It feels like the winter season is officially open when I do my first trip to the Moose Lake. The snow mobile trails are not prepared yet but there’s always some people who venture out as soon as the ice is thick enough to carry a snow mobile over the lakes, so I had some tracks to follow. The snow cover has to grow some more before they start working on the trails, there were a lot of spots which were almost bare after the snowmobiles and I guess my skis didn’t like it very much when I glided over the dirty snow.

It’s incredible how good the skiing feels now that it doesn’t hurt my feet. Today’s trip was almost twice as long as yesterday, and I still didn’t have any problems. I even realised when I got back home that I’m not as tired as I used to be after a trip like this, and I don’t think I’m in any better shape than I was back then. When your feet hurt so much that it’s a constant mental battle, you’re spending a lot of energy to keep going despite the pain. Now I don’t have to waste that energy any more and it feels like a new world of possibilities just opened for me. I can plan longer trips and discover new places… I’m ridiculously happy about the new bindings!