On Monday, October 29, 2012 1:39:21 PM UTC-4, Big Hitter wrote:
Last time I was on here this was a pretty decent newsgroup. I know there was a time when a lot of spam showed up and kind of ruined it. I notice a few old timers like Terje, Gary Jacobson. What happened to everyone else? I'm up to 185 pounds or about 84 kilos now so I've got some work to do if I want to get back in ski shape...

There are probably many factors why the group isn't as active. Last winter was a bust in terms of snow in much of the USA. Here in New York State's Mid Hudson area we have a very active group with many members- The Mid Hudson Cross Country Ski Society (MHXCSS) which I founded on this group many years back. Skiers may be more tied to local groups. For me skiing involved pursuing Worldloppet, and now with the cost and hassle of flying and the poor exchange rate it's not realistic for me to travel like that. Blogging is a means of sharing ideas in community that probably took a bite out of this group. Backin the days of great activity here, grops were a relatively new means of exchange among people using new technology. Interest in high level racing may be hurt by doping. It's affected my interest in international racing. As I grew older and grew more satisfied with "just doing", the technical aspects of skiing lost importance. Cell phones have given good reason to consider rollerskiing as a safe activity. Unique to me, or maybe not, is the aging process which unfortunately has as a consequence physical health issues. Skiing is hard work and can be hard on the body! I enjoy being in snow and don't have much fee time. Now I snowshoe more than I used to.

These factors above came to mind without much thought. Despite them, my fantasy is to get back in to skiing. If I can do that, I would hope that I would make contributions to this fine group, and get back all that I used to when I was more active in the group. This community really helped me focus and added a dimension to skiing that was very rich and pleasurable.

Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY