An amazing shift from Saturday's conditions. I skated on Saturday afternoon in 2 or 3 inches of slushy snow - slow going but a beautiful afternoon. Today the trail was hard packed and fast with much colder air (but still a beautiful day!). I skied from P12 up to Ridge road and out to the firetower. The grooming had been done overnight (I suspect) so the base was hard but there was enough grip for nice classic skiing.

I should have heeded Karl's advice and gone with a klister binder but I went with the "easier to apply" Teho green. This worked reasonably well for a while but eventually I had to make a few stops (after some of the long descents) to add a little more grip. Add to that, the extra blue I used as my grip wax started to be a little too cold when I was skiing on snow in the direct sun. There weren't may spots like this but when I got into the open, the snow temperature climbed into the purple range and I had none on me. I double poled or skated these spots until I got back into the shade so I was able to carry on without too much difficulty.

Lots of people out on the trail to the tower, Too tempting a run on such a sunny day. On the way back I tried the short detour down the snowshoe trail to the backcountry trail 38. This proved to be more of a crust cruise along the sides of the trail then an actual backcountry trail ski. The crust was in superb shape even at 3 in the afternoon so I skated much of the trail dodging the smaller trees and finding my own way back to trail 40 and the final descent to the car.

Back to warmer temperatures by tomorrow afternoon but it still looks like another nice day to get out if you can.