Frisky

Jack & Rudy were a bit frisky & playful with happiness to be back at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning!

Uh-oh, unauthorized game of tag & tackle about to break out on the
trail from the frisky & giddy kids.

We have not skijoring Rabbit Ears since May of 2025! With a slow start to the season in Colorado this year, we missed our typical October and November skijors atop Rabbit Ears Pass. As you see in the photo above, the kids were thrilled to be back at Rabbit Ears and the conditions did not let us down!

It was zooming due South for a while:

The kids catching air as we skijor towards Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass.

Then it was time to turnaround and come back the same path we took out. Did I say turnaround?

Yep - turnaround, roll around from the snow rolling sillies.
Where does Rudy end and Jack start? It's hard to tell amidst this
comical conjoined snow angel :)

Then it was zooming due North on the way back. Whee!

The hover huskies at it again. Impressive kids.

Now come along for a glimpse into the great conditions. Jack & Rudy were in a real running groove this morning!

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Finally, back to the parking lot and the kids found a great snow wall to climb for end of run treats!

Scaling a snow wall to accept end of run treats from me in a standing
position. How polite :)

A fun return to Rabbit Ears Pass this morning: 8.1 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 40 days on the trails covering 253.2 miles with 27,600 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Headless

Oops!

Sometimes, "Oops!" is all you can say about unauthorized tag & wrestler
breaking out on the trail between the two comedians.

Prior photo aside, it was a great day of fresh & first tracks out on the trails this morning. Come along for the ride...

First it was laying fresh tracks in a couple of inches of fresh snow in the backcountry:

Wheeee! Love the snow poofs coming off Jack & Rudy's feet as we enjoy
the morning's new snow!

Then it was first tracks on the recently groomed trail at Gold Run Nordic Center!

Such a treat to be first tracks on the groomie zoomie trail.
Jack & Rudy know what to do with a fresh groom! ZOOM!

To add to the fun, it was then stepping off trail to roll snow angels in fresh snow at the Jumbo Overlook:

Some of us take in the views at the overlook - ME!
Some of us take the overlook turnaround as a chance to stop, drop and roll
in the fresh snow - Jack & Rudy!

Today's video highlight will be the flying fun on the groomie zoomie! Come along as we are ZOOMING along this wonderful trail. Then, we come to a hard left in the trail which causes me to crouch into a ski tuck to try and keep pace with the kids around a tight corner. Finally, it's opening it back up to zoom, zoom, zoom!

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Did you notice the snowshoer coming up trail in the video as we rounded the corner? Usually I get fun shots of oncoming skier/snowshoers smiling and waving in awe at Jack & Rudy launching me on by. But, today I was in a "23 MPH ski tuck", so we miss the onlooking smiles. It was there, I was just trying to keep pace at fast speeds :)

"Coming through!" goes Jack & Rudy who are swinging to the right to fly
by the oncoming snowshoer. I caught his smile (even though the camera did not)
and he said, "COOL!" as we zipped on by.

I have an excuse for the headless shot above - you try cornering over 20 MPH on skis and see if you don't dip into a tuck too! Nancy, on the other hand, has no excuse for cutting most or all of my head off in today's end of run treat shots :)

At least she got 1/2 my head in this shot - I was headless in most of the
other shots she took!
"You going to babble on or dish out the treats?" asks curious Rudy.
"You have my FULL attention!" adds focused Jack.

Despite how pretty today's photos & video look, it was quite cold this morning with starting temperatures around 5 degrees (F) with a breeze bringing the wind chill below zero. So, the wimpy human (ME) kept the outing short - better to save the human today for more fun on another day! 4.8 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 39 days on the trails covering 245.1 miles with 26,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Catch and Pass the Groomer

Zipping along in the morning's fresh snow in the backcountry. Wheeee!

Having a blast with my hover husky pals.

We started this morning's outing in the backcountry with a light layer of new snow and active snowfall coming down around us. After doing a few backcountry laps, we dropped onto the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Despite heavy falling snow by the time we got on the nordic trails, I could see fresh groomer corduroy lines on the trail. This meant the groomer had been here just minutes before us. I looked to my pals and said, "Oh boy, I bet we can play catch & pass the groomer! You guys ready?"

"READY!!!!!" declares happy, snow covered Jack.
"WOOOO!! ME TOOOO!!!!!!" belts wooing Rudy.

So, then it began.... First we flew:

"Where's the groomer? Floor it!" goes Jack & Rudy.
Notice some of the groomer corduroy you can make out in the bottom
center of this photo. The groomer must be near!!!

Then we caught the groomer!

"You cannot outrun us! Whee!" says the fast & fun kids who LOVE
catching a groomer in front of us.

Finally, we passed the groomer!

Coming on through!
Jack likes to pass right by the groomer while Rudy likes to swing a little
further away from the big machine.

We know the groomer drivers from years of skijoring these trails. When they see us come up behind them, they will always slide right or left when the trail is wide enough and stop to let us pass. We swing to the wide side and trot on by. I always smile and wave to the driver who is always smiling and waving back.

So, let's put it all together in today's video highlight: 1) flying... 2) catching... 3) patiently trotting behind... 4) passing... and FINALLY, 5) flooring it again once past the groomer. Wheeee! We love this fun game. Oh, and notice the nice, heavy snow falling throughout this video. Yay for Snow!!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Yes, we LOVE catch & pass the groomer!" says the happy & focused kids.

Today's tally: 5.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 37 days on the trails covering 236.3 miles with 26,000 feet of elevation climbed.