Ski season is on

[Highlander]

Just some pics for you all. Also interesting to see how folks are acting with COVID. So far people are being really cool and respectful and wearing their face coverings and not getting all crowded or pushy. I have yet to enter a building at the resort. It’s car->ski->car.

[farscythe]

not here it isnt
we dont have hills
or snow
come to think of it...we dont even get winter every year anymore

[facw]

@highlander yesterday was my fourth day on the slopes this season:

(I guess strictly speaking, it was a night on the slopes)

I'm a bit horrified by how out of shape I am, but beyond that it's been going pretty well. Going tomorrow as well, and then will be taking a ~three week break so I can do some things in Massachusetts without running afoul of quarantine restrictions.

[Highlander]

@facw Yeah the legs were definitely burning today, we only did 5 or 6 runs top to bottom (2,000 vert). I want to ski as much as possible so it's important to start a little slow and work up the leg strength.

[Italia]

@highlander free your heel and you'll really understand how out of shape you are. Switching to telemark just worked my legs so hard.

[Highlander]

@italia I like my knees in good shape thank you very much.

[StuckMTB]

@farscythe not sure where you're at but it feels that way in Detroit in recent years too. We'll get maybe an inch or two and it'll be gone in two days. The other 100 days of winter are just grey/brown and overcast.

[facw]

@stuckmtb He's in The Netherlands (hopefully that isn't too doxy), so I think milder than Detroit winters are anticipated regardless.

But yeah, we may be seeing global warming in action, and mild places like The Netherlands might will likely get even more so. Unless of course melting ice from Greenland disrupts the North Atlantic Current, in which case all bets are off (Detroit is at 42°20'N while Amsterdam 52°22')

[StuckMTB]

@facw I've definitely witnessed a trend towards milder winters in the northeast over my lifetime, at least anecdotally from my experiences in Syracuse (normally VERY snowy) and Detroit. Both places still get snow, but it sticks on the ground a lot less than it used to, with longer periods of melting and thawing in between snowstorms.

[xsnowpig]

@highlander i quit alpine skiing after beating on my knees for a number of years working on the mountain and then started tele. Tele is so much easier on my knees. Of course i can't put in as many hours in a ski day either.

[facw]

@xsnowpig I assume he was talking about the risk of a catastrophic knee injury since telemark bindings generally don't have a release mechanism like normal standard alpine bindings, as opposed to everyday wear and tear from the activity?

[Highlander]

@facw or hitting your knee in a submerged rock or log.

[farscythe]

@stuckmtb im in the netherlands..we used to have winter here..never all that much snow tho..just cold enough to skate on natural ice
its been a while since ive done that... we get cold snaps instead of winter nowadays

[farscythe]

@facw no worries about doxing me mate
it is milder than detroit here...sea climate
warm winters not as fucking hot as everywhere else summers
used to be wet too....but rains gone wonky last few years....tends to just dump a months worth in a couple days instead of drizzle all the damn time nowadays