Today, with the cold temperatures and lack of grooming (according to the infamous NCC site) I did everything else first and saved skiing until late afternoon. It seemed to pay off! The wind was slight, Fortune was very slow, but groomed, Burma was even slower, not groomed, but very beautiful in the late afternoon light. The wind had brought down beech and oak leaves, which settled in the skied-in tracks, so I opted to ski out of the track much of the time. Although it was minus 8 at this time, the snow was still very abrasive and slow. Some of the downhills felt like series of lurches! Everything changed when I turned onto trail 9. No debris, just a delightful single track and the skied-in snow was quite a bit faster. 20 and 18 were also delightful, especially in the glow of the low sun. When I reached Ridge Road, near trail 2, the groomer was just passing by. The section of Ridge between Champlain and Fortune was still quite a mess of debris, with only one classic track being shared by skiers in both directions. AS I descended Fortune, the parkway was filled with skiers coming up for dinner, and the large groomer was doing his magic. The almost-full moon was in the sky. A beautiful evening!