Hat, Gloves, Skis, Boots, Poles

Hopefully, hearing about the snowfall earlier in the week, or seeing it yourself, has inspired you to make plans to ski this weekend. And if you haven’t made plans yet, I’ll take this moment to tell you — you should ski or ride this weekend.

I have quite a full itinerary for the weekend. I am part of a team of eight meeting on Friday in Portland, Maine. By Monday evening we will have skied 17 mountains in Maine. I’ve skied at eight areas in four days, but 17 mountains in 3 1/2 days will be a personal record. Thanks to Ski Maine’s Greg Sweetser for putting the trip together to publicize The Ski Maine Peak to Peak Challenge Card.

Last week, Mel, Yankee’s editor (and an avid skier which you know if you’ve read his comments to my blog posts) started getting worried about the prospect of my trip. He asked me a couple times if I thought the trip might be postponed since we were in the middle of the January thaw and temps were rather balmy, but I just looked at the weather report and had faith. Colder temperatures were in the forecast, which is always good at this time of year, since resorts can make snow when the mercury dips. Then out of nowhere, or so it seemed to me since I am actually not that adept at following the weather, we had a storm in the forecast. Luckily it produced. And we have another one scheduled for Friday.

Now that we are set with the snow and weather, Mel asked me if I have everything I needed for the weekend. I replied, “Hat, gloves, skis, boots, poles.” That was my mom’s way of making sure we had everything we needed for a day on the slopes and it still rings through my head before I head to the mountains.

Hat, gloves, skis, boots, poles? Snow? Check!

From one snow person to another, you really need to ski or ride this weekend. So, pack the car and head to the mountains. And, if you are skiing in Maine, maybe I will see you.

Read more New England Ski tips from Heather Atwell.