so we made it to the chair first this morning, it was amazing, the snow was perfect, rob and i had great turns for an hour before it was really cut up. the subtle softness under my board as i float over fresh powder is something only one other thing can equate to, surfing. not as good as bottomless powder but pretty damn close to the good stuff. we had it all to ourselves, the cold air biting into my face and the flow perfect, no music necessary, the rhythm of the snow more than enough, the rhythm of winter allowing a song to play off the board made all the music i needed. after a few hours of gravity assisted winter fun it was time to explore a new nordic tour. we essentially skiied the middle portion of the firecracker 50 course. straight up hill with little b in the sled for an hour plus, fresh snow about ankle deep on the packed trail to iowa mill, if we hadn't been in the clouds the view would have been amazing. i started out in my big jacket after ten minutes of climbing i took of the coat, minus two and i'm schlepping up the hill in a shirt, good work! the sled made it a great resistance workout but more importantly shaubie and i got to ski a new trail. the winter geography looks so different up there from the summertime. not skiing it last winter and the other winters we just chose different tours. it was great to see the stuff that is so familiar on the bike on skis. the cold was fine with me b/c of the work i was doing with the sled but coming down shaubie wanted him to keep her speed in check, that's when i felt the cold. i love winter. sleep well