Skijoring the Ski Resort

An annual tradition - Skijoring the Breckenridge Ski Resort!

A truly unique & fun adventure, right guys?

"Oh yes, we have such FUN skijoring the ski resort!" declares the ecstatic trio :)

Normally our annual "skijor the ski resort" happens in mid to late April when Breckenridge Ski Resort closes Peak 9 on the resort (Peak 8 is often open until Memorial Day). But, all 30 ski resorts in Colorado (as well as virtually all others in North America, if not all) are now closed to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. So, today was a rare day as our annual "skijor the ski resort" happened in March! Technically, the ski resort closed back on Sunday, but we waited a few days for the shock & crowds to die down before hitting the mountain ourselves. The mountain is still open for "uphill access", meaning if you are willing to ski up, then you can ski down. Well, very few people have the stamina or energy to ski up a ski resort, so you can bet you are way beyond the 6 foot distance rule to prevent virus spread :)

Anyway, the ski resort is a little too steep for 11-3/4 year old Zorro to come with for a run long enough to fully exercise the kids, Jack & Rudy. So, we started with the kids before adding Zorro in for the end. Love getting towed uphill by my young buffaloes!

The Power Kids putting all their strength into their shoulders as we
start our skijor up the resort at the QuickSilver Super Chair.

Jack, Rudy and I did 3 "up/down" laps on the resort around Ten Mile Station. Each up/down was a different path, but all three culminated at Ten Mile Station. The reward for each steep up was a fast and fun down. Wheeee!

Zipping along as we cross under a chairlift near Ten Mile Station.

Jack & Rudy were having a great time going up/down, up/down and up/down; but we did pass by the same building, Ten Mile Station, three times. The first time we passed by the backside and then next two were the same general angle on the front side. Well, despite trying to stay upright the entire outing, the 2 year olds could not contain themselves on the 3rd pass by.

"C'mon man! Three times by the SAME structure! What did
you expect from us goofy kids! C'mon man!" says the goofs pausing
to stop, drop & roll on the 3rd time past.

Now, remember few things. First of all, a ski resort is designed for downhill skiing so the pitch of the runs is meant to produce forward momentum. Second, they use lifts to take people up as few can propel themselves up once, much less more than once! Meanwhile, Jack & Rudy happily towed me up three times!

Now, come along for a view of the downhill action. But, a few things to note: I am on cross country skis (not the best for downhill slaloming!) and Jack & Rudy would prefer to go straight downhill. I slalom the best I can on XC skis but occasionally have to overcorrect far left or far right as the skis are not slalom grade. This has me telling my partners "left, left" or "right, right" a few times to get them to overcorrect with me. Unique and fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Realize that this is Rudy's 2nd and Jack's 3rd time ever skijoring the ski resort and the first time for both without Zorro's guidance. Given that, I'd say they did pretty good listening to my left and right overcorrections despite their desire to go straight down!

Ok, done with a few laps to exercise the kids and as you saw in the first photo above, time to add Zorro to the team for the finale fun. We picked up the fun elder and went up a bit while Nancy went back down. Eventually we turned around for the final leg of today's skijor the ski resort!

Flying trio as we approach (and go by) Nancy on the side of the trail.

Too much fun to pay attention to mom today :)

Zooming on by we go!

Wheeee - hang on dad!!!!

On by Nancy and still FLYING down the ski run.
Hang on human!!!!!

What a fun day for one of our truly unique annual traditions: 6.5 miles traveled with 1300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 125 days on the trails covering 848.7 miles with 77,800 feet of elevation climbed.