cny rider

Help a newb out! We are a family of "intermediate" downhill skiers and boarders. We get out between 6-10 times each winter for downhill. We enjoy it, spend most of our time on intermediate trails in upstate NY and Vermont. As an example, at Stowe we love Perry Merrell and the Gondolier. Our kids are now about to turn 14 (skis) and 12 (boards). We had been doing annual rentals for them but we are ready to buy equipment for them now. I know lots about XC ski equipment but little about downhill. What would be appropriate gear for our crew? Some rough price ranges, brands and models to look for would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Matt you will be happy to know that the federal budget deficit shrank year over year for the first time in 4 years: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-budget-deficit-narrowed-to-2-7-trillion-in-first-11-months-of-fiscal-year-11631556001 This after an unprecedented runup under President Trump who took over a growing economy with low unemployment and shrinking deficits and presided over unprecedented growth in the federal budget deficit.

It poured for several hours. Have not been out to check the gauge yet. More rain coming the rest of this week.

You wrote in a post below that you can't discuss politics with extremists. Do you think this post from you invites discussion? "Completely destroying the economy" means what, exactly? Can you tell us in terms of GDP, unemployment, the stock market, or something else you have noticed? Same thing with your other accusations. They are wild assertions, and you provided nothing to back them up. You can do better, no?

I’m liking that north trend. We absolutely positively do not need any more rain down here.

Not only right now. It's going to worsen over the next 5-10 years. Many are bailing out immediately from working in health care. Many though are hanging on for now but planning a career change or earlier retirement and that's going to play out over the coming years, making the shortages of today look trivial. There are too many of us that want out, and no way to "make new ones" fast enough given the multiple years of training and experience needed. It's definitely going to get worse before it gets better.

You do any mountain biking up there? I keep meaning to go try out the trails. It sounds like they have built an impressive network.

Nice! What peaks did you do?

Well above average in mid-September is still much more comfortable than it is in July.

Yes! That's what I will always remember about this summer. It has not been as hot here as other areas of upstate but it's all swamp, all the time.

Good move. You're doing the right thing.

Beautiful....and think how beautiful it could be in 3 months when a sharp cold front crosses and there's cold unstable air rushing over it.

I thought you Syracuse sizzle guys would enjoy this, from today's BGM forecast discussion: Another big temperatures gradient expected today, from east to west: ranging from 70-75 across the Catskills/Poconos, around 80 for the I- 81 corridor from Cortland south to Binghamton and Wilkes- Barre...with low to mid-80s expected across the valleys of the central souther tier, Finger Lakes and Syracuse area.

On this (US) end it was a bit of a sh**show. You have to get tested within 72 hours of flying out. We had a 9 pm Sunday flight out of Newark. We were leaving home at noon for the drive and to stop and drop our car at a friends place. My wife and I went to CVS Friday at noon, had our tests together. They said 48 hours for results. 48 hours later, no results. We need to leave for Newark. We find a clinic on the way to do a rapid test. As we are registering, my wife's phone goes off with her result. Negative. So I wait a couple of minutes, thinking mine will come .....but it doesn't. I joke with my wife that it's probably delayed because they have to re-test to confirm the positives. She doesn't laugh. I go in and get swabbed. The nurse says I will get the result via text and email in 30 minutes. Jokes that there was one guy the week before who was positive, and they had to track him down by cell phone. We get in the car and start driving to New Jersey. 30 minutes later my cell phone rings and it's the testing clinic number on caller ID. My heart sinks, I'm sure I'm positive and our vacation is over before it even started. But the nurse on the phone tells my wife it's negative and she just called because I seemed so nervous about it! And then 3 hours later my CVS test also came back negative. So we made it there. The testing in Iceland went smoothly. We registered in advance, had a rapid test, had results within 30 minutes. Interestingly no one in US customs ever asked to actually see our negative results. We had to attest that they were negative. I think maybe they get the result download from Icelandic health?

On this (US) end it was a bit of a sh**show. You have to get tested within 72 hours of flying out. We had a 9 pm Sunday flight out of Newark. We were leaving home at noon for the drive and to stop and drop our car at a friends place. My wife and I went to CVS Friday at noon, had our tests together. They said 48 hours for results. 48 hours later, no results. We need to leave for Newark. We find a clinic on the way to do a rapid test. As we are registering, my wife's phone goes off with her result. Negative. So I wait a couple of minutes, thinking mine will come .....but it doesn't. I joke with my wife that it's probably delayed because they have to re-test to confirm the positives. She doesn't laugh. I go in and get swabbed. The nurse says I will get the result via text and email in 30 minutes. Jokes that there was one guy the week before who was positive, and they had to track him down by cell phone. We get in the car and start driving to New Jersey. 30 minutes later my cell phone rings and it's the testing clinic number on caller ID. My heart sinks, I'm sure I'm positive and our vacation is over before it even started. But the nurse on the phone tells my wife it's negative and she just called because I seemed so nervous about it! And then 3 hours later my CVS test also came back negative. So we made it there. The testing in Iceland went smoothly. We registered in advance, had a rapid test, had results within 30 minutes. Interestingly no one in US customs ever asked to actually see our negative results. We had to attest that they were negative. I think maybe they get the result download from Icelandic health?

On this (US) end it was a bit of a sh**show. You have to get tested within 72 hours of flying out. We had a 9 pm Sunday flight out of Newark. We were leaving home at noon for the drive and to stop and drop our car at a friends place. My wife and I went to CVS Friday at noon, had our tests together. They said 48 hours for results. 48 hours later, no results. We need to leave for Newark. We find a clinic on the way to do a rapid test. As we are registering, my wife's phone goes off with her result. Negative. So I wait a couple of minutes, thinking mine will come .....but it doesn't. I joke with my wife that it's probably delayed because they have to re-test to confirm the positives. She doesn't laugh. I go in and get swabbed. The nurse says I will get the result via text and email in 30 minutes. Jokes that there was one guy the week before who was positive, and they had to track him down by cell phone. We get in the car and start driving to New Jersey. 30 minutes later my cell phone rings and it's the testing clinic number on caller ID. My heart sinks, I'm sure I'm positive and our vacation is over before it even started. But the nurse on the phone tells my wife it's negative and she just called because I seemed so nervous about it! And then 3 hours later my CVS test also came back negative. So we made it there. The testing in Iceland went smoothly. We registered in advance, had a rapid test, had results within 30 minutes. Interestingly no one in US customs ever asked to actually see our negative results. We had to attest that they were negative. I think maybe they get the result download from Icelandic health?

On this (US) end it was a bit of a sh**show. You have to get tested within 72 hours of flying out. We had a 9 pm Sunday flight out of Newark. We were leaving home at noon for the drive and to stop and drop our car at a friends place. My wife and I went to CVS Friday at noon, had our tests together. They said 48 hours for results. 48 hours later, no results. We need to leave for Newark. We find a clinic on the way to do a rapid test. As we are registering, my wife's phone goes off with her result. Negative. So I wait a couple of minutes, thinking mine will come .....but it doesn't. I joke with my wife that it's probably delayed because they have to re-test to confirm the positives. She doesn't laugh. I go in and get swabbed. The nurse says I will get the result via text and email in 30 minutes. Jokes that there was one guy the week before who was positive, and they had to track him down by cell phone. We get in the car and start driving to New Jersey. 30 minutes later my cell phone rings and it's the testing clinic number on caller ID. My heart sinks, I'm sure I'm positive and our vacation is over before it even started. But the nurse on the phone tells my wife it's negative and she just called because I seemed so nervous about it! And then 3 hours later my CVS test also came back negative. So we made it there. The testing in Iceland went smoothly. We registered in advance, had a rapid test, had results within 30 minutes. Interestingly no one in US customs ever asked to actually see our negative results. We had to attest that they were negative. I think maybe they get the result download from Icelandic health?

Glymur waterfall, and my wife making the river crossing after we had reached the top.

The lights are just starting to be visible now at the end of August. Unfortunately we did not have any clear nights while we were there. The way their photoperiod changes this time of year is remarkable. We were there for 11 days and in that time they lost about an hour of daylight.

We drove to Newark for the direct flight. Some hassles involved now with getting tested here, and then getting tested there so you can get back in to the US but it all went smoothly for us. When you get the opportunity again go for it!

We just got home from Iceland. Amazing place to visit if you love being outdoors, hiking, and beautiful scenery unlike anything else you have ever seen. We saw lava erupting out of the active volcano. Here's a shot of a really cool cloud that was rolling in continuously from the fjord to our right, then dissipating as it went down the valley and then got lifted by the mountains.

Solid overcast and a steady SSW breeze keeping it relatively pleasant here.

47 delightful degrees when I woke this morning. Did I mention delightful?

Yikes, that's pretty cold to be in the water all day in Old Forge. Thanks for posting it.