Frost Burn

I was with Lucy Afarensis when the call came in. 

Dabici Straulino: do you have 15 minutes? I would like to show you our winter build.

"Want to go skiing?" I said to Lucy. 

 "Sure, why not."

We were not dressed for it, because as you all know OSGrid has ongoing asset problems to the point that even if the item you click on is present in your Inventory (and that happens only once in about 100)  you still do not dare change clothes, because your current outfit is quite likely to disappear. Never mind, we shower twice a day, so  it's all perfectly hygienic. And I have been barefoot skiing before, so decided to risk it.

Take a moment to get your bearings. get the free skis, and stand on the block - then off you go! 

Creanovale is what is sometimes described as a private grid, but you might also define it as a 'personal' grid, because it is HG enabled, and visitors are welcome. Owned and beautified by husband and wife team, Kelso Uxlay and Dabici Straulino, French Canadians whose grid is strongly influenced by the wonderful wildernesses of the North. This is a 3x3 varregion, and they have plans for a 4x4 Spring build in the new year.

They do four seasonal builds in the year, this one is themed around Christmas and winter sports. If you arrive at the main welcome sim, just click on Winter to get to the snow globe starting point.

The initial sense of confusion at the magnificent open spaces of the grid soon pass and it becomes a delightful game of cross country skiing through realistic countryside, past beautiful old houses and farms. But there's plenty of action too, with steep slopes and a couple of  ski lifts.

The tour - which is a smooth as ice, with none of the hiccups you often get with a script-controlled tour, is about 7 km, and has many stops so you can explore all the nooks and crannies of this lovely world. Congratulations to Kelso for his great scripting, and to both for the attention to detail.

 There are other winter sports apart from the skiing, like tobogganing and skating, and of course the lovely  mountains to explore. Lucy, who is always more athletic than me, led the way on the skiing. I was glad to see I wasn't the only one dressed for warmer weather .

The Christmas Market is a great way to end your tour, the huts contain all kinds of lovely items, handmade by Dabici and Kelso, just the thing to decorate your region. I got a pine cone elf with a toboggan.

Finally, if you're really lucky, you'll find the cafe and have a hot drink. Chances are, you'll find you're sitting next to... wait, is that Larry David? or...

Grid Address login.creanovale.ca:8052

 

take a moment to get your bearings. get the free skis, and stand on the block - then off you go! the tour is about 7 km, with many stops so you can explore all the nooks and crannies of this lovely world. There are other winter sports apart from the skiing, like tobogganing and skating, and of course the lovely  mountains to explore