John Smith unbuckles his boot from the ski as he finishes his workout at Karst Farm Park Tuesday morning. Staff photo by Chris Howell.

A few inches of melting snow on the ground and a cold drizzle falling from a gray sky.

To most area residents, it's the perfect example of a dreary southern Indiana winter day.

To John Smith, it's just perfect.

Smith, a Greene County resident who owns the Bikesmiths bicycle store in Bloomington, is a big fan of such weather, because to him it means ideal cross-country skiing conditions. A few years ago, Smith began skiing whenever possible and keeping an Internet log of his activities. The goal was to prove that Bloomington offered around 30 days of skiing a year.

While he didn't find that total every year, he discovered something more unexpected: marginal snow, the kind most often found in southern Indiana, is great for cross-country skiing.

"It is interesting to go back through my log and see how many times I thought it was ridiculous to try skiing, and then I got out there and found it was the best time, especially when it was raining on the snow," he said.

Smith now believes he overshot his estimated total of skiing days, despite a 47-ski-day winter in 2003-03 and 38 in 2000-01.

"It's more like 20 days per year," he said. "But the point is, there really is some good cross-country skiing out there, more than people realize."

Smith said cross-country skiing is also a cheaper hobby than most people would guess.

"It's not anywhere near as expensive as downhill skiing," he said. "You can get a complete cross-country outfit that will last you for several years for under $200. I've been using the same skis for about 15 years now."

Smith's favorite skiing locations are in the woods around his home in Greene County. He's enjoyed days spent on skis in Hoosier National Forest and at the Gnaw Bone Ski Camp in Brown County, and he's a regular at Karst Farm Park and the Indiana University Golf Course in Monroe County.

"IU has been very good about letting people ski out there, but everyone needs to stay off the greens," he said. "There's absolutely no reason that anyone should be skiing across the greens."

The Web site skiing log was initially started with an economic interest; Smith was trying to build interest in skiing because he was selling skis at his bike shop. Since then, the business tapered off, but the Web log remained.

"(The Web log) has motivated me to get out a lot of days when I might not have otherwise," he said. "I know some people follow it. I had a guy from Iowa send me an e-mail to tell me he had been looking for a college and decided on IU because he enjoyed biking and skiing on marginal snow, like I do."

Smith's logs, called "Snow Days" recreate southern Indiana winters since 1997-98. Of those winters, Smith believes this year has produced the best skiing snow.

Excerpts from Smith's logs should recreate some fond memories for area skiers: