A Classic Lunch Beak

Reason # 736,487,102 why it's great to work at a Backcountry Ski Shop with a XC Touring Center:
LUNCH BREAK

With the sun beating down upon us and glitter powder still plenty abundant, our groomer was able to lay down some sweet XC Track at Mountain Meadows today :)

This was a first for me...and also only my fourth time classic skiing at all what-so-ever. I am definitly still a novice. So much so that when my boss' sister-in-law came skating up to the touring center I had to ask her for assistance in putting my skis on. Yeah, it was only slightly embrassasing to have her come smoothly skating up while I'm sitting in a lawn chair like an old man trying to make things work.

At first I was worried that the track would make me feel clausterphobic...to be confined to a single track with such beautiful powder right alongside me. But as we followed Blue Ski Trail through the woods and down toward the lake, I was amazed at how much glide I could get while the ski just floated through the track. Sooooo much more distance per stride - it made up for the lack of metal edges - and for once it actually felt like I was getting somewhere.

And then we made it out to the lake.
WOW
This morning I was freezing my ass off at the summit of RamsHead,
this afternoon I felt like I was baking in the hot summer sun at the beach as I skied across Kent Pond.

It was simply a gorgeous field of untracked snow, glittering vibrantly in the sunshine. With Vespi trotting pleasantly beside me, we glissed along the groomed track amidst the peaks of Killington and Pico.

As we were leaving the lake, I noticed a sexy set of turns marking the small hill down to the shoreline. Make tele turns on XC skis?
Why Not? I said to myself...
and proceeded to have a straight ski flashback while I laid my own Cross-Country Telemark Style turns right alongside and quickly realized I wasn't gonna be able to carve some sick tele turns here. I was just hoping the damn things would change direction.

My first powder turns on cross-country skis.
Sweet.

With my grin growing larger, I took a look at my tracks and then a thought popped into my sweaty head...
how do you stay in the track while you go uphill?
and quickly realized I still have a whole lot to learn when it comes to my classic form

But I am pretty sure Vespi could care less whether I drove my front foot forward or pulled by back foot back as I skied.
She just knows we're skiing.
And that's what matters.

May You Find the Spirit of the Mountains Within You,
FemaleSkiBum & Vespoli