Earlier this week - Monday morning - I tried to prioritize, what were the most important bucket list items, I wanted to tick off in the next 12 months. By Wednesday morning, after a bit of research, I realized I had three winter goals that all took place within the span of a week!
Well geographically, the closest was The Last Skier Standing event at Black Mountain in Maine. Registration opened on Tuesday, October 11th, and by Wednesday it was already sold out. I decided not to put my name on the waitlist, as realistically I figured I would not last more than 6-8 hours (laps). The next two events - 160k Canadian Ski Marathon and the Gothic Mountain Tour - were on successive weekends. Theoretically manageable, but wear and tear, distance, need to acclimatize, and cost made the duo a non-starter for this 70 year old. Having done the Canadian Ski Marathon multiple times, I am about to pull out the credit card and sign up for the Gothic Mountain Tour.