After skiiing Moosilauke the previous day the weather turned rather wet and warm. At breakfast it was raining, so we were prepared to cancel when we got there. But as we got closer to the Cardigan Lodge the rain turned to snow and we thought we might get a ski in somehow. We met the one other participant at the lodge and he was game for a try, as was Jeff, our fearless leader. So we skinned up and headed out. The folks who were familiar with the trails decided that we'd head up the practice slope to the Duke's trail and figure things out from there. The snow was pretty heavy so we were a bit concerned about the descent but Jeff was determined to get some turns in so up we went. After a bit of route finding, we decided to head over on the 93Z Extension to the 93Z trail and see how it was.
We pulled off our skins and took the first descent while we figured out the snow. It seemed as we headed west the snow got lighter and easier to ski. There was some climbing and rolling terrain after that. We stopped for a bite to eat right next to some trees that had been stripped by moose. No recent footprints though. After that we had our best downhill section. The snow really improved, and we all kicked butt. We had a fine run, everyone getting in some turns and falling on occasion. Eventually we came around to the backside of the lodge and took a run or two on the hill there. Pretty good day, all in all, considering we woke up to warm rain.
