Open at 9 am. The temperature at 6 am is 5º. The forecast high today is 23º. Cloudy skies with a chance of new snow.

All trails are open and the skiing is really good. Hours of grooming went on last night, low trails groomed and the down track from Styles Junction.

Whether you plan to ski all the trails today, or ski the Woodcock, Snow Goose. Take time to stop and smell a snowflake and appreciate how lucky we are to be where we are able to breathe deeply, listen to the birds sing, watch the sun rise or set. Stop and enjoy. Say a prayer of thanks to the Universe. The snowflakes below were from Thursday morning. They were 3°F.-10°F.: traditional six-branched flakes (dendrites) according to the chart from Wednesday’s post. They fell in sunshine. And they made the great skiing even better.

And the Skida heart strings hat. It is here. We ordered 18 hats. As of this morning there are 15 left. Get here quick. They don’t last long, and the Skida web site is sold out of this pattern already. Below are Gretchen and Maisie, these photos are screen grabs from Skida ads.

Open at 9 am. The temperature at 7 am is 8º. The forecast high is 21º. Today is pretty much a repeat of yesterday, with the exception of the dusting of snow. Today’s dusting is a light dusting, very light.

All trails are open and the skiing is fabulous. The track is good, the corduroy is lovely. Skiing will be like this for the around the next 10 days or so. The best weather and skiing we have had in the Northeast for a number of years. We love winter.

Yesterday I posted about Dick and Gary skiing the 25 km and putting their names on the board. I stated that this was not Dick’s 1st 25 km. Dick has racked up more kilometers skiing at Wild Wings over the years than anyone by a long ways! I failed to mention Dick is 84 years old. So here is their photo again. And a shot of the board as of today. “Dick ’85” is not the year Dick graduated from high school. He considers himself in his 85th year of loving life.

The second photo from yesterday, with the kids, prompted Andy to remember this poem, below the photo. It is about kids and skating. When you read it, think kids and skiing, or skating, where ever your memories are. The photo below is of the children from a local school who are here every Tuesday afternoon.

“Ice

BY GAIL MAZUR

In the warming house, children lace their skates,   

bending, choked, over their thick jackets.

A Franklin stove keeps the place so cozy

it’s hard to imagine why anyone would leave,

clumping across the frozen beach to the river.   

December’s always the same at Ware’s Cove,

the first sheer ice, black, then white

and deep until the city sends trucks of men

with wooden barriers to put up the boys’   

hockey rink. An hour of skating after school,

of trying wobbly figure-8’s, an hour

of distances moved backwards without falling,

then—twilight, the warming house steamy   

with girls pulling on boots, their chafed legs

aching. Outside, the hockey players keep   

playing, slamming the round black puck

until it’s dark, until supper. At night,

a shy girl comes to the cove with her father.

Although there isn’t music, they glide

arm in arm onto the blurred surface together,

braced like dancers. She thinks she’ll never

be so happy, for who else will find her graceful,

find her perfect, skate with her

in circles outside the emptied rink forever?”

Open at 9 am. The temperature at 6:30 am is 16º. The forecast high is 21º. There is snow falling as I type, with a dusting of new snow on the ground. The snowflakes falling this morning are 10°F.-14°F.: star-shaped plates (stellar plates). If you want more information on snowflakes, keep reading.

25 km open, all the trails. Skiing really does not get any better. The snow is perfect. Low trails groomed again last night. Upper trails groomed the night before. The skiing is so good.

Gary and Dick skied all the trails yesterday. Dick has skied all the trails many, many times. This was Gary’s first 25 km. They both agreed the skiing is great, and the weather is pleasant.

Let’s talk a little about snowflakes. Mary Holland, from Naturally Curious with Mary Holland, had a news letter last week about snowflakes. There are so many different kinds of snow. She shared this poster, it can be purchased here.

Explanation of the poster from their site; “A marvelous collage by Dorothy Wallace-Senft. This poster shows the type of snowflake formation relative to the temperature. Over 400 of Bentley’s snowflake images are cleverly used to illustrate the thermometer. Also contains a picture of Bentley at his camera.”

And from Mary Holland;

“Snowflakes form when water vapor converts directly to a solid around particles in the atmosphere, often around dust or pollen. As these ice crystals grow, they fall. Our recent snowstorm produced exquisitely delicate and complex stellar flakes – much lighter and more intricate than those we are used to. What factors determine the shape of a snowflake? 

“It is the temperature at which a crystal forms — and to a lesser extent the humidity of the air — that determines the basic shape of an ice crystal. Contrary to the belief that it can get too cold for snowflakes to form, snowflakes can form at any temperature as long as there is moisture in the air.

“25°F.-32°F.:  thin, flat, hexagonal plates

“21°F.-25°F.: needles

“10°F.-14°F.: star-shaped plates (stellar plates)

“3°F.-10°F.: traditional six-branched flakes (dendrites)” 

The snow storm last week reminded me of the powder I skied in Montana growing up. Light and fluffy. Bridger Bowl called it “Cold Smoke”. But, somewhere in the middle of last weeks storm the 12 inches of light fluffy snow had a needle snow layer. Look at Mary Holland’s chart, needle snow shows up at the 21ºF to 25ºF. It wasn’t a thick layer, but the temperature in one layer of the atmosphere warmed up and the snow changed. The snow then changed back to traditional six-branched flakes.

Open at 9 am. The temperature at 6 am is 4º. The forecast high is a balmy 26º.

All trails open. The skiing is fabulous. Low trails with a track and skate lane. Upper trails classic track only. Upper trails groomed yesterday and/or last night. Ian also worked with a groomer on the lower trails, touching up the skate lane/downhills on Woodcock Snowgoose

If skiing all the trails in one day is a goal, today would be a great day to ski it. Fresh grooming and warmer temperatures.

Brett, if you are reading this, you all left a coat, hat, split mittens, neckie in the warming room. Your stuff is in a plastic bag hanging on the coat rack in the warming room. Put your name on your stuff folks it helps me get it back to you. Name on your skis and poles is especially helpful.

And thanks to Maaike from at Maaike Photography for the photo above. Maaike is a freelance photographer and one of her accounts is Skida. Maaike was the photographer for the Skida photo shoot here last winter. Remember the heart string hats. New heart strings hats are supposed to be here this week. Stay tuned, I’ll let you know when they arrive. If you want one, get here quickly, they go fast!