2012/2013 XC Ski Thread

pixychick

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Snow is finally here. Please post any XC Ski condition reports up here. 🙂

12/29 - 3 inches in Bergen County. With a slight base, much more is reported up by Waway. I may head up there late morning tomorrow to check out conditions. I will report back.
 
I'm gonna head up to Minniwaska to skate ski. Reports are that conditions are good. When I get back I'll post up some pics, enjoy the snow and tell us what trails are good🙂
 
I skied the rail trail and some of the WMA at Mahlon today. Two spots you have to trek through the woods a bit; once to get past a wet area with no snow and once to get past a cluster of trees. One spot early on (coming from Saffin pond) you pretty much have to walk through a no cover spot. Very good overall though. Looks like nobody had been in the WMA areas except for some wildlife. I wanted to do more in there but am not in skiing shape at all.
 
I skied at Ringwood today. Cover was good in the gardens and paths around Skylands Manor. The cover is only about 3-5 inches, but the firm under layer helped cover. The woods are marginal, especially in rocky areas. My guess is that waway has more cover. Beautiful day to be out.
 

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Spent close to 3hrs skate skiing at Minnewaska today. With the wind it felt like 0 degrees up there. My fingers were so numb I couldn't take any pics. I actually took the camera out at one point and it wouldn't turn on, it was that cold.

Conditions were great, they have about 1' of snow. They rolled it and set tracks for the kick and glide folks. The corduroy is good for skating, just enough soft stuff on top for traction.

My average hr was 140 which is pretty good, thats like tempo pace for me. I really like skate skiing, it has a great feel to it and when your done you felt like u housed yo body.

I may head to Mahlon tomorrow with my beaters to explore, def want to get back to Minnewaska...maybe new years day.
 
JimN said:
I skied the rail trail and some of the WMA at Mahlon today.
Click to expand...

Jim, where do u pick that up. I remember doing the rail trail into mahlon with Brett a few years ago. I remember we parked in commercial building parking lot and skied in.
 
I just parked at the Saffin Pond parking lot and crossed Weldon Rd to ride the rail trail headed north. You are talking about parking at the park and ride off rt 15 I'm guessing. You can cut through the WMA trails to get to the Mahlon and the rail trail from there too.
 
Yeah, the park and ride. It looks like the exit off of 15 right after weldon rd. I remember taking that into mahlon. Thanks Jim.
 
Yeah, you want the Sparta Business District exit and there are signs for the park and ride. I parked at Saffin Pond today because I didn't know if the WMA fireroads had been cleared since the storm.
 
Its clear from the park n ride, one log over that's built up and a go around by the foundation.
 
Good to hear. I was gonna check it out this afternoon, but my legs are really sore from yesterday. I'll have to take it a little easy tonight so I can get out there tomorrow.
 
Met 26er this morning at Mahlon. Conditions were perfect, frozen base with 4" of freshies on top. Went down Cascade and it was easy to pick a line thru Anrothar's rocks...we just floated over them.

The batteries in my camera crapped out, I couldn't get any pics. Next time. I do have the Garmin for what we covered.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/256314052
 
Great to hear things are good at Mahlon!! Waway was perfect today. You could ski off trail and over rocks with no problem. However, water is still open in spots, so you need to plan your water crossings. And wind blown by the lake, better in the woods.
 
Checked out KVSP this morning with 26er and his dog. It was a late start after last night but if felt good to sweat out the impurities. Conditions were fair, with more exposed rock and icing in spots. Overall still pretty good but not as good as conditions yesterday at Mahlon.

It looks like temps are going to stay cold but not sure what the conditions of snow will be by the weekend. Wayway seems to have enough white stuff, hopefully the quality sticks around for the weekend.

Tomorrow is back to work which means I won't get back on the snow till Saturday. This is ok I could use some rest, over the last 3days I have put in 30 + miles of xc ski tracks.

26er's dog Coda is made for the snow, he's a great trail dog.

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For those with questions regarding xc ski equipment I came across this video which is helpful in selecting the right set-up for our area. The 1st four ski's in this clip are well suited for NJ trails.

As a rule of thumb thinner lighter skis will work well of flatter terrain while wider skis will do better on hills because they are more stable. I like the first four ski's in the video because they work well in both. They are suited for exploring NJ trails.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi4TLXCrUCs
 
I was trolling that last night. I want to try the 3 pin binding and boots. Looks like you have more control on the downhills but I'm sure you'll pay with more weight
 
I have the Rossignol BC 65 skis and X5 boots. I like both, but the boots give me blisters on the top of my pinky toes. Not sure if they just aren't broken in enough or if I have to develop some calluses.
 
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