Cabin Creek Cross-Country Skiing 2-19-13

Younger son had the day off school on a Tuesday and I had just come off a 60-hour work week.  The weather didn't look too iffy, in fact it turned out rather nice.  What could be better than a day of cross-country skiing?

Off we went eastbound over Snoqualmie Pass to I-90 Exit 63, the Cabin Creek Sno-Park.  This is a popular cross-country ski area that usually gets crowded on the weekends.  Today, there were only a handful of cars in the lot.

The Cabin Creek Nordic Ski Area has a network of groomed trails ranging from beginner to expert.  The ski area is maintained by the Kongsberger Ski Club and the trails are groomed by Washington State Parks.  Kongsberger Ski Club regularly holds races here.

Today younger son and I did the easy road trail out and back for two laps for a total of six miles.  We had clouds and peeks at blue skies.  The weather was warm for this time of the year, maybe mid to high 30s.  The snow varied from soft to crusty depending on where the sun hit or didn't hit.

We also had taken the opportunity to outfit ourselves in new skis and boots from the big winter sale at REI.  I had been skiing for over 20 years on a pair of Epoke 1000 skis with Rottefella three-pin bindings and a pair of made-in-Italy leather boots that were about a half-size too small.  I plan to mount NNN-BC bindings on the Epokes because it's still a fantastic ski on and off track. 

I picked up a pair of Fischer Jupiter Control skis that for the price will make a pretty good track ski.  In fact, they worked out just fine for in the tracks and I even was able to skate on them in the skating lane.  The boots are Madshus CT100 and fit my EEEE foot comfortably the whole time.  I'm set now for casual days in the tracks.