Treat

No tricks today as were treated to a dump of fresh snow this halloween!!!

Laying fresh tracks in about 4 inches of fresh snow on Boreas Pass Rd. Beautiful halloween treat!

You may have looked at the previous photo and wondered, "That is Zorro and Jack, where is Rudy?" Well, Rudy is still too young for long skijor runs or extended stretches of deep snow. So, while we have a blast doing short training runs with Rudy, we need to drop the little guy now & then to get in some real skijor runs. Our plan for this winter is to drop Rudy once or twice a week and give Zorro and Jack a serious run. Eventually, probably in March or April, Rudy will be old enough to come along full-time. But, until then, you get a "Zorro and Jack" long skijor treat once a week :)

Anyway, back to today's run. We planned on driving up Boreas Pass Road until the snow was fresh and deep enough to skijor. Well, we found it "fresh and deep" at the trailhead, so did not need to drive up the road at all. As you can see in the previous photo, we were first on the road and were laying fresh tracks all the way up to Bakers Tank. What fun!!!

The only flaw in starting at the trailhead was that the trail got sticky now & then on the way down (due to mud creeping up from under the snow). I had to stop a few times to scrape mud off my skis. Well, you know Jack and his "stop antics"...

"You scrape the skis, I roll snow angels!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"Sigh, dumb human equipment, I want to GO!" declares "lined out and ready to go" Zorro.

Partway down and we ran into a Jeep coming up the road (Boreas Pass Road is open to 4WD vehicles until mid to late November). Zorro and Jack provided some entertainment for the tourists coming up the road:

Windows down and iphones out to take photo/video of the pretty sled dogs and the
crazy human attached to them on skis :)

After encountering that Jeep, we had tire tracks to follow the rest of the way down. While the tracks exposed mud in a few places, it also provided a packed speedway in other stretches! Zoom!

Zorro flying along the packed tire track as Jack wants to ride in the powder next to the track.

Here we go flying along the packed tire tracks. Zoom, zoom - love getting towed along by my sled dog pals!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a halloween treat, right guys?

"Oh my, that was fun!" declare the happy, happy brothers at the end of the day's run.

A fun day laying fresh tracks all the way up and then opening the throttle in tire tracks down low: 6.2 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 4 days on the trails covering 16.7 miles with 1850 feet of elevation climbed.

Getting It

Our second short & easy training run with young Rudy.

He's definitely "getting it"!!! 

Beautiful shot of the skijoring trio as they run in set tracks while I glide safely in the side powder!

It snowed all day Sunday, so we headed back to Boreas Pass early Monday morning to get in the fresh snow. The plan was similar to our last outing: drive up Boreas Pass until the snow was great for skis then let Nancy drive back down for about 1.5 miles while we skijored down this same track. This served two purposes: give young Rudy a "set track" and "easy downhill path" for his second training run.

This morning's run was PERFECT! Rudy has really picked this up (not that we expected any different). What is most fun to notice about the prior photo is how Zorro, Jack and Rudy auto-aligned for a perfect training setup. Note that I am skiing the shoulder snow to the left and Zorro is also to the left of the 3 pack. Zorro is "setting the pace" in this position and the one I will primarily talk to if any commands are needed. Jack is in second slot - following Zorro's lead but also towing the human. Finally, young Rudy is out in the third slot. He is so far away from me that he is not pulling, his only job is to run & jog at the pace set by his brothers. PERFECT! I planned to try and enforce this configuration; but I said nothing - Zorro & Jack took the 1st & 2nd slots on their own.

Come along for our first "3 pack" skijoring video - WHEEEE!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Time for a quick break for young Rudy and I directed us to some fun "side powder":

Rudy's first "fresh tracks" (for about 10 yards :)

Zorro knows we get "pork treats" at any break. Jack knows he rolls snow angels at all breaks. Rudy is just having fun!

"Break time - serve them up!" declares smart Zorro.
"Rub a dub dub!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"I'm having a blast!" says happy Rudy.

Here we come arriving at Bakers Tank on Boreas Pass to end the day's short training run.

As was the case all day: in perfect form and perfect configuration!

A successful and very fun 2nd training run with Rudy: 1.7 (downhill) miles traveled with a top speed of 14 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 3 days on trails covering 10.5 miles with 1100 feet of elevation climbed.

Here's Rudy

Look who came along this morning for his first ever skijor hookup...

RUDY!!!!!

Jack then Rudy then Zorro running 3x3 in Rudy's first ever hookup! 

It has been cold and snowing on/off all week. Recall that Zorro, Jack and I did our first skijor outing of the 2018/2019 season high up on Boreas Pass on Tuesday. Well, we decided to see if enough snow had collected on the same terrain to hookup little Rudy for his first outing. Success!!!

Rudy is still young and this was his first time. So, we made it as easy as possible. We drove up Boreas and then Nancy took the Jeep back down so we could do almost all downhill for his first run. Also, we kept the outing very short and took 4 breaks to celebrate our fun during the small outing.

After a somewhat shaky start, it all started to click for the young guy and we got into a real groove!

Fun shot of "Jack in powder", "Rudy in packed powder" and "Zorro on packed tracks" as you
see my skis snowplowing in the powder too. Boy do I have long legs all of a sudden :0

We came across one really nice stretch of good conditions. I let everyone know we could "open it up" and Zorro quickly put himself in the middle of the crowd. I was so happy to see veteran Zorro take control of the puppy brigade when the conditions allowed speed!

"Puppy on each shoulder, follow my lead!" declares Zorro.

I had to take the skis off 2 times to walk over bad terrain. Here's one instance where we are paused while I put my skis back on - guess what Jack did at all pauses....

"Ah, rub a dub dub!" demonstrates silly snow angel Jack.
"What are you doing over there silly bro?" asks inquisitive Rudy.
"Children... Look at all this good terrain ahead and we are paused!" declares Zorro.

Back to the Jeep - did everyone have a good time?

"YES!!!! I'm a big boy!" declares supper happy Rudy.
"Love snow, love snow!" declares happy Jack.
"I see potential..." states Zorro.

A great first training run introducing Rudy to skijoring: 1.6 miles traveled with lots of breaks to talk about how much fun we were having!

2018/2019 Season to Date: 2 days on the trails covering 8.8 miles with 1050 feet of elevation climbed.

Season Opener

We started our 2018/2019 Skijor Season this morning high up on Boreas Pass!

Wheeee - so fun to be back on snow!!!

Nice shot of the good conditions up high. Jack and I are riding in "side powder" while
Zorro jogs along in the tire track.

As you can see from the prior photo, Boreas Pass is still open to vehicles. But, the road is wide and not many venture up high when it snows. This lead to "perfect October conditions" as I could ride the deep snow on the shoulders while Zorro and/or Jack could dip into the packed tracks if they wanted easy speed.

Jack was VERY excited to be back on snow. So frisky....

"Hehe, love snow! Hey bro, want to play?!?!" says silly Jack to Zorro.
"Kid, I'd flatten you!" declares Zorro.

We had to drive partway up Boreas Pass before the snow was good enough to get on skis. The bonus of driving up meant that we could reach the summit before the day got too warm and the snow started getting sticky. Fun brothers at the summit:

"Love making it to the summit! So happy to have a real skjior partner again!" states happy Zorro.
"I see endless, untouched snow this way!" declares happy Jack.

Come along for a short & fun clip as we cruise along high up on Boreas...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I was wondering if Jack would remember "what to do" during a skijor break. Yep...

"You are stopped, I am rolling snow angels!" demonstrates funny Jack.
"Tasty snowcones too!" declares Zorro.

A few notes on this fun season opener.

First, you may be asking "where is little Rudy?" Well, take a close look at the conditions in the photos and video. There was just barely enough snow to skijor. Zorro is an expert and Jack has some good training miles under his belt (in good to bad conditions). Rudy, on the other hand, has not been in a skijor hookup yet. It is not safe (for him or ME) for his first hookup to be on sketchy to bad conditions. Don't worry, though, Rudy will be coming along as soon as the snow permits a newbie.

Second, look at how Jack has grown into a real sled dog over the summer. Today was Jack's longest skijor of his young life: 7.2 miles. I see some real distance potential in young Jack once the snow is good!

A fun day to open the season on October 9th with Zorro & Jack: 7.2 miles traveled with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 15 MPH.

Pray for Snow!