This was the last of the Mike Ludgate-hosted CNSC Thursday night January tours and it was a great one.  Ten of us (Mike, Raylene, Carl, Cindy, Joey, John, Marilyn, Tom, Zach, Joan ) and 3 dogs skied  up access trail to old FLT to FLT up to radio tower and  down, “Dan Karig” trail to Y5, then Y7.  Conditions were excellent again. There was plenty of light buttery snow.  Our group cut some trail but someone had already been on the FLT and Y5 and Y7 were tracked.  [ Y5 actually had lots of snowshoe-like tracks on it, not ski tracks. ] What else is there to say?  Get out there people!

From BikeSki Outings

This was our 3rd “Thursday Nights in January” where we invite the Cayuga Nordic Ski Club to join BikeSki. We had two representatives from CNSC: the Treasurer (Joan) and a new CNSC member Joey … along with Raylene, John G. and myself. The snow and skiing conditions have been so consistantly aswsome, I think some of the regulars actually needed a break - a rare winter indeed! We ended following the route as this week’s Tuesday outing … Porcupine Trail (from our house)  to Lady Slipper (R1) to Hipbuster (Y5) and home on Y7: a nice loop for a week night run.

We have been hosting these “Thursday Nights in January” for a few years now. This is first year we’ve been able to ski three weeks in a row like that!. Let’s hope the weather holds so we can do it again next week!

Well this morning at Canaan Rd., the temerature was minus -17 F, so we were lucky it was a balmy minus 5 when we skied last night. Seven of us did the combined CNSC and BikeSki outing. We were honored by the presence of the CNSC Prez (Jack) and the Treasurer (Joan). Of course they are used to going faster: so I spent the first half of the loop trying to keep up them and finally figured out if I went first and elbowed them off the trail when they tried to pass me that I could keep up them that way. We reminisced about hipbuster hill and forgotten skiers (see http://canaaninstitute.org/bikeskiblog/?p=17) while trying to keep our digits from getting frost bite. You’ll see in the photo on the post below Brenda, Jim, Raylene, John, Joan and Jack - I was taking the picture (or maybe I was back by the woodstove - who knows?) … see ya next Thursday!

BikeSkiers [and new folks who are not on a list-serve]: I just sent this message to Cayuga Nordic Ski Club. We will most likely have a couple of new faces tomorrow night, despite the prediction of single digits temps. So come on out and make the new folks feel welcome. :-)

“I am scheduled to lead a club tour every Thursday night in January starting at 6:30 pm departing from my home. We own property that borders Hammond Hill State Forest. Conditions look good for skiing but it will be cold! Please check the weather forecast and dress for the temperature http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=14817
Gear and Skill level - Apologies, but the night time skis are not for beginners. On the other hand I am not particularly a speed freak myself … so you don’t need to be in racing condition to join us. Just quite fit. I use recreational style back country skis, not the skinny fast ones. Typical loop is about 2+ hours and will include the radio tower as the “high point” literally. Important: You will need a good headlamp - a very modern super bright LED (example http://www.bdel.com/gear/icon.php) or a xenon or halogen is good (NOT a cheap older Tikka type!!). I have some loaner headlamps - email me to reserve one. This is important for safety on downhills in the dark.

Keep an eye on my outdoor BLOG http://canaaninstitute.org/bikeskiblog/ anytime for conditions near my home and trip reports from my group, informally known as “bikeski” AND trip reports for the Thursday Nights in January - combined group outing. Photos are there too! :-) Here is Thursday 01.08.2009 http://canaaninstitute.org/bikeskiblog/?p=554

Email me please to RSVP and get detailed directions. -Mike :-)”

Conditions were fairly good up at Hammond Hill last night despite the freezing rain and sleet we’d gotten on Wednesday.  The precipitation changed sometime during the late night of Wednesday/early morning Thursday into fluffy dry powder, so there was a nice 2-3″ coating of that over a slightly crusty layer.  Ten of us skied the typical lolipop loop in just under two hours:  Millie, John, Bianca, Marilyn, Mike M., Hank, Pam, Tammi, Mike L. and myself, along with Buddha, Pesto and Lyla(?) to keep the killer chipmunks at bay.

The trail that we’d packed down in prior outings on Tuesday and Sunday were well-preserved and the powder over it made for a fairly fast ski, but also provided enough friction to keep steep descents well-controlled.  Because of the number of people, there was a long snaking line of skiers and headlamps strung out over the trails.  Different legs of the ski were led by different people, and anyone could have a chance to “break trail” if they wanted.  I led the group up to the sauna, Mike M. led up to the next intersection, John G. took the lead up to the snowmobile, at which point Mike L. led us up to Chocolate Corner.  The return down R2 was led by Bianca to the snowmobile trail, and then Hank going back to the sauna trail.

There was a bit of trepidation at the top of the sauna trail as we piled together and decided who was going to be the first daring soul to make the descent.  Finally, Mike L. took the bit and headed down, followed by the rest of the group.  Just about everyone overshot the little shortcut behind the sauna and ended up on the “runway” (as I’ll call it), except for Marilyn, I think, but everyone made it down safely.  As I mentioned before, there was enough fresh powder to catch the edges of your skis on to slow down.  An easy glide down the rest of the hill to the workship for hot tea finished off the night.

Brenda promised to write up a report about last night … due out later today. Here is the short version to hold you over for now. 10 skiers. Awesome conditions. Photo later too. -m

The Cayuga Nordic Ski Club CNSC (of which I am a member of dubious standing) is offering tours this winter with the intention of introducing new folks in the area to cross country skiing in general or new places to ski.

There is a list of tours on their website here: http://cayuganordicski.org/new/?page_id=204

I am signed up for the “Thursday Nights in January” we will meet at my home on Canaan Rd on those nights. Any questions, feel free to email or call

Mike