Took the afternoon off to go for a ski today. Parked at P7 and skied out along Ridge road taking a sampling of loops on various trails off the sides like 17, 11, 3, 9 ,2 33 and 24. Conditions most everywhere were as close to perfect as one could hope for. My glide was a little slow but perhaps the snow was still a little cold for blue wax. The grip wax choice was good though it looks to warm up over the next few days.

Ridge road had been freshly groomed today as had the parkways and were solid with good classic tracks and the skating lanes looked very good. Even the descents like Wattsfords and the Khyber pass were holding snow though the icy layer isn't too deep below. Most likely the snow was still in place thanks to the lighter weekday skier traffic but maybe the warm days last weekend and the big groomers have worked together to bond the snow to the ice?... just a theroy. Burma had likely been groomed yesterday but a thin layer of fresh fluff on top wouldn't hold much resistance. It was significantly better than what I saw in my last report - right after the last snowstorm. Still a few lumps and bumps but none that would be much of a challenge.

The backcountry trails were - as Charles reported - in very nice shape. Didn't see any troublesome granite and the fast descents offered lots of fresh snow. Warmer days again this weekend and a little more snow off and on. For those that aren't already "CSM'ing" or "Eastern" racing... get thee skiing!