Catch-up

Late last week, we had some really nasty weather - a mix of rain and snow and wind and warm temperatures that seemed certain to derail any quality skiing for the weekend. So, rather than taking it easy at CrossFit on Friday night, like I typically would, I worked out hard.

And then, I got to the mountain on Saturday morning and discovered a couple inches of new snow on top of a base that had been softened by rain and the warmer temperatures. I spent all of Saturday on natural snow trails with my students - steep runs, tree runs, bump runs - non-stop. What a great day it turned out to be. As the temperatures dropped during the day, things got a bit firmer, but it wasn't a big deal.

Sunday, we had at most 1/2" of new snow. The base was firm. Nonetheless, we found all kinds of fun places to ski. We warmed up on an intermediate bump run on natural snow, and every run for the rest of the day was on expert terrain - either on or off trail. By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, I was exhausted. I believe my students were exhausted as well.

After three straight days of CrossFit, I had not expected to ski so hard over the weekend. Sunday night, I dragged myself home, cooked dinner, ate, and fell asleep on the couch fairly early. I woke up briefly and went straight to bed.

Yesterday morning, I was still dragging, and a rest day was clearly needed. Right now, I think the ideal schedule for me during ski season would be to rest on Monday, do CrossFit the next three days, rest on Friday, and then ski on the weekends. Perhaps I could squeeze in some rowing or easy running on an occasional Monday or Friday. But, five consecutive days seems like too much at the moment.

Today, I'm feeling much better and I'll be at CF tonight. And, most likely, the next two nights. We've had some snow since Sunday, but it's supposed to be warm and rainy tomorrow and then dry for a few days. So, next weekend's skiing could be a bit on the firm side. But, that's the life of a New England skier.

Sugarbush should be kind of crazy this coming weekend. The two most popular football teams in the northeast will be playing in the Super Bowl. So, many skiers will be skiing in their jerseys, and yelling at each other over beers in the bar. I think I'll just stay away from that mayhem. By lunchtime or so, most of the out of state skiers will be leaving to head home to watch the game, and the mountain will be fairly deserted. I love skiing on New Year's Day (no crowds due to hangovers) and Super Bowl Sunday.

If anyone in the New York or New England area wants a decent deal on a lift ticket, Sugarbush is charging $46 on Sunday (Super Bowl XLVI?). It tends to be a low crowd day on the mountain and that's almost half off the normal ticket price.