There's nothing like cross country skiing on a sunny day in the Southern Tier.  Even on the coldest of days if you dress in layers, you will warm right up.  Known as one of the most perfect exercises, usually right up there with swimming, cross country skiing is a great workout.

Here are a few of my favorite places to drop my skis on a sunny morning or early afternoon:

Otsiningo Park -  Close to my job and a good place to consider for a quick ski run.  Otsiningo offers 2.7 miles of Cross Country Ski trails for the novice ski lover.  No rentals are available so you'll need to bring your own skis.

Greenwood Park - now open for cross-country skiing.  Trails are open daily untol 4pm.  Equipment rentals are available for $5.00 per hour, and for those with their own equipment, there is a $5 per day trail fee.  Season passes are also available.  For more information, call Greenwood Park at (607) 862-9933.

Greek Peak - I first challenged myself on these trails when I was attending Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden.  Greek Peak offers miles and miles of breathtaking first-class snow trails at Hope Lake, just down the road from their downhill trails.  They offer a variety of trails for all ability levels.  Meet your friends in the warming hut.  Great snowshoeing opportunities here too. And it's only 20 minutes from Binghamton.

Chenango Valley State Park -  Everybody I talk to loves skiing at State Park.  This is one of my favorite Summer destinations so I would imagine it would be full of challenging trails in the Winter.  Bring your camera for some amazing picturesque images.

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