Gangline

An interesting skijor up/down Buffalo Pass this morning...

"Interesting indeed. But 'toes on snow' is fun no matter what goes along with it!!!" exclaim my
happy & adaptable partners.

So, what was so interesting, you ask?

Well, first off, the Forest Service had closed the gate on the access road at about 9400 feet elevation up Buffalo Pass. Yet, there was NO snow at 9400 feet! The Forest Service does not always close this particular gate during the summer melt; but decided to this year for some reason. We knew there was still 4.5 feet of snowpack high up on the pass. So, we got out of the Jeep and proceeded to hike up the road with our gear until we found skiable snow (at around 9700 feet elevation).

Okay, not so bad, we simply had to "hike to snow", right? Well, then came the really interesting part. Can you see it in the following photo?

Uh, what's with the colorful leashes attached to Max & Zorro instead of a skijoring gangling?!?

Well, I forgot the gangling back in the Jeep - argh! We hiked up the road with Max & Zorro on their leashes and my skis on my backpack. It was not until I reached down to switch them from leashes to gangline that I realized there was no gangline!!! Not to be deterred, I told Nancy, "We are not going to be denied - just hook the leashes to me!" The leashes are attached to a waist belt that we use on summer hikes and trail runs. So, why not use a trail running setup for skijoring, right?

Looks to be working just fine as we fly along the trail....

While the prior photo may look just fine, there was a catch...

The leashes are much shorter than a gangline so I was skiing closer than I've ever been behind Max & Zorro (and, thus, a much shorter reaction buffer for me). Also, the gangline has a bungee in one part to act as a shock absorber between the flying Siberians and the helpless human. But, no shock absorber today!

What did this all mean? Well, I needed every last ounce of skiing ability I have to keep upright in this tight & jerky setup. But, I never fell or wiped out!!! Yay!

Come along and watch some of the live action skijoring with a trail running setup.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Oh, by the way, it is June:

"Whew, need to roll snow angels to cool off!" demonstrates silly Max.
"I just stay in the shade to keep cool!" says happy little Zorro.

Was it worth it? Well, look at how much snow is still high up on Buffalo Pass in the photos above. So, yes, it was worth the hike up and creative use of equipment. 7.2 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 171 days on the trails covering 1421.3 miles with 150,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Given the closed gate far down the road up Buffalo Pass and the increasingly long hikes to snow this introduces, we probably have only 1 more outing this season. Tune back Monday or Tuesday for our season finale on Buffalo Pass.