Woohoo! It's coming on like a frozen polar express train, you can feel it getting closer and closer by the nip in the air and frost on the brown, dry grass. It's winter, and once again, your friends at Behind the Mitten are here and we are, once again, ready to help you EMBRACE WINTER.

We have truly come to believe in the power of the correct winter equipment, having the right stuff can really make or break your time outside in the cold. Our friend Mark Copeland at Jay's Sporting Goods 
in Gaylord always knows the best gear, and stops by to talk what kind of equipment we should be getting. Quick takeaways? Layer, and not with cotton. Buy the best boots you can. And of course, shop at Jay's!

Our resident ski bunny makes his first to Behind the Mitten of the season. Nick Nerbonne from Pure Michigan joins us once again to share his love of snow and skiing. We discuss favorite ski hills, what Michigan ski culture is like, and generally just gush about how great a Michigan winter can be. We hope Nick will inspire you too.

Here are a few more tips on how to embrace winter from our friends at Pure Michigan.

We meet some new friends during the third segment, and we sure hope that they'll come by again because we had a great time, and learned so much. We are fascinated by sauna culture, and love a good steam ourselves, and have been seeing these charming wooden barrel saunas around the state for a little while and have been intrigued. So, like the good journalists we are, we went right to the source. The Sauna Guys are the men behind the barrels, and we have them on to share the story of this family owned and operated business located in Baraga in the U.P. Randy and Jeff Maki joined us from the road as they were delivering a few of their handmade saunas down to the metro Detroit area. If you've always wondered what goes on in a sauna, tune in.

Finally, we catch up with the Great Lakes Winter Trails Council and member Mariah Frye who works at Cross Country Ski Headquarters in Higgins Lake. Last year's lack of snow has created pent up demand, Frye believes, and this year should be a fun, busy one on our Michigan trails. Where to go, what to do, and where to learn how to cross country ski way better than Amy are all things we touch upon.

This week has made it clear, winter is coming! And instead of fighting it, let's embrace it, the Behind the Mitten way.