Skiing into April

The 2014 Larry Loppet was a great success. We had over 30 people out and enjoying a beautiful, sunny spring day on campus. The atmosphere was fun, the cookies were fresh and the hot cider was flowing.

They're off!

A sprint to the finish/Salomon ski boot advertisement featuring (from L-R) Kyle, Phil and Austin. From this photo evidence Austin has been officially disqualified for cutting the corner and going off-course

Thanks to skis donated from the Outing Program and ski team, everyone got to try their hand at the skinny skis, many of whom had never experienced the sport before. Of course, the day wasn't limited to just racing...we played a heated game of speedball on skis, and a few of the guys build a jump into a side hill and (with a little help from the snowmobile and some towing rope) caught some big air air:

Reed (top) and Eric catch some air and some rays...you couldn't pick better weather!

The snow is still sticking around, and while the spring sports like softball and tennis give us dirty looks for winter creeping into their seasons we are exploring all over. The crust cruising has been incredible...anywhere you see, you can skate ski! We've been on many trips up and down the Grasse River and into the forests of Pyrites. SLUSKI has shredded the alpine boards at Titus Mountain, Snowbowl and Big Tupper, gone backcountry skiing in the Adirondacks on Algonquin Mountain, and more. 

Kyle and Morgan took a trip to the Snowbowl for some afternoon turns one day

Kate out for a morning ski on the campus trails

Snowmobile trail skate skiing at Tooley Pond

Yesterday a few of us took a trip to Tooley Pond, a conservation easement near Star Lake about 25 minutes from campus. The elevation and temps meant the snow was more powder than crust...we immediately regretted not bringing out backcountry skis, but once we found the the vast network of snowmobile trails had been groomed to skate-able perfection we made do! You probably could've skied all the way back to campus!

Oh, but we still made time for some backcountry jumping and downhill runs...here's Meng getting after it on the skinny skis

Though temps are warming up there is still lots of snowpack out there. We're making a trip to Lake Placid tomorrow for what will likely be the last classic ski before next season...but you never know!