Skiing at Thirteenth Lake

Garnet Hill Cross-Country Ski Weekend, February 3-5, 2006

As you know, this hasn’t been the best season for snow. When we left Rochester for Garnet Hill, it was drizzling, without any snow on the ground. Garnet Hill advertised 4-8" of base, and for the most part, they were honest. Most of their trails were opened and groomed with fresh tracks. A few were closed due to wash-out of the trail.

We had 13 intrepid X-C adventurers stay in Big Shanty, a 100-year old lodge near Gore Mountain with one of the best ‘great rooms’ ever. Saturday we skied with surprisingly good ‘spring’ conditions, good ground coverage, a little bit of ice, and some slushy spots as the day progressed. Saturday night we had rain, causing degradation of the trail in some spots, but Sunday was still quite reasonable for skiing. Six of us stayed over to Monday, and by then we had colder temperatures and 2-3" of badly needed fresh snow.

A highlight of the weekend was the ping-pong tournament, again won by the hostess, Joyce. It wasn’t until late in the semi-finals that a significant question was raised whether Joyce was using an illegal serve. Unfortunately, there was no real answer to this question.
- Richard H.