It was -5 deg F at the stadium thermometer shortly before sunrise today. With the first Frank Soos Distance Race tomorrow, there was poor attendance for today’s workout. The freshest tracks were on the black loops so we headed that direction. LOL #1 was the first ornament that the Friday SCUM located, but no one’s hands were warmed up enough to stop and photograph it. You can see it in yesterday’s post.

It was so cold that I’m not sure if we found LOL #4 before or after we descended Black Baron. Bob Moloney, who was skating today, doesn’t snowplow (like a normal SCUM) but did two acrobatic falls in his descent of Black Baron. We saluted our 80-year-old SCUM with our poles as he finished that trail.

I found LOL #9 as my thumb was being to throb again after temporarily thawing.

Tomorrow’s Frank Soos Distance race will be conducted under Frank’s favorite conditions: cold snow and classical technique. Hope to see you there.

With the ornaments that Poles found on his ski today, the SCUM have found 7 of the 12 LOL ornaments in our first week.

Most of the trails are newly groomed and the temperature inversion is setting up again. Come and join the fun. We’ll be back on the trails tomorrow at 10 a.m. (before sunrise).