The second major snow of the season starts in a few hours, just in time for Thanksgiving. This year has been unusual for the great early season cross-country ski conditions. This morning I skied 17 km at SnowFlake Nordic Center just outside of Duluth, Minnesota (thanks, George Hovlund).
When I ski, in the true NorthstarNerd tradition, I tend to be a bit techie! I often record my races (see SkiCam man photos), or use my Garmin to measure and compute a trail's difficult rating. As a serious competitor, a skier needs to know more than just distance. Thus, I measure the total elevation change divided by the distance traveled.
The conditions this morning were fantastic for classic. SnowFlakes difficult rating is 20.29. As a frame of comparison, the Birkie Trail has a rating of 59.44, and the Mora Vasaloppet has a rating of 30.67. Having noted that, SnowFlake is worth a visit! However, the hills are mild.
You can view all my other ratings via this page. You may also be interested in my MinnSki Portal (Nordic Skiing in Minnesota)
Finally, click upon the image given below to view the Garmin data for my SnowFlake workout.
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