liquidfeet
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Think formica - white, shiny, impenetrable. Firmly adhere a thin layer of stiff white fuzz to it, imagine the whole thing cold and slippery, and you've got a common surface condition on groomed slopes around my neighborhood (New England).
Early in the morning, the fuzz is solid, and no matter how you point your skis it clatters as you pass over it. The ridges of corduroy barely register your presence. Later in the morning, as some of the fuzz is scraped off by aggressive skiers, the formica acquires a thin movable layer of loosened snow. You can now see your tracks where you've penetrated the loose layer. The loose stuff may collect into thin "puddles" along the trail. These puddles may even be visible if the sun is shining just right. The formica below stays solid.
By noon, that loosened fuzz has accumulated at the edges of the trail to make a narrow ribbon of slightly bumped up soft stuff. The middle has gotten downright shiny in spots. What remains is still fuzzy formica, only with less fuzz.
The racers powerfully charge down this stuff using their typical wide stance, aggressive angulation, and fully pressured skis. They are making medium radius turns and lots of noise. They fling up a bit of loose fuzz as they begin their turns, but every now and then one fully carves his (her) way down, loosening no snow in the process. I wish I could ski this stuff like a racer. I'm working on it, but it's a slow learning curve.
Once the ribbons of soft stuff appear at the edges of the trails, I ski that with short quick turns, preferring the danger of running into the trees to scraping my way down the shiny and semi-gloss stuff. Sometimes I think I may even be elegant as I do this, but usually I'm working hard and sweating. That's ok. I like the challenge, and savor the feeling of lightness-on-my-feet that comes with skiing a narrow corridor.
How do you ski fuzzy formica?
Early in the morning, the fuzz is solid, and no matter how you point your skis it clatters as you pass over it. The ridges of corduroy barely register your presence. Later in the morning, as some of the fuzz is scraped off by aggressive skiers, the formica acquires a thin movable layer of loosened snow. You can now see your tracks where you've penetrated the loose layer. The loose stuff may collect into thin "puddles" along the trail. These puddles may even be visible if the sun is shining just right. The formica below stays solid.
By noon, that loosened fuzz has accumulated at the edges of the trail to make a narrow ribbon of slightly bumped up soft stuff. The middle has gotten downright shiny in spots. What remains is still fuzzy formica, only with less fuzz.
The racers powerfully charge down this stuff using their typical wide stance, aggressive angulation, and fully pressured skis. They are making medium radius turns and lots of noise. They fling up a bit of loose fuzz as they begin their turns, but every now and then one fully carves his (her) way down, loosening no snow in the process. I wish I could ski this stuff like a racer. I'm working on it, but it's a slow learning curve.
Once the ribbons of soft stuff appear at the edges of the trails, I ski that with short quick turns, preferring the danger of running into the trees to scraping my way down the shiny and semi-gloss stuff. Sometimes I think I may even be elegant as I do this, but usually I'm working hard and sweating. That's ok. I like the challenge, and savor the feeling of lightness-on-my-feet that comes with skiing a narrow corridor.
How do you ski fuzzy formica?
(does a number on the wax job & edges, though 
)
