Last year when we decided to return to Nordic skiing after a seven year hiatus, we found ourselves chasing snow from Wyoming to Michigan. (you can read about it under winter of 2019). While in Michigan enjoying a fire in a warming hut at a trailhead we engaged in a conversation with a woman. She told us about an amazing ski trip that she had done in Finland called the Rajaita Rajalle Hinto, translated this means Border to Border. It is a ski trip which starts skiing near the Russian Border and ends near the Swedish Border. Depending on the year and the snow conditions one skis around 450km in 7 daya. In our enthusiasm for hearing about this trip we thought wow we should do that event this year. Our legs are in shape and we have the time. After a call to a travel agency in Seattle that helps with the details we soon were informed that the deadline to sign for the trip had passed and that if we were interested in we should sign up in July of this year. Once enrolled we would be able to participate in the year 2020. So in true form an idea was formed and as we talked to friends about our future plans we became committed to do the ski and spend some time in Scandinavia exploring. Now that we had a whole year to plan before the trip, our thoughts turned to other adventures which included paddling in Prince William Sound, Alaska, celebrating my Aunt’s !00th Birthday party in PA , hiking the Long Trail in Vermont, and a lot of time on the road visiting some of our favorite places in the Midwest and West. As the fall colors began to fade it was time to do some serious skiing and planning to get ready for our trip to Finland. Our plan was to spend Christmas with our son Jeff and then head to Winthrop WA shortly afterwards. That plan got delayed for a couple of weeks as Donna had to deal with a broken tooth. Finally the crown was on and we departed Portland by mid January. Later we found out that the snow had just become decent several days before our arrival. We left Portland under rainy skies, but several hours later as we headed East and then North into WA we encountered a full on blizzard. Not wanting to get stuck on the highway we pulled into a truck stop and snuggled the van between two semi’s. It was a warm and cozy night in the van as we hoped that the morning would bring clearer skies. Not wanting to rush things in the morning we took our time to give the highway crew a chance to plow the roads, which proved wise. The storm had moved thru the area and the skies were blue as we headed out for the last 100 miles to our destination.
We arrived to Winthrop mid morning and decided to get a feel for the town before checking out the campground where we will be staying for the month. We saw a sign for the Cascade Outdoor Store and decided to check out if they carried classical skin skis. Skin skis were highly recommended for the ski event in Finland. Having skin skis would completely erase the need to use wax for the kicker zone. We met the owners of the store Brian and Amy. Brian brought us up to speed on the skin skis and the new sliding binder. Donna has a pair of skin skis that are now about 8 years old, she wouldn’t mind an upgrade as well! We are impressed by the new technology and decide to return tomorrow to either rent a pair or purchase a pair which we can return if they don’t meet our expectations. Then it was off to the ski center to buy an annual pass. Since we will be here for a month and plan to try to ski every day it will be worth it. The Methow Valley is a Mecca for Nordic skiing. Every night the groomers are out grooming over 200km of trails. In the morning a trail report is posted listing the time the trails were groomed, the recommended trail for the day and what wax one should use. Needless to say we are excited. Before heading to the campground we check out the one and only grocery store in town. It definitely has whatever we will need. A larger grocery store is located in Twisp about 8 miles away. Now off to check out the campground. We are fortunate to have found this campground. It has everything we need to make our stay quite comfortable, plus it is in walking distance to one of the Nordic skiing trailheads. It is time to settle in, have dinner, play cribbage and plan the next day.
After breakfast we head back to the outdoor store and meet up with Brian. We are each. outfitted with new boots, skis and poles. The skis need to have glide wax put on before we use them, so they will be ready to be picked up late afternoon. We head to the trail head and pull out our older skis
We are ready for the skiing to begin. After skiing a loop on excellent groomed trails we check out the nearby fitness center and sign up for a month’s membership. Not only does it include the ability to use all of the equipment, but also access to the classes that are offered. We sign up for Pilates, Kettle Bells and Fitness Fusion Classes. This month is turning out better than planned! We head back to get our new skis and return to the campground. The next 30 days are pretty much a standard routine of skiing, going to the gym, planning for our trip to Scandinavia and playing our nightly game of Cribbage.. In the realm of skiing we take advantage of the weekend shuttle and Ski the Methow Event(we skied 70km that day). Needless to say we were impressed with the skin skis and donated our old skin skis and fishtail skis to the local Nordic Club.. Since photos are often better than words, the following photos should give you a feel for our endless days of skiing.
Great maps showing all 120miles of trail. We skied most of them and some of them numerous times!
Often we were one of the first to be on the ski trails.
Another fun day of skiing
Always fun to see the Flamingoes out enjoying the snow!
Whether we were in the mountains or in the valley skiing was good!
Warming huts scattered thru out the trails were always a great spot to have lunch or just take a break.
A favorite loop was in the Mazamba area where we could have soup and bread at a small cafe.
Even after a fresh snowfall the groomers were on it!
A favorite ski was the trails in Sun Valley, it was a steep climb up,. but the views were worth it!
By the third week of Feb. the days were getting above freezing. We were quite satisfied with all the skiing we had done. It was time to move on and focus on getting our gear ready to head to Finland!