable into April. We will definitely hit it again this year.
I love where I live, I love that I can ride into the woods for 20 minutes and find a place to ski that is this good, and I just really feel fortunate that I am surrounded by people who love to be outside as much as I do.
After a 10 mile run in the morning and this playing around in the afternoon, I was pretty wiped out and ready for this rest/recovery week.
117 days until I
ronman Lake Placid!
28 comments:
WooHoo #1
WooHoo #2.....BTW you always have the best pics. I cannot wait to get to Caratunk to hang out but I can't figure out what time of year to go. I know I want to participate in the CTT so I guess fall is when it will happen.
And love the new header.
Fun! I saw some pretty good 'crash' pics on FB!
Beautiful pics! made me grab a blanket!
Pretty pics - I always love the pics you post from your adventures!
I'm sorta jealous you still have snow... I am still in denial that my XC skiing season is done for the year!
Brrr...that just looks cold. Awesome pics though.
I want to come hang out with you and "snowmobile" over somewhere. It just sounds so fun and exciting!
I still can't get over how much of a winter wonderland it is still up there.
Sounded like an awesome day!
Sounds like an awesome time! Nothing quite like the beauty of snow.
Me! Me! Me! I wanna get thrown out of the sled too!! :)
beats sitting at my desk all day!
Nice.
We will have to check it out in 3 months...
one word... AWESOME!
I miss my snow mobile. It is buried in my dad's shop at the moment and probably needs the engine rebuilt from sitting so long... :(
Sounds like such a GREAT day! I love that you love your life so much! It's refreshing!
i love where you live too. So fun to see those pictures!
i need to get my lil' ones out in the snow. we go in 2 weeks. they're stoked;-)
That is super cool. I love your backcountry storied since your climate is so much different then mine.
Looks awesome. Love x-country skiing! And I learned something new today--had never heard of "skins." I guess that's the difference between real skiers like you in Maine, and fake skiers like us in Maryland!
Wow - that looks awesome! Except for the fact that it is the end of March and snowy and cold. But, I have to say that living in a freezing cold climate was not so bad when I could actually enjoy cold weather activities... Being in NYC when it's cold just plain sucks.
And I think I have snow. Looks pretty, not pretty for training. 117 days, getting real yet?
B
You do the most fun adventures!!!
How freaking fun is that!!!
Why am I picturing an jacka$$ episode in my head when pulling Steve in the sled
LOL!!!!! Jason gets sooooo excited when he is the first person to comment, he has done the same on mine before
looks like a blast!
Thanks for the photos - because --- I'll so NEVER be doing that. I like to live through you when it comes to snow & cold. ;)
Wow! That snow sure is beautiful. I know you are sick of it, but it is sure nice to look at.
nice chute! reminds me of hairbag ally in Vail you have to duck the o/b ropes and risk a season pass revocation (student pass when I was at CSU was $150 per season at Vail!) and then once in it was a single chute lane that only most locals knew about ...some of it pure bumps...picnic table in the middle of the run to stop, smoke a J, and have a sandwich:)
good job enjoying it, nice clibing (and face plants)
have a good recovery week!!!
D
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Looks like you had a blast! I have never skied in my life. I am pretty sure I would break something.
What a beautiful place! I can't believe you guys went backcountry skiing! That is so awesome!
The picture of that pull sled and the crash totally cracked me up!
I saw these pic on FB and was wondering wtf you were up to. Looks like a blast!
(Un)fortunately my ski season is done for the year, which isn't all that bad. I've gotta get my ass in gear for Quassy!
See ya next month in Boston?
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