New Skis

We had new skis to break in this morning. 

New Skis, Same Results, right guys?

"They look just fine to us. Let's test them for speed!" says the happy kids.

After the ski debacle of one week ago, I was worried about having enough equipment to make it through this season. We have enough snowpack to skijor well into May and possibly through all of May. But, as described a week ago, one of my skis busted and I had to un-retire a pair of old skis that I had long since declared dead. I was not convinced these un-retired skis would hold up for another 4-6 weeks and was expecting them to fall apart any day now. 

But, Nancy came to the rescue! She was able to acquire a new pair of skis for us from Breckenridge Nordic Center. It is not often that you can find new equipment this late in the season from any ski shop or nordic center. So, surprisingly, we had a new pair of skis to take to the trails today! Yay! The prior photo and next two photos show glimpses of the new skis - a pair of Fischer Apollos. I've had all Rossignol skis for my first 12 years of skijoring; yet always wanted to try a pair from Fischer. But, the Rossignols worked, so no reason to change what's working. But, with emergency equipment needs in mid-April, we were very willing to switch to anything available. So, here we are expanding into the Fischer brand of skis.

New brand, new skis, same result: zoom!

Wide angle shot showcasing the top 1/3 of the new Fischer Apollo skis.
No difference in Jack & Rudy towing me as fast as they can :)

The skis worked on straightaways (see above) and worked around corners (see below). It was as if we'd been on these skis forever :)

Leaning into the right ski to whip around a corner behind fast
moving Jack & Rudy. Wheeee!

Apparently breaking in new skis means you have to roll wild snow angels at any turnaround point on the trails. Just ask Jack:

Could Jack put any more "gusto" into this snow angel? I think not!

Now come along for the video lead in to Jack's gusto angel. We start this clip cruising along a relatively flat nordic trail. Then, Jack & Rudy propel me up a short lift in the trail followed by them taking off down the other side of the lift. Finally, we hit the end of the trail and continue on the crust for a short bit before stopping. Did I say "stop?" Well, yes, so you get to see Jack & Rudy performing their patented 'stop, drop and roll' as the clip winds down. But, notice goofy Jack at the end. Once done with his angel, he jumps up and takes off to go back the direction we came. Unfortunately (for Jack), it takes me a lot longer to turn my skis 180 degrees around than he wants and, besides, Rudy is still rolling his snow angel as well. Silly!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our first ever skijor on Fischer brand skis, let's tell retired mentor Zorro all about it:

"You all look the same to me!" says approving Zorro.
"New brand but same 'end of run' treats! Yay!" adds cute Jack & Rudy.

Quite a successful first outing on our new Fischer Apollo skis: 9.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH!

2021/2022 Season to Date: 136 days on the trails covering 1154.9 miles with 107,500 feet of elevation climbed.