It's no surprise that skate conditions on the Doldrums were fairly hard and icy this morning, but the skate lane had been tilled deeply enough that I never had trouble getting my edges to hold. The large-grain granular snow was rocket fast, as were descents in the concrete classic tracks. On occasion the powerful March sun broke through the clouds and helped soften the surface. The 50kmh west wind was a bit of an issue- at times I felt I was being blown backwards! It's definitely worth skiing on the upper parkways today, but I don't regret my decision to save my knees and stay off the steeper hills. There were lots of parking spaces open in P8 when I departed around noon. P8 itself is a skating rink and could use sanding- be extremely careful when walking to the trailhead.