[NMCCSC] Ski outing from April 13th

[Amy Mathis]

I never thought I would be giving a ski report for the middle of April, but the Sandias got snow so I brought out my XC skis out of summer hibernation.  

We let the snow fall all day long and decided to head up the crest about 4:00 in the afternoon.  The road was unpaved but we took it slow.  We were forced to turn around just before mile 9 because the road was impassable and they were not letting vehicles go any farther.  That left us with trying to ski Balsam Glade.  It felt surreal to be strapping on skis on April 13 as just the day before we were enjoying our spring blooms!  It was 4:30 and around 21 degrees.  The nature trail out to the hawk-watch overlook had seen some foot traffic, but we were able to ski it fairly easily.  We had to be mindful of bare spots beneath the overhanging trees.  I’d say there was roughly 8-inches down already and the snow continued to fall.  

Once finished with that short trail we skied through the picnic ground to reach highway 165.  The road was already bare but we could ski on the side of it.  At the first hairpin turn there is a trail you can pick up on the left side of the road just beyond the concrete barrier.  The trail showed evidence of recent snow shoe activity so we did not have to break our own trail.  It was beautiful out there and the skiing was decent!  The trail dumped us out at the Capulin Snowplay area back parking lot.  We skied the road to Capulin Spring and then turned around.  It was headed for 7:00 but felt like a winter evening around 4!  It was a very exciting and enjoyable outing.

Amy 

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Sent from my iPad