Sunday, February 20, 2011

Skijoring vs Cross Country Skiing...

Cruising up upper, wind-blown Boreas - about 1-2 miles
from the Summit. Zorro, looking back, says, "Hey deadweight -
I thought I felt you slacking! Stop taking pictures, put that
camera away and drive your poles with us!"
On Saturday Max, Zorro & I did our furthest outing of the season: 13.5 miles of skijoring fun!


We skied ~6.75 miles (& 1,300 feet of elevation) up Boreas Pass Rd to Section House, at the Boreas Summit, and then back down the same route. Section House is one of the backcountry huts in Colorado that offers overnight lodging for the backcountry ski enthusiasts.

I am often asked what is the difference between Skijoring with Siberian Huskies and traditional Cross Country Skiing. Yesterday's route sums it up:
  1. The route up Boreas Pass Rd to Section House is rated as a 4-5 hour cross country ski tour. Max, Zorro & I did the up section in 1.5 hours!
  2. Many people find the need to bunk at Section House for the night to rest before taking one of the "down routes" the next day. When we reached the summit, I was snapping photos and changing some of my gear - after about 7 minutes of "break", Max & Zorro broke out into a full wrestling match. 7 minute break and they were restless and ready for more, so we started back down!
How best to summarize Skijoring with Siberians vs Cross Country Skiing.... relentless, endless & quickness - hang on! ;-)

Vital Stats: 13.5 miles; 2h 47m total time; 2h 30m moving time; 5.5 MPH moving average; 12 MPH top speed.

Yes, only 17 minutes of "stopped time" on this long tour: (1) 7m break at the summit; (2) 4m getting the stupid human out of chest deep powder after he made a "skiing mistake" and flew off the packed trail; (3) 6m of dealing with 8 different sets of loose dogs on Boreas.

Yes, a mild max speed of 12 MPH - not much sprinting, just 2.5 hours of constant Siberian cruising!
At the Boreas Summit - looking to our left at Section House.
A bit windy, but beautiful blue skies... 
At Boreas Summit - looking to our right at a "railroad relic" from the days when Boreas Pass Rd was a train route.
This is a 180 from the previous "blue sky" shot - the skies show the storm that is headed our way!
Another shot from the Summit - looking backwards from where we took a break.
Max, at the Summit, rolling around in the snow to cool himself off.
A few minutes of this and he & Zorro were "full rested" and ready to go!

2 comments: