Skiing before Christmas is a big treat and the skiing should be very good thanks to Mother Nature's recent snowstorms.

Balsams Wilderness was the first nordic ski resort to open in NH. Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont took the honors for their state and Harris Farm was the first in Maine!

SMARTS BROOK NORDIC SKI TRAILS

Jon and I went to backcountry ski the Tri-Town and Yellow Jacket Ski Trails in Waterville Valley, NH on December 9. All their trails were open and the skiing fun was boundless! The snow conditions were marvelous. The evergrees were thickly covered with powder snow, the beaver lodges we like to visit lay still in the winter's cold and the brooks were starting to form icicles.

Weather can be fickle but it appears thats lots more terrain and nordic resorts will be open next weekend. A good one stop place to find information about New Hampshire Nordic centers is XC Ski NH.

It is updated constantly and has links to all the resorts.

IMPROVEMENTS

Dexter Trail Inn located in Sunapee, NH this year has expanded parking, a new YTS Ginzu groomer and a loop for leashed dogs.

Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, NH had many of its trails smoothed in order to be able to open with as little as four inches of natural snow. The Wave Trail has been redesigned in order to continue to meet FIS regulations. Jackson’s race course will be one of only six homologated race courses in the United States, meeting the FIS’ highest standards.

Great Glen Trails in Pinkham Notch this weekend, hosted the first Nordic ski race of the season in New England, the Atomic Sprints at Great Glen. More than 100 racers from high school to masters are expected to compete in this exciting sprint race format.

WORLD CUP NEWS

The World Cup opened in Austria early in November and US Team and Team America are off to a good start. Ted Ligety, 1st in the GS and Jimmy Cochran, 24th in the slalom. Bode Miller is 10th in the GS and 35th in the slalom. Bode is no longer on the US Ski team and has formed his own Team America. He still wears the US Team uniform. The World Cup resumes in Italy at Val Gardena-Groeden and in Switzerland at St. Moritz.