Skiers get chance to branch out

With so much snow blanketing Eastern Massachusetts this past weekend, cross country skiers had plenty of options, even if they wanted to stay close to home.Last Friday, as Boston was digging out from 18 inches of snow, my girlfriend Laura and I went skiing along one of our familiar routes, the North Cambridge bike path and Russell Field, where the Cambridge Rindge & Latin football team plays.We skied around the field, past empty bleachers and goal posts, as well as the adjacent soccer field. We found plenty of tracks made by other skiers who had gone the distance around this “frozen tundra.” This was helpful, as the snow in other places was ankle-deep, although it was still soft enough to make tracks in.On Saturday, the sub-zero temperatures kept us away from the ski tracks, but on Sunday we wanted to get in one last weekend ski, especially before all that rain that was in the forecast.A good thing about a snowfall is that it gives you options. Instead of Russell Field, we walked a few blocks north and skied down another section of the bike path, in Arlington along the Alewife Brook, whose waters rippled past us. This was unknown territory for us … at least, in terms of skiing. But we did find the tracks of others, as well as what I believe were snowshoe tracks.We followed the brook (removing our skis to cross a wooden walkway) until we reached the Magnolia soccer fields. These offered a beautiful open space to ski. Many of the tracks felt smooth, and of course the surface was flat. I enjoyed a nice, extended glide, pushing my knee forward and riding the momentum. The sensation of gliding over the snow reminded me of the waltz music from “The Nutcracker,” which we saw on New Year?s Eve.Soon, the sound of dogs barking echoed in my ears as we skied past a nearby dog park. We took the bike path back to Cambridge, with joggers passing on our left and ducks splashing in the brook on the right. When I saw a branch amid the tracks, I moved it off to the side, something I learned from group runs in Lynn Woods.So, a fresh blanket of powder gives us not only the chance to ski on familiar territory, but also an opportunity to branch out into new venues.