Midwinter Highs

Well, the holidays are over and we here at the Wimbush household are settling in to our mid-winter routines. Christmas was definitely a glorious 14 day reprieve from the hectic pre-holiday work scene. I thoroughly enjoyed being a homebody and hosting our house guests but now its time to open the chapter of winter that includes some.. exercise!!

On the tail end of the holidays the cold snap broke around here and we got some great dumps of snow!!!! There's about 20 inches blanketing our yard and all four of us have been out playing!! Laura and I have made it up the ski hill (20min away) a couple of times each and I've started x-country skiing Tues and Thurs evenings.

There's a small group of us that carpool and ski together. It's just so great to be out with headlamps in the forest, snowing or not, sometimes a big moon overhead. We inevitably end up stopping to admire the quiet night sky. We don't loiter too much.. We usually really hustle along doing 10-14 km in 60 to 80 minutes. We classic or skate ski depending on conditions and temperature. The local pine creek trails are 10 min away and are beautifully groomed trails with a modest day lodge and waxing facilities. It's really great to ski with others too. Its easier to pace yourself as you have a reference point for your speed and then there's the camaraderie too.

I was also fortunate to be invited out to go ice climbing on a Saturday not long ago. Four guys set out in -15C weather to a local spot where a couple of cascades of ice form every year. We broke into teams of two and set up ropes and gear and took turns belaying and climbing four routes each. We hung out there for five hours , had a tea break and then packed up and hiked the twenty minutes out. On the way out there way some rough housing, tripping, face washes and several snowy trees being shaken on each other. It was certainly nice to be outside with some guys getting some exercise and fresh air.

Getting out in winter to exercise and enjoy God's winter earth has some real perks to it. 1) you enjoy snow and winter instead of pining away for summer. 2) exercise = good mental health. Its good for your head. 3) On a personal note its really good for my core strength and back health.

Hope you've enjoyed my bit on why I like winter and even January in particular. - and I didn't even tell you how nice the ski hill was with 29 cm of fresh snow!