Snow Day

I had no meetings this afternoon and we've had some good snow the last few days, so I decided to bug out early and check out the nordoc ski trails at Chapin Forest Reservation, out east of the city.

The trails were wide open and there was plenty of fresh new snow.  There were a few people out, a mix of hikers with dogs, skis, and snowshoes.  Most of the time there was nobody around, though.  Very quiet and peaceful, as you can see and hear in this video:

When we moved from Colorado to Ohio, I left all my nordic/XC ski gear behind.  Last winter I thrifted a couple of pairs of XC skis, poles, and boots.  But last year's snow and my schedule never aligned, so this was actually my first day out in the Cleveland area for nordic skiing, and my first time on this gear.

Chapin Forest has a small lodge and gear rental shop, but it was not open today.  They also have a nice little webcam setup which shows how much snow has fallen recently, how deep the base is, and a live look at the conditions.  Plus these little fire and ice characters.  They have a bunch of different funny signs that they post on the skis, announcing whether the facility is open or closed.  Very helpful if you're thinking of driving across town.

One critical flaw in my afternoon was forgetting to bring my poles.  I thought I might have made the trip for nothing, but then I decided to just poke around in the trees and see if I could find some suitable sticks.  As it turns out, any marginally straight and strong stick that's about the right length works fine as a ski pole.  

Better skiiers may feel differently, but these monsters worked just fine for me today.  Lessons were learned.