Firm-ish

Nice view of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley as we trot along a firm-ish Spring crust.

Nice views!
Firm-ish crust that can support a trot but not a sprint...

Our goal this morning was to find (and skijor) a solid Spring crust in the open meadows in the Golden Horseshoe open space. Unfortunately, the best we found was a "trot crust" but not a "sprint crust". The difference, you ask? Well, a firm-ish crust can support Jack & Rudy trotting but they will bust and posthole through the crust if they try to go too fast. I kept directing us different directions in search of a sprint firm crust; but all we found was a "trot crust" or worse. When the crust got too punchy, it was time to turnaround and search in another direction. Jack & Rudy, as usual, made proper use of each turnaround :)

"Solid enough to support snow angels!" demonstrates the goofy kids.
But, notice the footprint postholes leading up to each snow angel. This
punchy surface is what caused me to turnaround (and Jack & Rudy to 'stop,
drop & roll' while I turned around :)

While we never found a Spring crust strong enough to support a sprint. We did find many stretches firm enough to support a trot. Jack & Rudy are so smart, I never had to say anything. They both auto-magically adjusted into a gentle trot all morning long and abandoned thoughts of sprinting within minutes of our start, after punching through the snow a couple of times.

"We can't sprint, but we sure can get into a nice trot!" demonstrates the smart kids.
Oh, and another nice view of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from
us again.

Come along and watch the fun as Jack & Rudy have settled into the EXACT speed that the crust will support and not even a smidget more. Beautiful morning for a gentle trot & glide....

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and Jack let me know he appreciated my search for a perfect crust even though we were only able to find a firm-ish trot crust :)

"Thanks for trying dad!" says affectionate Jack.
"Hey, I appreciate the effort too!" adds cute & happy Rudy.
"But, the 'end of run' treats are right in front of ME!" declares locked Zorro.

A gentle trot around the backcountry with my favorite kids: 6.2 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top trot speed of 18 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 131 days on the trails covering 1111.5 miles with 103,400 feet of elevation climbed.