With Guest Commentary from Ziggy, the Adirondack Lifestyle Ski Dog

The combination of an active weather pattern and cold temperatures has created delightful conditions for Adirondack winter outdoor recreation enthusiasts. Regular readers of Adirondack Lifestyle may recognize my pattern; fewer articles usually means great ski conditions in the Adirondacks. Regulars will also remember, I make up for it by sharing pretty pictures of winter life (usually involves skiing) in the Adirondacks. As usual, you can click on the photos to see larger versions.

In a nutshell - conditions are great for sliding on snow throughout the Adirondacks right now. Things are also looking positive for the future; the weather people have predicted a train of storms will bring unrelenting snow to northern New York. “A train of storms….unrelenting snow” — cliches, but music to my ears and those of fellow skiers.

The Lake Placid region received about 24 inches of fresh snow in the last 10 days. Those good snow numbers were complimented by the sub-zero cold. Cold plus a coating of fresh snow nearly every day led to many turns in sweet, fluffy white goodness and exhilarating downhill runs. The backyard backcountry and the Olympic ski trails at Mt. Van Hoevenberg were perfect for daily ski excursions.

Great ski conditions in Lake Placid present a dilemma: ski in the backcountry, on groomed cross-country trails, or at the lift-served area? The news is heartening for the ambitious skier who mixes it up. The Adirondack backcountry is in decent condition for skiing, backcountry lite such as the Jackrabbit Trail, is in great condition, and the groomed trails at the cross-country ski centers are fast and wonderful with plenty of coverage. Whiteface has also been outstanding.

Backcountry skiing through the Adirondacks is more than a fun time on skis; it is interesting. We meet fellow fans of winter in the Adirondacks and admire their skill from a distance as they scale their cold-weather gift, great ice climbing conditions.

Now, because I promised him, Ziggy’s ski commentary follows.

Ziggy’s ski report

All I know is last month we spent a few days laying around and I got to be on the bed all day ‘cause mom was there. There was a lot of muttering about some rhinovirus guy and being on the bed was fun but I got bored with that after a while. I decided to remind her about that Adirondack Lifestyle wellness stuff and isn’t playing outside good for us and did you not notice all that cold white stuff on everything outside that usually lights your fire? I believe you call it snow.

I tried a few whines and whimpers since it was so nice out, but all I got was, she actually snarled at me, “All right Ziggy, you have to wait until I am better!” So, yeah, I’ll just lay here on the floor and stay away from Mrs. Cranky Face, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off her when she went near the mud room where they keep the ski stuff and my leash and all the fun important things humans have and those chickadees have started their Hey Ziggeee taunt already. It seems early but I guess the days are getting longer and pretty soon they’ll be in full Hey Babeeee, mode. I’ve been instructed to stay on point again — oops sorry — back to my ski report.

So we finally went outside skiing I have to say at first she didn’t set a perky pace , so I thought this bodes well for me and smelling smells because she is skiing so slowly and I know those voles and mice think they are all cozy and safe under the snow. Nice and slow is a good smelling pace for my four legs and next thing you know and just as I caught the scent of a field mouse scurrying about 4 inches under the snow I hear “Down hill fast!” and she’s off out of sight. And we haven’t stopped since except for when I get to lay in front of the wood stove and she is someplace I can’t go because some people work hard on keeping the trails nice for humans. I could be offended and think, “like oh yeah, dogs don’t keep the trials nice” but they can keep their groomers while I take a rest and get ready for tomorrow’s guilt-induced, backcountry dog ski.