{"id":1804,"date":"2012-01-18T16:22:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T21:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/?p=1804"},"modified":"2012-01-19T12:43:36","modified_gmt":"2012-01-19T17:43:36","slug":"the-best-of-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2012\/01\/18\/the-best-of-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best of Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I am a committed out-the-backdoor cross country skier.<\/p>\n<p>I discovered \u201ccross country skiing\u201d at college during the early 70s. Having grown up on alpine slopes, I was pretty disappointed to learn that my new home, St. Lawrence University, was not, ahem, in the heart of New York\u2019s downhill territory. That was especially true in those days, when no freshmen, and few upperclassmen, had cars. Even a quick 50-mile trip to Big Tupper was rare.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1805\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-1805\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2012\/01\/18\/the-best-of-winter\/skipic1x\/\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1805\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"skipic1X\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/files\/2012\/01\/skipic1X-290x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1805\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Setting out across the yard mid afternoon Sunday in perfect conditions. Fresh snow, temperature approaching 10F. (Photo: Martha Foley)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>So, if you wanted to get outside on skis regularly, x-country was your best option. It was a joyful transition for me. First, once you had your skis, poles and boots (CHEAP then), and some waxes, it was free. Second, it\u2019s a warm sport, unlike sitting on the chairlift at Gore Mt., which was dangerously conducive to frostbite.<\/p>\n<p>Third, I loved the adventure; we were discovering the rural landscape. Topo maps were our guide, or a friend who lived out in the country somewhere. \u00a0We\u2019d pick a likely destination, dope out a likely route, and go. These were generally group expeditions, four to 12 people and a dog or two. Almost without exception, we were breaking trail. There was a lunch or heavy snack stop involved, and if we were lucky with our topo map interpretation, at least one thrilling downhill. An unlucky day found us spread out, picking our ways through an alder swamp to get home. (That\u2019s when being short really is a real asset.)<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1806\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-1806\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2012\/01\/18\/the-best-of-winter\/skipic2x\/\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1806\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1806 \" title=\"skipic2X\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/files\/2012\/01\/skipic2X-300x295.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/files\/2012\/01\/skipic2X-300x295.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/files\/2012\/01\/skipic2X.jpg 479w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1806\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Late afternoon, across the road, in the neighbor&#39;s field. Yes, that&#39;s a snowmobile trail. The aging dog needs it! Late afternoon is a favorite time to ski. (Photo: Martha Foley)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This is still my favorite way to ski, though at 59, I don\u2019t have the legs for day-long trips, and I\u2019m a little more cautious about the downhills. But the joy hasn\u2019t faded. And after 30-plus years, our neighborhood has developed some lovely trails, so you don\u2019t HAVE to bushwhack. \u00a0Though sometimes, it\u2019s irresistible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am a committed out-the-backdoor cross country skier.<br \/>\nI discovered \u201ccross country skiing\u201d at college during [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}