Yay Snow

Yay for fresh snow to gallop through in the backcountry this morning!

The fun kids "kicking up powder" as they gallop through the
morning's fresh snow!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. It is so much fun to get out in fresh snow on skis with Jack & Rudy. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our outing this morning started by laying fresh tracks in the backcountry as you saw above. We then continued to lay fresh tracks going out & back on a side trail. Well, any "out & back" means we turned around at some point. So, of course, we had turnaround antics from the comedians:

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes always snow rolling Jack.
"WOOOO! I love fresh snow!" adds singing Rudy.

The nice thing about doing an "out & back" in fresh snow is that you get to make use of your out track to go fast on the way back!

Jack & Rudy making use of our "out track" to pick up the speed on 
the way back. Smart kids!

Then, the reward for all that fun but very aerobic skijoring through fresh snow was to drop onto the newly groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Jack & Rudy know what to do with a groomie zoomie!

The hover huskies catching air as they floor it on the groomie zoomie trail.

Finally, as we were nearing the end of the outing, we got to flirt with this fun family coming up the trail. Jack & Rudy were as entertained by the dad towing his kid as the family was entertained by seeing Jack & Rudy towing me :)

"Cool dude! We could tow that kid for you!" offers curious Jack & Rudy
as the family looks on in all smiles.

A wonderful "fresh tracks to groomed zooming" this morning, right guys?

"Yes. We had a BLAST!" says the happy & focused kids awaiting
end of run treats atop a snow wall.

Today's tally: 5.8 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 46 days on the trails covering 283.7 miles with 30,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Front

Great "shot from the front" of a happy skijor trio finishing this morning's awesome run!

Whee!

We had a light layer of new snow overnight (1-2 inches). But, any amount of new snow makes narrow side trails safe to skijor with my pals. It's such an experience to be tugged & towed through narrow, tree lined trails!

This is only safe with some amount of new snow to both slow Jack & Rudy
down and give me some braking control with my skis. 
But, we love winding through the trees when we can!

After the narrow, side trail treat, it was onto the more established (thus wider) backcountry trails. Once again, what a perfect layer of light new snow to safely uncork the Jack & Rudy skijoring engine:

Love all the snow flying up around them as we romp through the
fresh snow.

I'll take the prior photo as the lead in to today's video highlight. Come along to watch us laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow in the backcountry. Such a fun morning!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our next leg was to drop onto the trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. But, this transition comes with a turnaround point, so you know what that means!

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the comical snow rolling kids.

Snow angels completed and now time for the nordic center. No groomer had been out on the trails since yesterday and only a few skiers had been out before us. So, it was a light layer of slightly used fresh snow over a "yesterday groomed" fast trail. Jack & Rudy knew what to do with these nice conditions:

The hover husking flooring it to catch air along the nordic trail. Zoom!

As I said, a very entertaining outing, right guys?

"Yes, we LOVED it all!" says the happy kids patiently awaiting their
end of run treats.

A nice combination of single track, backcountry and nordic trails to yield 6.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 43 days on the trails covering 268.6 miles with 29,000 feet of elevation climbed.

BOOM

Laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow in the backcountry this morning! Whee!

Beautiful conditions, beautiful skijor partners!

After a few days off (my fault :), Jack & Rudy were ready to floor it this morning. They had the "pedal to the metal" pretty much all morning long!

Flying!!!

We found ourselves starting in the backcountry and then eventually dropping onto the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Along the way, we had two turnaround points of the outing. At the first turnaround, Jack & Rudy turned quickly and then had to wait for the slow human to cycle around on skis. That brings us to today's video highlight. Watch Jack is patiently sitting and Rudy patiently standing as they wait for my turnaround. But, then watch as soon as I say "Ok," (my release command for them to go) and the kids virtually shoot out of a cannon to launch me down the trail with them. Such power & speed in this fun video clip. BOOM!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As I mentioned, we had two turnaround events during the outing. On the second turn, Jack & Rudy were back to "normal form" rolling snow angels while I turned around.

There we go, this is the usual turnaround event.
Stop, drop and roll while I turn around :)

Then, to our surprise & delight, we found ourselves being first tracks on the freshly groomed main trail at Gold Run Nordic Center. Jack & Rudy know what to do with a fresh groomie zoomie trail:

The hover huskies catching air on the groomie zoomie trail!

The final treat of the day was, of course, climbing a snow wall to receive end of run treats:

Such fun partners! Such happy kids!!!!

A nice zippy morning covering 6.1 miles with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 31 days on the trails covering 194.9 miles with 21,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Dogstacle

Our first time on the narrow Trail of Tears single track this season! Whee!

There is finally enough snowpack for us to venture off the main trails and onto
the narrow, single track side trails. Fun!

As you see in the photo, Jack & Rudy have no problem squishing shoulder to shoulder to fit on single track trails. It's so fun to go winding through the forest on narrow trails like these with them!

In order to get to the narrow Trail of Tears, we have to initially climb to the historic Sallie Barber Mine. Well, as is almost always the case, the climb to the mine is celebrated by rolling snow angels to cool off :)

"Aaaahhh!" says the snow rolling sillies cooling off at the mine.

So, we skijored up to the mine, then went out & back on the Trail of Tears single track and then returned to the main trail to fly back to the trailhead. Wheeee!

The fun kids catching air on the fast & wide Sallie Barber Mine Trail.

This trail is very popular for people to ski with their dogs. Very few skijor, most just let Fluffy scurry about while they ski on their own - I know, what a silly concept, use the dog and skijor!!! :) Anyway, our loose dog encounters go one of two ways...

First (and most common), Fluffy is left to stand in the middle of the trail for us to deal with. Yes, the owners often try to call the loose dog out of the way - um, it RARELY listens. Oh well...

Nothing to do but slow down and interact with loose Fluffy in the middle of
the trail. Jack & Rudy would rather run on by, but I know from experience that
trying to run by a loose dog often gets the dog aggravated and lunging at you.
So, we slow, greet briefly and then go on by.

Second (and least common), an owner may decide to pull Fluffy to the side of the trail, hold it there and let us fly on by. This is Jack & Rudy's (and my) preferred interaction. None of us want to slow or stop for a boring dog:

Yay, the owner pulled Fluffy over and held it (the "hold" is often not done
successfully too). As you see, my pals have no use for Fluffy when you have
the option to keep running and fly on by instead!!!!!

But, back to the most common interaction - the loose dog obstacle in the middle of the trail: a dogstacle. Come along for today's dogstacle encounter. The clip starts with us flying along the beautiful wide trail. Then, we all see loose Fluffy in the middle of the trail. There's no option but to slow, greet briefly and then get on by. Watch how quickly Jack & Rudy discard Fluffy to return to fast, fun and pedal to the metal skijoring. Wheeee! Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Oh we had a blast!" says the happy, happy kids awaiting end of run treats.

Finally enough snow to extend the Sallie Barber Trail with the adjoining Trail of Tears single track: 6.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 22 days on the trails covering 133.1 miles with 16,200 feet of elevation climbed.

New Year, Same Fun

It might be a new year, but it was the same awesome skijor fun with Jack & Rudy this 2026 New Year's Day!

Can you feel the power behind the strong sled dogs in this shot?
Love the snow poofs behind them coming off their feet. Wheeee!

After a couple of days off, Jack & Rudy were in a real power running groove this morning.

As you see in the first photo, we were zipping up the higher elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning.

After a predominantly up first leg, it was time to turn around. Yep, turnaround, roll around....

"Rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies cooling their jets after a
fast gallop on the initial up leg before flooring it back down.

Then, as expected, it was pedal to the metal on the predominantly down return leg. Whee!

The fun kids catching air on a beautiful & wide groomed nordic trail.

As I said, the kids were in a real running groove this morning. Come along for today's video glimpse into the fun to see for yourselves:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

New year, same fun on the trails. New year, same fun receiving end of run treats atop a snow wall:

The happy, happy kids patiently awaiting end of run treats!

What a great New Year's fun run: 6.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 21 days on the trails covering 126.8 miles with 15,500 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Snow Wall

Shoulder to shoulder flying along the Sallie Barber Mine Trail this morning. Wheeee!

Such perfect, synchronized form. Impressive :)

This morning found us skijoring the fun Sallie Barber Mine Trail. This trail, though, is somewhat short for Jack & Rudy's liking, so we always enjoy adding to it when the snow permits. There are lots of single track offshoots from the main trail to explore. Today we FINALLY had enough snow for the offshoots to be safe to skijor. Our offshoot this morning had a narrow set track from previous skiers. The set track was only "one Siberian Husky wide" and the snow out of the track was too deep for one of Jack/Rudy to run in track and the other keep pace out of track. So, what to do? Well, the smart kids have no problem arranging themselves into single file skijoring to keep the fun going:

Rudy running point while Jack takes a break behind him.

I never have to say anything, the smart kids automagically adapt and configure themselves to fit in the narrow set track. The guy in front, though, is now doing all the work (leading & pulling) while the guy in back is taking a break and merely jogging along. So, kids will eventually switch positions to even out the load. Again, I say nothing, they do this all on their own. So smart :)

Jack's turn to run point while Rudy takes a break behind him.

While the single track offshoots are fun, the most entertainment is getting back on the wide main trail and flooring it. Here we are zooming by the historic Sallie Barber Mine:

Wheeee!

Now come along for the video counterpart of the prior photo. We start out gliding by the historic mine and then floor it on this wonderful wide trail amidst very dense trees on each side. What a peaceful run!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

But, today's real highlight was our first snow wall to climb for end of run treats this season. A plow had cleared the trailhead parking lot recently and a small snow wall was now available for Jack & Rudy to climb to receive treats. They LOVE doing this (and I love not having to get down on my knees :)

Not the tallest of snow walls; but still a sufficient wall to climb and receive
treats from me in a standing position. Yay!

The conditions are finally starting to come together this season with more snow in the forecast. Today's tally: 5.7 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 5 days on the trails covering 27.7 miles with 3300 feet of elevation climbed.

Peak 7

Fresh tracks fun on the trails on Peak 7 in Breckenridge. Wheeee!

A wonderful layer of fresh snow all to ourselves. Yay!

We were on the trails that will eventually become Breckenridge Nordic Center once there is enough snow to support a groomer. While we expected enough snow for a groomer, it is not quite there. But, there was plenty of snow to support Jack, Rudy and I! So, it was a "backcountry style" outing on the soon to become nordic trails on Peak 7 this morning.

It was 8 degrees (F) when we started the outing. You know what that means, Jack & Rudy had to stop and use the Hallelujah Warming Hut we encountered along the way. This is how a Siberian Husky uses a warming hut:

"8 degrees! So hot! Must stop, drop and roll to cool our jets at the
warming hut!" declares the snow rolling sillies.

While we were first tracks in the fresh snow most of the day, eventually we encountered evidence of others. Not a problem, there was still plenty of fresh snow for us to use next to some other tracks on the trail:

Fresh tracks down the middle of the trail with another set of ski
tracks to our left. Plenty of untouched snow for us!!!

Now come along for some video fun. Watch as Jack & Rudy are having a blast towing me along in the fresh snow as we round many corners on the trail along the way. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Then, we got a real treat - our first fresh smelling moose tracks on the trail for the 2025/2026 season. Delectable!

"Sniff, sniff - these are FRESH!!!" says the moose track inspectors.

What was better - the fresh snow, the moose tracks or the end of run treats. Hmmm, I think it was a tie amongst all three!

"End of run treats are ALWAYS special!" declares the happy & focused kids.

Great day laying fresh tracks on Peak 7: 6.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 4 days on the trails covering 22.0 miles with 2600 feet of elevation climbed.

Yay Snow

Look at all the snowflakes (white speckles) in today's opening shot for our skijor outing!

Active snowfall in late April. Yay!!!!

We had a light dusting of snow overnight, so I decided to head out to the trails on Peak 7 with Jack & Rudy this morning. This time of year, the trails start to get very slick and beat up. But, all I need is a dusting of snow to make the conditions safe to ski again. I call this the "Safety Dust" and this morning's plan was to use the overnight safety dust to skijor Peak 7. But, much to our pleasure and surprise, it started snowing moments after we started the outing and continued all morning long. This added to the safety dust and made for an incredibly enjoyable outing. Let's try and showcase some more of the active snow:

All the white speckles you see against Jack & Rudy's fur and the trees
ahead and to our left are active snowflakes. Yay for Snow!

Ok, let's try another:

More white snowflake speckles on Jack & Rudy and more
speckles against the trees. Whee!

Ok, enough trying to capture active snow in a still photo. Let's get to the video highlight of the morning. Come along and watch as we have wonderful and quite active snowfall coming down on us as we skijor Peak 7. Yay for Snow!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our last two skijor outings the temperatures were above freezing, so we got the comedians rolling snow angels to cool off at any break point. Well, today was below freezing, so I knew Rudy was going to switch from rolling to singing. Jack, of course, ALWAYS rolls. Sure enough:

"Stop, drop and roll!" declares always rolling Jack.
"Woooo! I love snow!" belts singing Rudy.

Back to the trailhead and I think I was talking about the fun outing too much instead of handing out the end of run treats:

"You going to chat away or dish them out?!?" asks perplexed, head cocked Rudy.
"I can taste them in anticipation, come on!" adds slurping Jack.

A beautiful morning skijoring with a layer of safety dust and active snowfall: 5.7 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 101 days on the trails covering 772.3 miles with 75,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Reroute

We found over 2 feet of fresh, untouched snow on this morning's skijor outing!

Jack & Rudy powering through 2 feet of powder. Impressive.

My original plan for the day was to do a one way skijor, starting from one trailhead and finishing at another. We had new snow overnight, so I was expecting to be laying fresh tracks with Jack & Rudy on my one way plan. Well, as you see above (and below), the new snow was WAY deeper than I expected. As the snow got deeper, it was clear that my one way planned route was not a good idea today:

Stalled for a moment in a ton of deep snow.

While Jack & Rudy have no problem breaking trail, I like to reward them on deep snow outings with "out & back" routes. That means they get to break trail in one direction and then reuse the track we set on the way out on the way back. It's nice to give them that reward for hard trail breaking work on the way out. So, I rerouted us a different direction to a trail that Jack & Rudy know is an "out & back" as that is the only option on this particular trail (unless you want to skijor 20+ miles one way to the next trailhead :) So, cruising we went until I announced it was time to turnaround and head back. Everybody ready?

"Not yet, need to stop, drop and ROLL an intense snow angel first!" goes silly Jack.
"Woo, you bet! Let's floor it back!" adds Rudy singing in approval.

So, then it was time to reuse the track we worked to hard to set on the way out. Whee!

Enjoying our "out track" on the return.

But, while running back in your "out track" in 1-2 feet of snow is easier (than the way out), it is by no means EASY! Come along for today's video fun to see what I mean. Watch as Jack, Rudy and I are having fun bouncing up, down, back & forth in today's ton of fresh snow. Wheeee! 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and my pals are very willing to accept 'end of run' treats after a deep powder workout this morning:

"Ready! You have our FULL attention!" says the focused pair.

It's always fun when you get to announced "today's skijor was slowed by 1-2 feet of powder!" - 6.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 17 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 56 days on the trails covering 422.2 miles with 40,300 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Wind Blown

Laying fresh tracks in upwards of 4 inches of new snow this morning!

Wonderful shot of Jack & Rudy laying fresh tracks as I glide along behind
in a nice layer of new snow! Wheeee!

Today's outing found us on Prospect Hill - an unmaintained area open to both snowmobiles and skiers. With the morning's new snow, we were able to gallop along laying fresh tracks in pre-existing snowmobile tracks most of the outing. There's nothing as nice as 3-4 inches of fresh snow over a packed track - just see for yourself:

Jack & Rudy having a blast running in fresh snow over packed snowmobile tracks!

As we neared the midpoint of the outing, I called out for everyone to "Wait," which everyone did as asked and then glanced back at me for further instruction:

"Waiting - now what?" asks the happy & obedient kids.

To their glances, I replied, "Time to turnaround." Then it was, "Oh, turnaround! Why didn't you say so, we've got things to do first!!!"

Yep - turnaround, roll around from Jack
and turnaround, woos abound from Rudy.
Had I said "Wait, time to turnaround" together, I never would have got the
happy glances first and only the snow angels & woos :)

On the way back, we get some nice views of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Skijor with a view - wheeee!

Now on to the video counterpart to the prior photo. Come along for a fun skijor in the backcountry this morning with a nice view of the ski runs at Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. If your volume is on, you'll hear the constant & gusting wind blowing. We had come up this trail about 10-15 minutes earlier and by the time we returned it was almost completely recovered with wind blown snow! Not a problem, just a little extra effort required by Jack, Rudy and myself :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The wind caused me to cut the outing a little shorter than usual. But, any skijor is better than no skijor, right guys?

"Oh yes and I see that bag of treats in your hands!" says Jack.
"I live for snow and woos!" adds funny Rudy.

A quick but very entertaining day laying fresh tracks: 6.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 51 days on the trails covering 382.0 miles with 35,800 feet of elevation climbed.