XC Skiing - First snow of the season

10+ inches of it.  Heavy and wet with a layer of slush on the bottom.  Miserable driveway shovelling.  Thanks to neighbor Gary for tackling the deep end with his snowblower. 

After a short break to catch my breath and drink something, Holly and I got out for an hour of skiing.

At Indian Meadows Park in nearby Glenville

Indian Meadows Park has a few miles of fairly flat ski trails, some of them groomed by a local volunteer with a snowmobile and roller.  This grooming was in progress later in our outing, but with a couple of exceptions, most of the trails we followed had already been tracked by others and made for a pleasant first time out.  The park was very crowded today, but most of the crowd was on the sledding hill and we saw only a few others on the trails.

This is the kind of snow that will set up firm and make a great base if it manages to stick around, and a few fluffy inches on top would make for excellent skiing.