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December 16, 2007
ski report
Every year, our first ski trip is to Mt. Sunapee. I don't know what it is, but I love that little mountain.
Bad news first: It was uncomfortably cold out yesterday (everyone was chatting about it). Even though the sun was out, it didn't warm you up. As such, we left at lunch as I was freezing* and couldn't take it anymore.
The rest of the news is all good. Mt. Sunapee had a ton of trails open (97%). The conditions were awesome (except for the one run where it was all crunchy with hail sized hard snowballs on it - teh suck). Plenty of snow cover. NOBODY was there. Glorious. Fun time was had and of course, the skiing bug is now full on.
For locals, expect an email soon. We want to have a Wachusett meet up on Wednesday nights.
* I'm struggling with the cold this year in general. With the significant weight loss (35 lbs. and counting) I'm wondering if not having as much blubber (hahaha) is affecting me. I had to buy new ski pants and polar fleece cause the old stuff is too big and besides, I want to look good with the smaller size. *snort*. However, I haven't replaced my ski jacket cause I am not sure I want to purchase something that expensive when I've got a bit more to go to reach my goal weight. I felt that there was too much air coming through my jacket. I also need new gloves desperately as my fingers were frozen. And when I took a moment to examine the gloves I realized that the reason for this is they had um, tears and such allowing the cold to seep in. Oops. I'm thinking that mittens may be the solution as I've heard they're warmer cause you're fingers are all together and therefore they work together to keep things warm. Any suggestions as to how you keep warm, lemme know.
Posted by jennj at December 16, 2007 08:58 AM
Clue-ments:
I have some like these (I removed the 4 way stetchy liner gloves):
http://store.burton.com/Gloves/Womens/PRD_70484/Womens+GoreTex+Mitt.jsp?bmUID=1197819557121
A few important features to look for in gloves (coming from someone with absolutely no circulation):
1) a pocket for one of those heater packs
2) no separators between fingers. Your fingers need to touch each other - it's what makes mittens work better. Don't get a pair where there are finger separators inside the mitt.
3) Make sure they aren't too bulky. They don't have to be really thick to work. You need to be able to get your hands through your pole straps, zip your jacket, and hold on to your poles, etc.
Posted by: Kristin at December 16, 2007 10:43 AM
Kristin - Wow. Thanks. I wouldn't have thought of the bulky thing and that would have annoyed the sh*t out of me trying to deal with the pole straps, jacket, etc. and not being able to. I'm definitely going to give mittens a try.
Posted by: cf at December 17, 2007 09:56 PM
I have a pair of Burton gloves (as well as some clothes) and I must say they're brilliant. Burton designs are based on the designer's practical experience (hence the numerous "clever" solutions) but they're primarily aimed at snowboarders.
I tried on a couple of those "mitts" with "stretchy liner gloves" today and I rather liked the liner gloves. Because they're inside the mitt (which is more or less weather-proof), I should think your fingers will stay warm even though they don't touch each other. They're still inside the same "protected airspace" and will benefit from each other's warmth.
I always use gloves (rather than mitts) when skiing and when it's windy, my fingers occasionally get a bit cold. When that happens, I place my fingers in the palm of my hands (on the way up), inside the gloves and keep my hands sheltered from the wind.
Posted by: TJ at December 19, 2007 04:33 PM
How to keep warm: silk underwear. Specifically, pure silk thermals, silk camisole, and possibly a silk turtleneck on top of that, then whatever you would normally wear. That, and wool socks.
They also make silk glove liners.
www.wintersilks.com is your friend.
Posted by: Ulrika O'Brien at December 26, 2007 07:00 PM
Ulrika - mmm...silk....
I have silk thermal's, not turtleneck though. I did wear the wrong socks, I admit. I usually wear thin ones to feel my boots, but I've decided to go back to the thick ones after this latest experience. Now that I'm back time to go shopping...thanks to everyone for the great advice!
Posted by: cf at December 27, 2007 09:25 AM
TJ - thanks for the advice. I will probably check things out at REI first before potentially ordering online. With Kristin's great advice I want to make sure that any mitten I get will fit through the straps on the ski poles.
Posted by: cf at December 27, 2007 09:43 AM