If you've been watching our "season in review" videos over the years, you will notice something slightly different this year. Historically we have synced the video to the song Flirtin' With Disaster by Molly Hatchet. Well, all good things have to come to an end...
Youtube has tightened their copyright restrictions and you can no longer publish ANY video using any copyrighted music. They have gotten so strict that they even went back and blocked all my previous year end videos that were using Flirtin' With Disaster as the background music.
Oh well, I did find a nice & free background tune to put in this video: Free Dog by Silent Partner. It's not as much fun as Flirtin' with Disaster; but it does flow nicely with the pace at which Jack & Rudy run!
Summary of our 2022/2023 season with RECORD mileage:
1444.0 miles traveled.
164 days on the trails.
130,600 feet of elevation climbed.
26 MPH top speed.
At least one snow angel rolled by Jack on ALL 164 outings.
45 outings with a WOO from Rudy.
1 elk leg found with meat still intact.
Well, not much left to do with summer. Bring on the 2023/2024 Skijoring Season and...
Yesterday, Jack & Rudy lifted me to our third straight 1st place finish at the annual LAPS K94K run in Frisco!!!
Come along for some impressive photos of the incredible sled dogs catapulting me along!
Start of the race (the white banner behind us was the starting line). Off we gooooooo!
As has always been the case at the annual 4K run, the monster sled dogs literally lifted me off the ground to launch us out of the starting gate to be well ahead of the rest of the pack within the first 20-30 yards of the event! Look closely at the prior photo and you see one other runner just behind us to my right and the rest of the pack already far behind me. This started with Max & Zorro years ago and has continued with Jack & Rudy - we are always FAR in front of the pack after merely 30 yards and well in front by the first corner on the race route. The sled dogs LOVE launching out the gate amidst gasps, cheers and stunned amazement from the onlooking crowd :)
For added entertainment, we had two camera crews to get shots of us this year. We had Nancy on one side of the street to get shots from the "Jack side" of the team:
Powerful sled dogs, airborne human!
Then we had our friend Renee to get shots from the "Rudy side" of the team:
Rudy side - same results: powerful sled dogs, airborne human!
Jack & Rudy so LOVE this event. I can feel their pure joy as they launch, lift and catapult me along the race route:
"How fast can we propel this human on feet?" says the monster kids going full throttle to propel me beyond speeds I thought possible on feet :)
In winter, all of our skijoring teams (Max & Zorro, Zorro & Jack, Zorro & Jack & Rudy, Jack & Rudy) have been famous for their "hover husky" photos when they are airborne and virtually hovering over the trail as they propel me on skis at speeds 20-27 MPH. Well, I am proud to state that I am a "hover human" - notice both my feet are well off the ground in every photo above. While I do believe my feet did touch the ground occasionally, it is true that, while airborne, I could feel Jack & Rudy carrying me through the air and propelling me to strides not possible by myself! It continued all race long :)
Look at me - hovering and being carried to strides longer than humanly possible without assistance! Impressive Jack & Rudy - Go Dogs Go!!!!!
Finally, for the third straight year (2021, 2022, 2023) we crossed the finish line in first place with smiles on all our faces :)
At the finish line - K94K three-peat!
Well, there's our excitement for the summer. We like to joke that once the K94K happens, we are done with hot, boring summer and READY for SNOW! While we still have all of August to go, we have occasionally been lucky enough to start the skijoring season in September and always in October otherwise. So, stay tuned for the upcoming 2023/2024 Skijoring Season and, as always, ....
Yesterday was our final outing of a record setting skijoring season!
Way to go Jack & Rudy!!!!
"We did it! 1444.0 miles traveled! We set the record!" declares the happy kids.
Our record season had been 1433.5 miles traveled with Max & Zorro in 2016/2017. I knew going into this season that Jack & Rudy were primed to give the record a challenge. All we needed was the snow to hold up. Well, despite ending in late May (we often skijor into early/mid June), the impressive kids set a season record for our pack!
Our final outing of the season found us at Buffalo Pass. This location typically has the deepest snowpack in all of Colorado. But, it's a real haul and challenge to get to; thus, we typically do it only once or twice a season. Come along for the highlights of our season finale.
We started out on VERY sketchy conditions with little snow and spans of no snow at all!
Starting up on a narrow ribbon of snow with exposed ground ahead of us.
Why not drive past this point of the trail, you ask? Well, we start out driving up Buffalo Pass until we can drive no further. What happens is we will encounter a very deep (usually shaded) impassable span of snow at some point on the way up. Even with our 4WD Jeep, we will get to an impassible span at some point. So, we must start the skijor from the impasse, even though we know we'll encounter tough & exposed sections like the prior photo on the other side of the impasse.
We also know, though, that the further & higher we go, the better it will get!
Ah, nice deep snow covering the entire trail! Notice the power in Jack & Rudy as my hands are on my hips as I ride the Siberian Tow Rope up this stretch of trail.
Along the way, I paused at the location of some of Max and Zorro's ashes. While Jack & Rudy never got the chance to meet special Max, they did learn everything they know about skijoring from wonderful Zorro. As I paused to reflect back on Max & Zorro, Jack and Rudy did their "pause usual" :)
Rolling snow angels in snow over the location of Max and Zorro's ashes.
Then, as expected, we found some incredible conditions up high. Wish there was an easier way to get here, we'd come back every day if so :)
So, so, so nice up high!
Now, come along for our final clip of the season. We are a bit lower in elevation in this clip compared to the prior photo, so we start out cruising along nice albeit soft snow. Then, near the end of the clip, you get to see Jack & Rudy slowing to perfectly navigate me on skis through two narrow passages before opening up the throttle again. Perfect partners!
We cannot end the season without one final hover husky shot!
Catching air again. Wheeee!
Finally, concluding the season with our final end of run treats. No snow walls to climb this time, it must really be the end of season :)
"We LOVE snow!" declares the cool dudes awaiting end of run treats.
A monster outing to complete the season. You have to make full use of the difficult trek to get on snow at Buffalo Pass: 14 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.
2022/2023 Season Total: 164 days on the trails covering 1444.0 miles with 130,600 feet of elevation climbed.
Very Impressive Jack & Rudy! Very Impressive!!!!
See you all in September (we hope) or October for the 2023/2024 Skijor Season beginning.
