Winter Tool Kit
by
Elizabeth Bassett

Overheard in Charlotte as rain pelted the windshield and spilled across green fields: "This is no January Thaw. This is a disaster."
A disaster perhaps, but not unusual. A warm-up doesn't come every
year but the January Thaw occurs often enough to affect long-term
temperature averages, usually in the last ten days of the month.
Bottom line: be prepared for nearly anything, seize the moment, and
dress for the weather not the calendar.
Ice Skating
Skating requires only warm clothes, skates, and safe ice. While some
warn there is no such thing as safe ice, try shallow ponds and swamps
if you're in doubt. Stay away from flowing water. Carry a set of
curved ice picks on a rope around your neck. If the worst happens you
can grab onto the ice with picks until help arrives.
Sledding
Sledding begs only a slope, enough snow to cover the grass, and a
young heart. Vehicles range from cardboard boxes and saucers to fancy
rigs with steering and suspension.
Ice fishing
You'll want an auger to drill a hole, a tip-up line (unless you want
to stand there and freeze), and a set of creepers strapped to your
boots to keep you upright. A shanty with seating, stereo, cookstove,
and curtains at the window is optional. Thick ice is mandatory.
Snowshoeing
It may feel silly to snowshoe on a thin covering of snow, but when
you hit an icy spot or puddle with just a thin skin of ice, you'll be
glad. With their greater surface area and metal grippers you can walk
on (small bodies of) water and ice. Snowshoeing offers more exercise
than walking, too. Poles are optional if the terrain isn't steep and
the snow's not deep. Polling adds some upper body work and helps keep
hands warm.
Tracking: Winter Detective Game
Even minimal snow cover reveals the heavy traffic of animals rushing
to and fro, evidence often hidden by summer's abundance. Birds' nests
expose their architectural and structural secrets. Insects leave
behind galls on plants, wasp nests, web nests (eastern tent
caterpillars, for example), and galleries and carvings in wood made by
carpenter ants and bark beetles. On a spring day snow fleas swarm on
the snowpack.
If this static tapestry isn't exciting enough, follow animal tracks
across the white landscape. Tracking is as simple as following a deer
or moose through the woods or as involved as identifying known
individuals. Susan Morse, founder of Keeping Track, actually
recognizes her neighborhood bobcats by their prints.
"Three P's" guide a tracker: place, pattern, and print. The place
reveals the first clues: field, forest, or near water. Tracks fall
into four patterns: walkers, waddlers, gallopers, and bounders.
Walkers include canines, felines, and hoofed animals. Waddling tracks
are wider than walkers and characteristic of heavyset, squat animals
like raccoons, bears, and skunks. Animals in the weasel family bound
and rodents and hares/rabbits hop or bound. You'll want to note the
width or straddle of tracks and, finally, the actual print of the
animal- size, shape, with or without nail marks. Don't forget to
notice other evidence: scat, gnawed nuts or twig ends, claw marks on
trees, bark stripped away, or old logs ripped apart. Tracking books,
booklets, and laminated cards are usually inexpensive and available at
outdoor and book stores.
Sliding Upright on Snow
This sport comes in many forms- boarding and many flavors of skiing:
Alpine or downhill skiing, Telemark, Nordic or cross-country, back
country, skate, and free. I've probably missed a few.
For many, snow boarding and downhill skiing are Vermont's premier
outdoor sport. Ski areas large and small dot the mountains, most
offering at least some snow making. Keep your eyes open for deals.
Some examples: Bolton Valley is $25 on Wednesdays; Unicel customers
pay half price at Smugglers' Notch on February 11 and March 18 for up
to four family members; Chittenden Bank coupons offer half price
skiing at eleven areas, including Sugarbush, Jay Peak, Bolton, Mad
River, and Smugglers', on nearly 50 days this season. The list goes on.
A life-long Alpine skier I was surprised to realize at the end of
last season I had not downhill skied once. How could this have
happened? Money, for one thing. For the cost of a season's pass at
most downhill areas, a cross country skier can buy the entire kit-
skis, bindings, boots, poles and a season's pass and still have change
for dinner. A new generation of boots is warmer and more comfortable
and, combined with modern bindings, allow control never imagined with
old-fashioned three pin-bindings. Metal and plastic have replaced
bamboo poles and some "baskets," that aren't baskets at all, double as
ski scrapers for the occasional ice-up. Remember klister in your hair
and the blowtorch that nearly burned the house down? If you're racing
you'll still wax for greater speed but for recreational skiers
light-weight, composite skis feature waxless bottoms. No waxing means
that you decide to ski and you just do it. You don't spend the first
half hour waxing. Spend less on gasoline by skiing close to home- out
the back door, the Demeter property, or Thompson's Point. Nordic
skiing is fantastic exercise for both upper and lower limbs. And
there's no shivering on windy chair lifts.
Have I mentioned how cross-country skiing appeals to my Yankee
frugality? Buy a season's pass at any of dozens of Vermont
cross-country centers and a free day at all of the others is part of
the deal. You could pay for your pass without ever skiing at your home
area.
Some Nordic ski areas offer a combination of groomed and back-country
trails. Groomed trails may be tracked for classic or diagonal skiing-
that's what we do in the back yard, or groomed smooth for skating, or
both. Bill Koch, a Vermonter whose name is synonymous with youth
cross-country programs across the nation, popularized skate skiing, a
motion that resembles ice skating on skis. Unless you have a groomer
or live near a snowmobile corridor this is not skiing for your back
yard.
For the more adventurous and skilled, back-country skiing departs
from groomed trails into the wilds. Wilderness is not an overstatement
in Vermont. With short daylight hours, cold temperatures, deep
snowpack, and large expanses of mountainous terrain, back country
skiing is not a casual outing. Skiers must be able to deal with broken
equipment, injury, hypothermia, and weather extremes. A pack with
essentials is a must.
The Pack
Don't leave home, even on a summer's day, without an appropriate pack
and maps. On the next rainy day, after your morning walk, create a
master packing list for all outdoor occasions. If you have access to a
computer you'll be able to add to it easily. Keep a copy with your
packs or outdoor guidebooks and maps. You'll need specialized lists
for equipment-intensive activities like backcountry skiing, ice
climbing, or ice boating. For general outings, close to home, certain
basics apply across the seasons. Tweak your list as you become more
experienced (and organized).
Emergency and Safety- whistle, first-aid kit, hand-warmers, metallic
emergency blanket, waterproof matches, candle, sunscreen, insect
repellent, kerchiefs for make-shift sling or bandage, flashlight or
head lamp, fresh batteries.
Repair Kit- needles and thread, duct tape, Swiss Army knife or
Leatherman tool.
Clothing (according to the season)- hat for warmth or rain or against
the sun, windproof top, raincoat or poncho, warm layers, gloves,
non-cotton layers.
Health and Hygiene- sunglasses, SPF lip balm, toilet paper (in
plastic bag with matches).
Navigation- maps, compass, guidebook, watch. Keep a copy of the
Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer in the car for finding the way or
serendipitous adventures.
Record Keeping- notebook, pencils and waterproof pens, measuring
tape, camera, film, batteries.
Never leave home without a map!