Hello everyone,

We have two spaces left on this trip - one of each gender. Please call either
Paula or me for more information.

Jim

Monday-Thursday, February 20-23, 2006. Highland Center Cross Country and
Snowshoeing, Bretton Woods, NH. Cross-country ski on world class groomed
trails at Bretton Woods. Trails connect with the new AMC facility in Crawford
Notch, NH. Intermediate to advanced level cross-country skiing, maybe a
half-day snow shoe. Cost of $250 (non-refundable unless replacement is found
by leaders) includes shared rooms, two family style meals per day, and one
social hour. Send check to registrar for full amount (include phone and
e-mail address) payable to Jim Scheef.. L Jim Scheef (860-355-0034,
jscheef@...), L Paula Burton (203-426-5369, peburton@...), R Jim
Scheef (42 Squires Hill Rd., New Milford, CT 06776, 860-355-0034).

I skied WT Thursday. They have brought in snow making equipment and
according to the manager in charge they will have them up and running as
soon as they get their hands on some generators. Apparently they are in
short supply due to the Hurricannes down south.



Vincent




----Original Message Follows----
From: "krysbs" <krysbs@...>
Reply-To: ctnordicskiers@yahoogroups.com
To: <ctnordicskiers@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [CT Nordic Skiers] Winding Trails - Saturday
Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 16:19:25 -0500

Winding Trails, Farmington was closed today, but I skied it anyways, had the
place to myself, did the blue and red loops, about 6 miles, definitely
hard-packed and icy, but metal edged skis helped a lot, the coverage is
good, the base is holding up, except near the ski center where they moved
some big machinery, and the parking lot was icy, if we get some snow
there'll be some excellent skiing again, will keep you posted!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi does anyone know where I can take cross country ski lessons,
beginner in CT?

-Lisa Meunier

Just a heads up that tonight and tomorrow night (i.e. 2-3 days before full
moon) should be excellent opportunities for some great moonlight
skiing.  It's rare indeed in this part of the world to have snow,
moonlight, and clear skies all at the same time, so take advantage of it if
you can.
Jim

========================================
    Jim Grau
    Schlumberger-Doll Research
    36 Old Quarry Road
    Ridgefield, CT  06877
    Office:  203-431-5303
    Fax:  203-438-3819

--- In ctnordicskiers@yahoogroups.com, "Brian" <sharlacb@y...> wrote:

Meet at 10:30 at the school bus turnaround on the Redding/Easton town
line on route 58.  3/10 of a mile south of the town line sign. About a
1 1/2 miles south of Joel Barlow School.  Skiing is on old dirt roads
in Centennial State Forest (connects to Trout Brook Valley, formerly
Bridgeport Hydraulic Property).  Email or call on my cell if you're
interested or have any questions (203-858-0841).  I plan on skiing 3-4
hours but there's always the option to turn back.

--- End forwarded message ---

Conditions at Mohonk today were quite good.  I skied classic from the
gatehouse, over to Oakland, out to Rhododendron Bridge, up Laurel, up to
Sky Top, and back. The snow had set up surprisingly well and there were
rather good tracks set for most of that trip.  There aren't too many places
around here where you can ski groomed trails for 3 hours and never have to
ski the same trail twice.  Justin and the crew must have been grooming all
day and night Friday to get the trails in such great shape.

THANK YOU JUSTIN!!!!

Jim

Prospect officially opened on Friday after getting about a 10" dump on
Thursday, so I drove up Saturday for about 3.5 hours of classic skiing in
pretty good early-season conditions.  Most of the trails were packed but
there were no machine-made tracks, which didn't seem to matter that much
(perhaps lots of classic rollerskiing makes one less dependent on
tracks?).  Temps were in the 20's all day, not much wind, all the tree
branches were totally snow covered, and it snowed lightly most of the
day.  Most of the rocks were well covered up, the lone exception I saw were
a few on the left (easy) side of Chickadee, which wasn't groomed at all but
was still very skiable.  I didn't go up Mt Trail, but some people I saw
reported it to be very skiable with all the rocks sufficiently
covered.  The trails that were skateable seem to be in pretty good shape,
but the skateable terrain was definitely more limited than normal --- I'd
guess about a third of those there Saturday were skating and they seemed to
be doing quite well.

Six hours of driving for 3.5 hours of skiing, but it was still very well
worth the trip.

Let it snow,
Jim

========================================
    Jim Grau
    Schlumberger-Doll Research
    36 Old Quarry Road
    Ridgefield, CT  06877
    Office:  203-431-5303
    Fax:  203-438-3819

Hello everyone,

It’s time to plan your ski season! Here is the announcement from the AMC web site. We had a fabulous time last year with a great group of people and plan to do it all again only better.

Think snow,

Jim

Highland Center Cross-Country and Snowshoeing  
Activity — Skiing:Cross-Country (Nordic)
Subcategory — Snowshoeing      
Status: OPEN   
       
Cross-country ski on the world class groomed trails at Bretton Woods. Trails connect with the new AMC facility in Crawford Notch, NH. Leaders will lead intermediate to advanced level cross-country skiing and maybe a half-day snowshoe. Or sit by the fire in the beautiful new lodge. Cost of $250 (non-refundable unless replacement is found by leaders) includes shared rooms, two family style meals per day, and one social hour. Send check to registrar for full amount (include phone and e-mail address) payable to Jim Scheef.

Related Website(s):

http://www.ct-amc.org/weekend/Highland/Highland06.htm
http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/highland/index.cfm

Date(s):

February 20, 2006 - February 23, 2006 (Mon - Thu)

Location:

Bretton Woods,  New Hampshire, White Mountains,  NH

Nearby AMC Destination:

Highland Center at Crawford Notch

Sponsoring Chapter:

Connecticut

Leader:

Jim Scheef
860-355-0034
jscheef@...

Leader:

Paula Burton
203-426-5369
peburton@...

Registrar:

Jim Scheef

42 Squires Hill Rd. , New Milford , CT 06776

860-355-0034
jscheef@...

Registration is required for this trip. See contact above.

I for one am planning to ski at Prospect Mountain tomorrow -- still lots of
snow up there.  If anybody else from my area is interested and would like
to carpool, meet at 6:30 am at the Exit-1 CPL off I-84 in Danbury.  Bring
sunscreen.

Jim

========================================
    Jim Grau
    Schlumberger-Doll Research
    36 Old Quarry Road
    Ridgefield, CT  06877
    Office:  203-431-5303
    Fax:  203-438-3819

Conditions at Prospect last weekend were really great.  They probably got
around 8-10" of fresh snow Fri night and Sat am, and it stayed below
freezing the whole weekend.  I skied classic on extra blue all day Sat and
Sun and it worked fine the whole time.  Saturday was fun but different due
to the deep fresh snow.  Even the climb to the top was not terribly
difficult, although there were a few spots where you sank in rather deeply
(I went up Mountain Trail and down Sheas, and then up Sheas and down
Mountain Trail -- both really delightful with all the fresh snow).  Skating
would have been a chore on Saturday due to the loosely packed snow, but by
Sunday it had settled quite nicely.  I still skied classic all day Sunday,
but whenever I had a chance to skate on my classic skis it worked quite
well.  Most everybody there was skiing classic because the classic
conditions were about as good as it gets -- packed powder everywhere, hard
wax all day long.  I suspect by today the skating conditions are absolutely
perfect as well.  Take advantage of it while you can, but it looks like the
good stuff will be around for a while.

Jim

========================================
    Jim Grau
    Schlumberger-Doll Research
    36 Old Quarry Road
    Ridgefield, CT  06877
    Office:  203-431-5303
    Fax:  203-438-3819

I skied classic at Fahnestock this morning from 9 to 12 and the conditions
were quite good all over.  They hadn't yet tracked the trails next to the
lake (e.g. CCC loop, etc.) but they were rolled out and quite skiable
anyway.  I saw only one bare spot, somewhere out on the outer Stillwater
loop (on Old Pasture, I think), where it frequently washes out.  Blue wax
worked fine except for the sun-drenched south-facing spots later in the
morning.  Nice packed powder prevailed because it was still well below
freezing in the morning.  Might not be as good this weekend since it's
supposed to get warmer -- I suppose that could have been the last of the
local packed powder, but I hope not.

Jim


========================================
    Jim Grau
    Schlumberger-Doll Research
    36 Old Quarry Road
    Ridgefield, CT  06877
    Office:  203-431-5303
    Fax:  203-438-3819

For folks needing more flexibility, I think the Best Western in Bennington
will allow cancellations up until about 5 or 6 pm the day of the reservation
(I would confirm this, I generally just book a day or two in advance).  They
also provide a decent continental breakfast and high speed internet computer
in the lobby for about the same money as Paradise.  I'm not knocking
Paradise, but if the weather goes downhill it's nice to be able to cancel.


>From: peburton@...
>To: hcc-ski@yahoogroups.com, xcct@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [xcct] The Untrip to Prospect
>Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 20:05:03 EST
>
>To all:
>I've had quite a few inquires about the Untrip. See the listing below. So
>far I have Jim and myself, Jim G., Alan S.&family, Steve H., Teresa  &Bob,
>Vince
>V. ,Joan & Friend, Ken H, maybe Alan S., and a few other  maybes. Basically
>we'll meet either at the Paradise Inn or at the Prospect CCSki  Lodge in
>Bennington 9:30am on Sat. March 12. If folks want to, they can organize
>themselves
>to go out to eat dinner Sat. night.
>The more, the merrier!
>Hope to see you there!
>Paula
>
>
>To all:
>Jim S. and I are inviting you to cross country ski for the weekend of March
>11-13.  Prospect Mt. has great cross country skiing, and there are other
>attractions near by. We will be staying at the Paradise Motor Inn in
>Bennington,
>which is near restaurants and only 5 minutes from Prospect. You will need
>to
>book your own rooms. A room with two doubles is $70 and there are other
>options  at higher prices. You can cancel until 7 days before your
>reservation. Call
>  802-442-8351.  You can stay one night or two nights or meet us for the
>day
>at  Prospect.  There is no leader, no agenda, nothing organized, but I  am
>sure it will be lots of fun. If you are going, just let us know, and we'll
>send
>any details such as they are. I've had a good response to my first posting,
>and sounds like there are 10 or more folks interested in such an event.
>So think snow! Check out these websites:
>
>_http://www.theparadisemotorinn.com/_ (http://www.theparadisemotorinn.com/)
>
>_http://members.aol.com/xcski/private/skiPage.html_
>(http://members.aol.com/xcski/private/skiPage.html)
>
>Paula 203-426-5369  _peburton@..._ (mailto:peburton@...)
>
>
>

Skied classic at Mohonk today.  Pretty good snow, although might have been
better for skating due to the minimal tracks in parts and the changing
conditions.  Skied out Oakwood (minimal tracks), and then, on a bit of a
whim, over to Minnewaska's Awosting Falls.  Nice set of skier-set tracks on
Undercliff.  This was the first time I'd skied the carriage trail from the
bridge to Minne.  I thought it would have gotten more use, but I actually
had to break trail for about a mile at one point.  Skied back via
Overcliff, which was rolled but not tracked (would have been great for
skating) -- it was actually better to ski in the skier tracks of ungroomed
Undercliff.  Then up Laurel Ledge (minimal tracks) and I started to
experience the changing snow because I was clumping up a bit.  By the time
I got to Woodland and Lake Shore I couldn't get any grip on any of the
sun-baked uphills so I had to skate them all -- might have had the wrong
wax at that point (Swix Blue Extra) but I didn't feel like rewaxing since
skating worked quite well.

In spite of a few problems with the kick it was quite an enjoyable
day.  Not sure how long that was, but must have been a bit more than 20
miles.  If I go back tomorrow I think I would just skate.  I suspect all
the trails were very good for skating today.  The trails that Justin had
tracked last night were indeed in good shape -- I just didn't spend much
time on them today.

Jim

Hello everyone,

Given that hikers, skiers and bicyclists tend to be bright, well-educated
people, this might be of interest...

Science Horizons is a Danbury area organization that sponsors science fairs
for students from local schools. The students range from 7th to 12th grade.
The projects can be spectacular like the one presented by a New Milford HS
student a couple years ago. She went on to win the Intel Scholarship in the
national event. Right now, Science Horizons needs about 40 more judges.

The Danbury Area Computer Society (DACS) is a member of the Science Horizons
steering committee and I am presently DACS president; so that's the
connection.

The Science Horizons Science Fair will be held the weekend of March 4-6,
2005, at Danbury High School. Preliminary judging runs from 8:00AM to 12:00PM
on Saturday, March 5 with the final judging from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. A luncheon
will be served between the judging sessions to allow the judges to relax and
to thank you for volunteering your time and expertise to the Science Fair.

Judges need a good knowledge of science or engineering and an ability to talk
with teenagers about their projects. All judging is a team effort and each
judge will see 12-15 projects in the preliminary judging Saturday morning.

You can learn about Science Horizons on their web site at
www.sciencehorizons.org and you can volunteer to be a judge at
www.sciencehorizons.org/judge.

Judges will receive a detailed information packet with specifics on judging
criteria, schedules, directions, etc. This year 703 students have registered
with 607 projects from the following school districts: Bethel,
Bridgewater/Roxbury/Washington (Region 12), Brookfield, Danbury, Easton
(Region 9), New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield,
Sherman, Southbury/Middlebury (Region 15), Brewster (NY), and North Salem
(NY). With so many students, the only way to ensure a timely and smooth
judging process is to have an adequate number of interested and qualified
judges.

I have already signed up to be a judge and I hope many of you will also.

Jim Scheef
DACS President
HCC Membership Czar
CT AMC Webmaster

Hello everyone,

Paula and I just had two cancellations on our ski trip to the AMC
Highland Center in Crawford Notch, NH. This is not a trip for beginners.


Call Paula at 203-426-5369 if you are interested.

Jim


The official AMC trip description is as follows:

Thursday-Sunday February 24-27, 2005. Cross Country and Snow Shoeing
Weekend
at AMC Highland Center, Crawford Notch, NH. See web page
http://CT-AMC.org/weekend/Highland/Highland05.htm for more details.
Cross
country ski on the world class groomed trails of Bretton Woods. Trails
now
connect with the new AMC facility in Crawford Notch, NH. Leaders will
lead
intermediate to advanced level cross country skiing and maybe a half-day
snow
shoe. Lessons and rentals are available. Backcountry skiing, snow
shoeing,
and downhill skiing are also possible on your own; or sit by the fire in
the
beautiful new lodge. Guided trips from the lodge are also available.
Cost of
$235 (non-refundable unless replacement is found by leaders) includes
dorm
style rooms (four to a room) with shared baths, three breakfasts, three
family style dinners, and one social hour. Send check for full amount
(include your phone and e-mail address) payable to: Jim Scheef, 42
Squires Hill Rd., New Milford, CT 06776. (860-355-0034,
JScheef@...). Leader: Paula Burton, (203-426-5369,
peburton@...).

This will be a fun trip. Highland Center was brand new last year when we
checked it. The skiing was great, the food was great, and the scenery
was
great. It was... well, it was exceptional. Check out the web page and
call
or email if you have questions.

Jim

We ran into a lady at Stump Sprouts Sunday who gave it high praises also.



Vincent




----Original Message Follows----
From: Jenifer Nadeau <kayakin@...>
To: hcc-ski@yahoogroups.com, ctnordicskiers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [hcc-ski] Windblown (sometimes)
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 20:05:16 -0800 (PST)

If you don't mind a bit of a drive, you should definitely check out
Windblown in New Ipswich, NH just over the MA border from Fitchburg.  Skiing
conditions there are fantastic!!! They got a lot of new snow and all trails
are open.  Not to mention the great views of Mt. Monadnock, the hairpin
turn, and open slope, which is great for practicing your snow plow and
turns.  I went up there Sa for a Boston AMC Skiing workshop and it was
great.  Very nice mom and pop operation, you wouldt love it!!  Lots of trail
options too and a great place to practice on hills.