Last week, according to SkiSoutheast.com, between 18 and 22 inches of snow fell in North Carolina’s high country, more snow is falling (Ski Beech reported 9 inches of new snow overnight), and snow is expected to fall throughout the week. That’s good news for the state’s downhill ski industry, although cold temperatures alone is enough to make ski areas and their sophisticated snowmaking operations happy. The true benefactors of this ongoing dump of Mother Nature’s own?
This weekend: wayfind, paddle, ski
Wayfinding, warm water kayaking, winging your way down a mountain — it’s all happening in North Carolina this weekend.
Coast
Sometimes luring the recalcitrant into the outdoors is simply a matter of offering the right bait. A mere walk in a cold forest may not appeal to someone more involved in cerebral pursuits, but throw in a map, a compass and the opportunity to calculate your way over hill and dale and suddenly a hike doesn’t seem so bad. Sunday at 2 p.m. just such an opportunity will be offered at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park near Goldsboro, when a park ranger leads a beginner course in map reading and using the compass. (If you have a compass, bring it; otherwise, the park has some spares you can use.) It’s free and should last about an hour and a half.
Rowing: Workout vs. way out
My friend Michael Bowers must have sensed I’d just done my first workout on a rowing machine. Hence the timely notice he sent of not one, but two openings on crews planning to row the Atlantic this winter. That’s row, as in row a boat, and Atlantic, as in ocean.
More pros (and cons) of running
Some interesting new research is out on the effects of running. Some of the findings will make you want to dig your waffle trainers out of the closet. Other findings may explain a thing — or ache — or two.
For instance, if you thought Forest Gump was nuts, in fact, he may have been on to something with his cross-country jaunts. A study of 44 runners taking part in the 4,500-kilometer 2009 TransEurope-FootRace (in case you’ve forgotten, the 2009 TEFR began in southern Italy on April 19, 2009, and ended in Norway on June 21 of that year) explains some phenomena that may survive even accomplished runners. The runners who agreed to participate in the study all had their blood, urine and biometric data (whole-body volume, body fat, visceral fat, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue and fat and skeletal muscle of the lower extremities) collected daily. Some also slid into an MRI (“the gold standard for the evaluation of the musculoskeletal system of the runner,” according to the study) every three or four days. From all this poking and prodding researchers made some general findings:
Exorcising a grotty water bottle
I find a gimme water bottle full of fermented energy drink under the 16-year-old’s bed and I toss it into the recycling. Bike water bottles infest every nook and cranny of our house; one won’t be missed.
But a CamelBak, a $19.95 CamelBak, is another matter. I’ll do whatever it takes to revive that sucker. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much, as this instructional video demonstrates.