Conference mtview::x_c_skiing

I went to Great Glen Trails in NH this past weekend.  They had had 18" during the week 
previously and it was snowing the entire afternoon we were there.  The conditions were 
superb!  I also went about a half mile up the auto road.  That was a lot of fun.  There was a 
x-country ski race up the auto road the next day.

The main trails are easy even the intermediate trails.  I did not ski the expert trails but I 
would suspect they might be more like intermediate level.  The views are usually good there 
and they run a nice base lodge.

Rick

    I was at Bretton Woods last Friday. They had 8-10" of new snow,
    (powder) on top of about 12 inches of base. It was snowing on and off
    all day, as Mt. Washington tends to make it's own weather. Went on the
    Bridal Path to the B & M Trail to the Abenakki Loop and back down the 
    B & M to the Touring Center. Conditions were absolutely perfect except
    when we got back out in the open on the gold course. The wind had
    picked up to around 45-50 MPH sustained and the groomed tracks were
    filling in and some bare ground was appearing after the drift blew off.
    Plus it was about 11 degrees without the wind Brrrr. Still a great day.
    
    About half of the trails were open. (50 km) Plus there was only tracked
    grooming on one side of the trails. The other side was only partially
    groomed (raked) to let skating style skiers use them. This created a
    bit of a problem as people had to keep getting out each other's way
    when going in opposite directions. It wasn't to bad on Friday with a
    smaller crowd, but I could see a problem on the weekends with bigger
    crowds. Especially now that it's been snowing on and off for several
    days in New England. Still, it is Bretton Woods and I love it there.
    
    
    On Sunday, we went to Lincoln Woods in Lincoln. The National Forest.
    Good to excellent conditions. We went up the old RR bed on the left
    side of the river (heading upstream) The was one spot about 1.5 miles
    up the trail where a mountain stream had undercut the trail to where
    you had to stop and walk across. The way back was not steep enough to
    get up the speed to jump it. Other then that, there was about 2 feet of
    snow and it was tracked in both directions. We went as far as the wall
    to feed the birds and then came back. There were quite a few people,
    but the only problem was one family with their dog. The dog wasn't
    restrained and wasn't friendly. I stopped to warn these folks about the
    break in the trail and the dog was going to attack. The owner told him
    to be quiet, but that didn't help. I was ready to stab the beast with
    my pole. :-) I haven't had a problem with dogs there in the past, and
    have even enjoyed seeing the animals getting out in nature with there
    own backpacks on with the overnight skiers and snowshoers. It's cute,
    but when someone brings a dog that reacts badly to people just talking
    to someone and even warning them of trouble or danger and they don't
    restain their pet, then they have no place being out there with the
    rest of us. 
    
    Still it was a fun day.
    
    Bright Blessings,
    
    PJ

    We were up in Bethel, Maine at the Telemark Inn last weekend.  They
    received 16" of snow last Thursday, and it snowed lightly all day
    Saturday.  I'm a novice at x-c, but I had a great time, and my more
    experienced friends said the conditions were great.  On Sunday, it was
    a perfect day, and we had a wonderful time!  The conditions elsewhere
    in Bethel were probably the same.  --Susan