1/29/08 - I had a call tonight from a friend who was saying how nice it was to hear how relaxed, happy, and positive I was. That is true for the most part, but to be sure I do have gripes about things still. From government to skiing things irritate me. I like to try and take a useful perspective on things. That can mean trying to figure out how to improve something, how to create or link things to make them more effective, or maybe just ranting about something or com-puzzling about it enough to keep sane after seeing how absurd or bizarre something may be.
One thing that drives me crazy is the Nordic Ski World. I love to ski more than most people I have known, but I have no interest in racing or full time training, which is the only way to race or represent one's talent at it. I will ski or roller ski 5 out of 7 days every week, if not 7 days a week. If I could do anything every day for me, it would be ski.
The industry though seems fundamentally flawed. It is fractionalized and fractured. Racers have their groups, area operator's their's, and instructors, still another. Ski patrollers are a breed unto themselves. Skiing has skaters, traditionalists, people who do both, groomed trail fanatics and ungroomed zealots. Maybe it is personality or some other factor that drives us in these directions, but here is what I think we are all missing the boat on; We have a common interest in a sport that is small even when you pool all of its splinter groups together. We all enjoy parts of a sport that are linked by the commonality of free heel skiing, which is a loose and basic definition of what is the basis for the Nordic Ski Industry. That industry is grouped together by necessity and by the commonality of free heel equipment; development and sales.
There are many good and bad things about the industry, but I want to look at a certain aspect of it that is at once scattered, but commonly linked. Ski reporting and Public perception.
10/15/07 Fall is here, but we are still to get our first really good frost, and we have not had much for cold weather yet. The trails at Dexter's Inn are looking good. This should be a great year to get out on their trails. The Inn has made some great moves, and we are still working for them to get the ski center in full operation. There are to be 20 kilometers that are groomed, and a new parking lot too. A new YTS Ginzu groomer has been purchased, and the operation will be open on weekends and holidays. If the weather cooperates we will have some trails that are in extremely good shape, and the work that has been done already this year has made Dexter's Inn Trails much better than it was last year. The Augustine's have a ski area that is on the right track.
4/6/07 Another odd record: We have just had one of the top 5 April snows of all time. I'm all for it, but what does it mean in the greater picture?
The more our climate seems out of whack; the more I am looking at trying to weather proof the trails that I am creating. Trails need to be set up so that extreme weather events have a minimal impact on their use. Our home trails are getting to the point where we can groom them with very little snow, and they are able to be hiked or biked soon after the snow melts. Drainage, a grassy tread, open over-story, and good layout are what has made out trails improve.
1/21/07 Climate Change: We as a people tend to bring all types of baggage with us as we explore our world. I can't tell you how the earth works as a whole, and to be sure, there are so many interdependent systems and complexity to this sphere that we live on that we may never be able to grasp how it works. Global Warming has become a political buss word, and most people have an opinion about it, but those opinions are based on extemporaneous issues. The data from around the world makes a very convincing case that our planet is warming. You can argue over what has caused it, and whether or not we can do anything about it that will have any real impact. There are valid arguments that bring to bare the economic reality of action and in-action.
I love seasonal changes. I love winter, and I appreciate weather that is somewhat reliable. When the planet is relatively stable we have all those things here in New England. When the environment is in flux, and weather systems, flows and currents are disrupted, even this relatively stable and predictable area of the globe becomes volatile. This winter is a case in point; Warm, wet, icy, temperatures fluctuating wildly. We all know that stability is key to our longevity in many aspects of our lives, and when the basic functioning of our systems that provide the necessities of life are disrupted and become chaotic, we are in trouble. I think we are in trouble.
It is time that we conclude that the only thing that we can change to influence this current warming trend is to change our contributions to those processes that we currently know contribute to the warming of our plant. We also need to develop ingenious technologies to assist Mother Nature in her quest for balance. It is in our best interest to do so.
Be energy efficient. Buy appliances that save energy. Use the car less and plan your trips so that you use the most efficient routes and get your errands done all in one trip instead of several. Support organizations, and politicians who want to address this problem.
If you love to ski it is imperative that you help save our winters. One suggestion for skiers is to travel less by not taking day trips, but to spend a weekend at a ski destination. That means less pollution, and more time to ski; less travel.
5/29/06 I have been skiing for almost my entire life, and would spend every day on skis if I could. At times I have been able to come close. I still enjoy Alpine skiing, but hate chairlifts. Jumping makes me nervous, even though I know ski jumping is the safest ski sport; I just couldn't relax enough to get good at it. Cross Country Skiing was for me the hardest sport that I ever tried. I had no aptitude for it at first. I played hockey, basketball, football, baseball, and lots of other sports, and when the kids in the neighborhood got together those were the games we played. By the time I was born my family was almost out of Cross Country and Jumping, and when we went skiing; it was to the Downhill slopes we went. Sometimes I find it amazing that I love Cross Country Skiing so much, but I do know why I stuck with it, and why I became good at it.
I was lucky to have a brother who went to Dartmouth College with some great Nordic Skiers like Tim Caldwell and Don Nielsen, and it just so happened that he dragged me to Lydonville, Vermont in 1975, for an on snow fall training camp, where as I floundered around in the field, trying to stay out of the way; skiers like the Caldwell's, Kochs, Dunklee, Gray, Gallagher, and many of the greats of the sport skied circles in the fields. Just seeing what they could do, the grace with which they did it, and the effortless way that they glided on snow made such an impression on me that I can close my eyes now and still see it.
I was a kid who would shoot free throws for hours on end, or throw pitches over and over, just to get it right. Now they call that obsessive; I call it a born Cross Country skier. I love a challenge, something that you can eventually master and do well, but that you will never be perfect at. Something that can be done by anyone to some degree, but an endeavor that even the best at it are far from perfect at. Cross Country Skiing has all this, yet when you get it all right, your technique, equipment, mind, and spirit all aligned with the stars, and it all falls together during a race or just a ski; you feel like your floating on air. Everybody can have that feeling if they work at it. Winning races, or skiing in big events is great, but the real thrill is that feeling of flowing down the trails, and that is worth every bit of effort to achieve. If your lucky it happens at the biggest race of your life, and you become a champion.