<I>(Note from the Administrator: This report was originally posted on 3/20/00. Due to our move to new servers, the date and time attributed to this post is incorrect.)</I> <BR> <BR>With too many domesticitied on my "to do" list heading further afield was out of the question, but with 5" reported in Jaffrey NH, a quick dash to Mt. Grace MA seemed in order. <BR> <BR>Arriving at the turnout just north of where the Metacomet-Monadnock trail crosses Rt. 78 it didn't look all that good. An optimistic assessment would have placed the "snowpack" at 3 inches, but it was really more like 2. But cover is cover, and they don't call 'em "rock skis" for nothing! <BR> <BR>It took 45minutes to skin the 1100' (did the math right, this time 
to the summit on consistent but thin new snow. It was a gorgeous blue-sky 20F degree kind of day, and it took more than the prospect of a few rock hits to quell the joy of the day. Skiing solo, with no tracks save the occasional squirrel crossing, there was no worry about a <BR>snowmachiner or another skier poaching my line. At the summit was one set of footprints ascending then descending the fire-road route, leading to & from the firetower steps. A coupla glugs off the jug and I was off. <BR> <BR>The thin new snow was fast & unforgiving, making the descent a combination of wild rides, bailouts, stems & sidesteps (down over a bouldery ice-fall), with the occasional shot at linking more than 3 turns in a row. Myriad stump-lets & rock-lets hid flush with the snow surface deflecting my skis in all manner of unintended directions, and more than one bail-out included grabbing the trailside saplings so graciously provided for that purpose. Skiing in the woods was out of the question, with inadequate cover over the blowdowns & logs. Even the M-M trail 5-7' wide in most spots, was narrowed to barely body-width in spots by the damage left over from the previous week's ice storms. <BR> <BR>At the bottom the sun had already burned through my skin tracks, leaving a parallel set of mud tracks marred only by the less-than-parallel frenetic marks of the descent. Bagged my first tracks- not much left for a repeat run, so I quit while I was ahead! <BR> <BR>Arriving at turnout, another car pulled in as I was unlocking. The driver sticking his head out the window queried, "Is the trailhead somewhere near here?" <BR> <BR>"Sure- about 30 yards further- just follow my ski tracks." <BR>I responded, at which point he looks down with bug-eyes at the tails of my skis sticking out from under the car where I stood at the door. <BR> <BR>"Uh, OK, I... see..." he said, before driving back onto the road.
to the summit on consistent but thin new snow. It was a gorgeous blue-sky 20F degree kind of day, and it took more than the prospect of a few rock hits to quell the joy of the day. Skiing solo, with no tracks save the occasional squirrel crossing, there was no worry about a <BR>snowmachiner or another skier poaching my line. At the summit was one set of footprints ascending then descending the fire-road route, leading to & from the firetower steps. A coupla glugs off the jug and I was off. <BR> <BR>The thin new snow was fast & unforgiving, making the descent a combination of wild rides, bailouts, stems & sidesteps (down over a bouldery ice-fall), with the occasional shot at linking more than 3 turns in a row. Myriad stump-lets & rock-lets hid flush with the snow surface deflecting my skis in all manner of unintended directions, and more than one bail-out included grabbing the trailside saplings so graciously provided for that purpose. Skiing in the woods was out of the question, with inadequate cover over the blowdowns & logs. Even the M-M trail 5-7' wide in most spots, was narrowed to barely body-width in spots by the damage left over from the previous week's ice storms. <BR> <BR>At the bottom the sun had already burned through my skin tracks, leaving a parallel set of mud tracks marred only by the less-than-parallel frenetic marks of the descent. Bagged my first tracks- not much left for a repeat run, so I quit while I was ahead! <BR> <BR>Arriving at turnout, another car pulled in as I was unlocking. The driver sticking his head out the window queried, "Is the trailhead somewhere near here?" <BR> <BR>"Sure- about 30 yards further- just follow my ski tracks." <BR>I responded, at which point he looks down with bug-eyes at the tails of my skis sticking out from under the car where I stood at the door. <BR> <BR>"Uh, OK, I... see..." he said, before driving back onto the road.