X-Country skiing at Tea Cup, December 1st

I think this is something I needed to try, at least once, so I did. I went with a couple of friends to Tea Cup up in Mt Hood to try X-Country skiing. The drive up was incredible because the day was not as overcast as the first time I drove there, so that gave us some really beautiful views. In my past winters in Chicago, it was easy to see trees covered in snow, although most of them where trees without leaves and just a few pine trees. Nothing very interesting. Looking at a mountain full of pine trees where the base color is still green but all are covered with snow is an amazing view. I think the pictures don’t honor those views really well. You can almost count every tree and every snow covered branch. In the pictures you’ll see what I mean. Going back to this adventure, we did a quick stop to rent gear and head to Tea Cup. Tea Cup is a X-country only trail. That means that not even dogs are allowed there. The trail is maintained by the Nordic Club, so they groom it and keep it perfect for X-country. After a little introduction it was off to the trails. I’m not going to use a bad word her, but trust me; this is the place I would use it. This was a workout!! After just a few minutes, I had to stop and take some layers off and change to lighter gloves. I really didn’t know what I was in for. Now I understand why they say that X-Country skiing is the perfect sport because you use muscles you don’t even know you have, because it’s true!!. We did a couple of runs on the trails while the more seasoned skiers were just flying by. It was a very interesting day and X-Country skiing is something I will do at least a couple more times to see if I can pass the technique learning process and actually enjoy the sport.