May (2014)
5/16/2014
Invested
5/12/2014
What We Meant
April (2014)
4/22/2014
Earth In Mind
February (2014)
2/17/2014
Looking Ahead
January (2014)
November (2013)
October (2013)
September (2013)
May (2013)
April (2013)
4/24/2013
Advancement!
March (2013)
February (2013)
The Whole Spectrum
12/30/2002

Fortunate, indeed, is the snow sport enthusiast who spends an hour touring the cross-country ski trails that loop through the north face of The Blackwater. Whether a member of a visiting team or a townsperson shuffling on wood slats, these beautifully maintained paths take you through the full range of human emotions--as you climb through mature hardwood forests, careen down breath-taking hills to the river floodplain, and pick your way through a dump. You start at the lodge, and quickly pass westward to the Holley Trails--a network cut on a steep ridge overlooking the river.

Exhilerated by a tough climb and descent, one strides east, past the T-bar lift and lodge, and sprint up to the stand of sugar maples exposed by the Woodsmen's Team's selective thinning operation in recent years.

Suddenly, the skier's senses are challenged by the unexpected, as the trail leads through a maze of stored or abandoned oil tanks, aluminum ductwork, rusting cyclone fencing, stacked pallettes, firebrick and other unidentifiable stuff.

The overall effect is beyond words to describe. The skier returns to the lodge numbed by the rich visual contrast of the course, the yin and yang of natural beauty and aging hardware. The metaphor of physical and environmental challenge is lost on no one.

You start at the base of the Slalom Trail at The Blackwater, and head west past the T-bar lift.
Quickly, the entrance to the Holley Trail beckons.
The Holley Trail offers breath-taking skiing through oak, maple and hemlock, with frequent vistas of the river floodplain and Ragged Mountain to the north.
Soon you are gliding between a young sugarbush stand and a field of twisted PVC piping, aging firebrick and an abandoned tractor trailer.
You get to see several oil tanks.
Few ski trails offer such a rich variety of sights and emotional experiences.