There is nothing so beautiful as seeing the sun rise while skiing through beautiful scenery! After a relaxed breakfast at Huron - we saw only one skier at this early hour - we checked out Western, and then the Etienne Brule Lookout before heading back. By the time we finished skiing and chatting, P10 was beginning to fill up.
The center skate lane on Fortune was touched up at 7:30, but the classic tracks were leftover from the multitude of skiers who used them yesterday. Not too bad, but not fresh or very well formed. The classic tracks on Ridge as far as the Lookout were quite worn, in many spots skated away completely, and the margins of the trail were often too soft for poling. Bits of ice had fallen from the trees since it was last groomed, which made it just slightly less than ideal for both skating and classic. Heading off toward Western, though, it was in fine shape, with a dusting of fresh snow covering the tracks, and #2 was just beautiful. It seemed to be freshly - really freshly - groomed. Today there was some preliminary grooming heading toward trail 24 - perhaps this stretch of Ridge will soon be open?
Anyway - it was just another day of fabulous skiing! What a great way to start the new year! Dress warmly though. The downhills = giant ice cream headaches!