Last weekend was nice (Catskills)

[rongon]

Last weekend, I went out alone into a favorite little pocket of my local hills. The snow was pretty deep, 2 feet to maybe a little more. The best open woods with a nice downward were a bit crusted up from the morning's mid-30s F temperature, but I was able to stay in control using stemmed telemarks and stem christies. I like poking around in the woods on skis. It makes me feel good. I can't understand why people choose to go to ski resorts on days like that. The crowds and machinery ruin the vibe, I think.

[GrimSurfer]

Nice pics. Catskills are great.

I think avoiding lift lines and resort mayhem is what draws people to the sport. Fortunately, the exertion keeps most people from coming back, so it’s easy to still find virgin trails.

[fisheater]

@rongon People as a whole don’t understand skiing in the backcountry. I personally think that crappy, slow, cross country skis that are only good for shuffling, and completely non supportive shoes are a big reason why most people will never learn about backcountry skiing.
As for the stem christy, and stem telemark, I know those turns well!

[lowangle al]

That looked good up there. It was good in my neck of the Poconos before that rain. I may have to check with you on a condition report up there if my trails go to crap.

[rongon]

Funny, I was just checking on weather here...

I'm down in the valley, about an hour drive from the central Catskills.

The NWS says it snowed a couple of inches in the hills yesterday, then rained a couple inches last night into this morning, and now it's windy and snowing a little bit but freezing up hard. I don't expect we'll have decent backcountry conditions for a little while. No fun.

[GrimSurfer]

Crap here in Ottawa too. Snow, rain, slush, and flash freeze. Going to take a lot of snow to soften the base up a bit and get some structure back to the snow pack.

At least I got out a few times. Heading to the snow belt soon though… they didn’t get the rain-slush and the temperature decline has been more gradual. Might actually be ok.

[randoskier]

Last weekend, I went out alone into a favorite little pocket of my local hills. The snow was pretty deep, 2 feet to maybe a little more. The best open woods with a nice downward were a bit crusted up from the morning's mid-30s F temperature, but I was able to stay in control using stemmed telemarks and stem christies. I like poking around in the woods on skis. It makes me feel good. I can't understand why people choose to go to ski resorts on days like that. The crowds and machinery ruin the vibe, I think.

Catskills? Did you run into any stand-up comedians?

[rongon]

Billy Crystal was makin' 'em howl!

[randoskier]

That looked good up there. It was good in my neck of the Poconos before that rain. I may have to check with you on a condition report up there if my trails go to crap.

In the Poconos you can always recuperate with a good friend in the heart-shaped tub!

[mvwmvw]

In the Poconos you can always recuperate with a good friend in the heart-shaped tub!

There's a reason all those PA resorts are on the EPIC pass. lol.