EISPIRATEN

My hubby and I kicked off 2009 in Yosemite. For once, we stayed in a lodge rather than trek off into the backcountry. It was a change of pace! The weather was sunny on 1/1 but on 1/2 we experienced fog, rain and snow. If you are interested, check out our pics of our very first snowshoeing adventures. Happy new year, everyone!
www.flickr.com/photos/33777171@N06/sets/

Nice pictures, thanks for posting. If you don't mind sharing, which lodge did you stay at?

HNY!

I don't mind you asking at all! We stayed at the Wawona Lodge. it was my first time there. Before, I have camped at Crane Flat, Tuolomne and spent one night at Curry Village, before starting the John Muir Trail. Anyway, the Wawona was nice! The staff was friendly and attentive. The food was yummy and the accommodations were comfortable and cozy.

Hi, Liz,

Great pix. I've XC skied out to Dewey Point many times. Great area. One these days I want to ski out to Glacier Point and spend the night...

HJ

Yeah! Now I want to snowshoe to Glacier Point for the night too. Also, since this was my first real chance to play in the snow, I saw XC skiers. It looks like a great workout and lots of fun. I'm into activities that make my legs burn! Now...I'm off to teach a Spin class.

Supposedly, XC skiers (at the Olympic level anyway) are the best aerobically conditioned out of all athletes (that's what they said when I was watching the last Winter Olympics). It makes sense to me since you're using both your upper and lower body.

It's by far my favorite outdoor activity. I prefer XC skiing over hiking, BP'ing, way over snowshoeing, cycling, kayaking, or anything else I've tried.

Nice Pictures Liz,

I put on skies last Feb for the first time in 25 years and did the CX out to Glacier Point - the skis we rented from the Badger Pass rental company were in fairly bad shape - it took more out of me than it should have and the control with them was terrible.

If I can suggest anything is to rent your own from a local company and do a small trip locally on them to get used to them.

I had never cross country skied in my life and I made it to the Lodge at the Glacier Point in about 4.5 hours, but decided to hike out the next day back to Badger Pass as it was easier than using the lousy skis.

I will go back and do it again sometime but I will bring my own skis or better rentals.

Enjoy Lilbitmo

lilbitmo wrote:If I can suggest anything is to rent your own from a local company and do a small trip locally on them to get used to them.

The bad part about living in LA is that I have not heard of even one shop that rents XC skis, not Sport Chalet, not REI, not even A16.

You can rent skis at Mt. Pinos, Mt. San Jacinto, and in the San Bernardinos at Rim Nordic and Green Valley (if Green Valley is operating this year), but I wouldn't exactly call those local shops.

It's a pain. It used to be that you could try different types of bindings (Nordic Norm "three pin", New Nordic Norm (NNN), cable bindings, Randonee', etc.) and different types of skis (skate, track, touring, tele, etc.) until you found what you liked and then buy. I was blessed to find out that I liked 75mm three pin bindings, and metal edged touring skis. That configuration allows me to go outside of groomed XC ski areas (i.e. "track" skiing) and tour on my own in places like the SGW with no trail fees or passes required and no sense of being on a track on a ride in Disneyland.

I personally don't like the NNN bindings. I've seen them freeze too many times. NNN bindings are generally not repairable in the field. NNN might be OK in groomed ski areas, but I would not buy a set of NNN bindings for backcountry touring.

One last comment: learn to ski on good snow. Icy crap is fine for snowshoeing, but you need powder (or perhaps graupel or corn) to ski on. Skiing on icy crap isn't worth getting out of bed for, and it's a good way to get injured. Ask me about my shattered right femur.