Nordic Zooming

I love this cool shot of Jack & Rudy catching air amidst my shadow as we break through the shade of trees into a blast of sun. 

Whee, these kids are so fun!!!

It was a wonderful day on the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. The groomer had not been out since yesterday morning, but the conditions were still excellent this morning. When we got far from the trailhead, only a pair of skate skiers had been this far in the last 24 hours. Sweet!

A perfect groomed trail with existing marks of only 2 previous skate skiers.
Look at Jack & Rudy in a cool out-stretched sprint on the groomie zoomie.

Even when we were closer to the trailhead, the conditions were still pretty nice:

Zipping by the Hallelujah Warming Hut with still plenty of soft trail
for us to safely floor it!

At our furthest point of the outing, we zoom along a stretch which has been memorable for stunning view shots in years past. Well, this is our 4th or 5th skijor past this section this season. I'm now convinced the trees have just grown too much in the past year to get the stunning views we used to. Here's the best I got:

In years past, all the smaller trees to our right were much shorter and we'd
get a stunning view of the Rocky Mountains to our right. I guess those days
are over with the growing trees. Oh well, growing trees are a good thing :)

Since we didn't get the usual panoramic view shot in the prior photo, the kids decided to stop, drop and roll snow angels at another overlook to give us a view shot for the day. What polite kids :)

Stop, drop & roll with snow capped Rocky Mountain peaks in the foreground!

Now on to today's video highlight. Come along as we skijor to the completion of the day's outing. This final approach has three things to be aware of: 1) a few blind corners to zip around; 2) the possibility of loose dogs milling around as we are near a trailhead; and 3) the potential for slick and/or icy conditions as lots of traffic (ski, foot, snowshoe) has been on the trail. Well, today the conditions were good enough for me to feel comfortable letting Jack & Rudy go full throttle to the finish. Come along and watch fun. With no loose dogs appearing around any corner, this was about as perfect a finish we can get on this particular trail! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun, fun, fun, right guys?

"Oh, that was a blast! Zoom!" says the patient kids awaiting end of
run treats atop a little snow wall.

Today's milestone? Our top speed of the season! 9.3 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 23 days on the trails covering 142.4 miles with 17,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from me in my Santa hat and my adorable miniature flying reindeer, Jack & Rudy :)

Merry Christmas!

Did I say "miniature flying reindeer"? Well, yes, see for yourself:

Jack & Rudy may be smaller than a reindeer, but they can fly just
as well as any on Santa's team :)

Our outing this morning took us to the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. As we hoped, the groomer had been out on the trails just before us. While the groomer had not groomed all of the terrain, we did find a few stretches of fresh and untouched groom. Yes, we were first tracks on these sections of trail! We did encounter one other skier along the way, but she was gliding in the classic ski tracks, so that still left the entire width of the trail freshly groomed and untouched for us!

"Coming through! Made you smile!' go Jack & Rudy and they love to 
entertain oncoming skier by flying on by and putting smiles on their faces.

But, aside from that solo skier in the classic tracks, we were first tracks for an extended duration. So fun:

The fun kids catching air as we are first tracks on the fresh groomie zoomie.

Eventually, though, the fun came to a minor pause. Come along for today's video highlight. Watch as we are zipping & cruising along the freshly groomed trail having a blast. Then, we come upon a trail intersection and, boo, there is a loose dog standing in the middle of the intersection. I start to snowplow to slow us down while we see what Fluffy is going to do. We've encountered this dog before, so I wasn't too worried, we just wanted it OUT OF THE WAY! Well, watch as Fluffy finally moves enough to give us an escape gap. I release Jack & Rudy by putting my skis parallel, I don't have to say anything. The great kids feel the release and know they can now run on by Fluffy. Jack & Rudy have absolutely no use for loose dogs, all they do is cause slow downs or stoppages. Sled dogs hate stopping, sled dogs LOVE running :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It was a bit of a warm morning with temperatures in the 30s (F) but above freezing. So, I knew what I'd get from Jack & Rudy at our turnaround pause of the outing:

Yep, rub a dub dub, need to roll in the snow to cool our jets.
It's hard to tell which legs are Jack's and which are Rudy's as they are
a conjoined snow angel :)

A wonderful Christmas outing: 9.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 17 days on the trails covering 104.1 miles with 12,700 feet of elevation climbed.

23 MPH Day

Jack & Rudy were in a groove this morning on fast nordic trails as we hit our top speed of this 2025/2026 season: 23 MPH! Zoom!

The hover huskies were in full form today zooming around
the groomie zoomie nordic trails!

The trails had been freshly groomed this morning and, while we were not first tracks on the fresh groom, only a handful of people/dogs had been out before us. So, the conditions were perfect for Jack & Rudy to floor it and that they did! Come along for today's entertainment from the fun sled dogs:

We caught air hovering by the Hallelujah Warming Hut, wheeee!

Floating on by, no need to stop at a silly warming hut!

We did have to pause momentarily, though, for pesky rodents off trail under the snow. Jack caught scent of them first and did his usual rodent lunge in search of the pests. Rudy, of course, followed with his patented, high arching rodent dives to investigate with Jack:

"I sense rodents right here!" declares Jack lunging off trail.
"Really? Well, then, INCOMING!" goes Rudy joining with a beautiful swan dive.

I've been impressed with my new video camera that I got just last week to replace the dead gopro. This camera has the widest viewing angle of any camera I've ever had. Well, Jack & Rudy decided to test "just how wide" it really could capture. They almost out spanned the wide camera :)

"Turnaround, roll around - can you capture this wide separation?" says the
far apart but snow rolling sillies. No camera I've ever had before would have
captured both of them this far apart!

Back to action and "hovering over the trail" was the action theme of the day!

The fun kids catching air yet again as we hover by the Kathy's Viewpoint
Warming Hut.

What do use for a video highlight today? So much to choose from. I'll go with the video counterpart of the first photo. Come along as we start out zipping along a perfect trail amidst dense trees. Then, we round a right curve in the trail and the trees start to part to reveal some stunning mountain views ahead of us and to our left. What a beautiful morning!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As the final act of entertainment from the fun kids, they found their highest snow wall of this young season to climb for end of run treats. It's always so fun when they find waist high (or higher) snow walls!

"No need to kneel, dad, we'll climb to you for treats!" says my happy
and polite pals!

A great morning on fast and freshly groomed nordic trails: 8.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 10 days on the trails covering 59.4 miles with 7000 feet of elevation climbed.

Rudy 8000

7 year old Rudy surpassed 8,000 career skijor miles yesterday morning! Impressive!

"And I've been singing for 8000 miles too!" adds proudly wooing Rudy.

Rudy's skijor career to date is the following: 1034 days on the trails covering 8000.3 miles with 742,100 feet of elevation climbed. Consider that most of this has happened since he was 1.5 years old and that is quite an impressive career he has strung together. For the curious, 5 month older Jack surpassed 8,000 career miles himself earlier this season.

Back to yesterday's outing. It was another fun tour around the top of Rabbit Ears Pass. But, the signs of summer are really starting to come through - boo!

There was lots of breakup in open meadows:

Yikes, the snow caving in to Jack's right with more exposed water
to Rudy's left.

There was lots of dirty snow in heavily wooded sections of trail:

Look at all that "tree debris" covering our otherwise beautiful white snow!

There were lots of narrow stretches with views of "no snow" at elevations below us.

Cruising along a narrow stretch with views of snow bare lower elevations
of Colorado to our right.

But, what did remain constant with the comedians was rolling snow angels to cool off at our turnaround point:

"Stop, drop and ROLL!" goes the snow rolling sillies.

Which deteriorating condition to feature in today's video highlight? How about gliding along behind Jack & Rudy in the tree debris covered snow amongst thick trees. Sure, it's not pretty snow, but it is toes on snow in mid-May, we'll take that any day!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another constant, along with rolling snow angels, was still finding snow walls to climb for end of run treats. Despite heavy melting, the kids can still find a wall to scale!

"If there is a snow wall, we'll find it and climb it!' declares the happy
kids getting up to my level for end of run treats.

Yesterday's tally: 9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed with a top speed of 22 MPH and passing 8,000 career skijor miles for impressive 7 year old Rudy. Yay!

2024/2025 Season to Date: 106 days on the trails covering 810.7 miles with 80,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Surprise

Look at the surprise we came across atop Rabbit Ears Pass this morning!

A recently groomed trail! Wow, what a WONDERFUL surprise!!!

These grooms are known to happen now and then on Rabbit Ears Pass in May; but it is not something announced or scheduled. You just show up and occasionally get this lucky! It is members of the US National Nordic Team that do (and use) these occasional, surprise grooms and Jack, Rudy & I LOVE to come across it!

Now come watch how the surprise groom unfolded in today's video highlight. We start this clip with us on a narrow, leftover corduroy between snowcat tracks. I was expecting this (the narrow between the cat tracks) once I saw it and that was just fine for Jack, Rudy & I. But, then watch as about 35 seconds into the clip and the snowcat turned and lowered its grooming blade. Well, Jack & Rudy know what to do with a recent and wide groomed trail. So, ZOOOOM we go. What fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The groom only lasted about 1.5 miles. But, that is ok, after zooming on the groom, we headed out towads Walton Peak on backcountry ski trails. Once we got to the base of the peak, I paused to assess whether we could abandon set trails and skijor the spring crust. Did I say pause? Yep...

"Stop, drop & roll!" goes the 'if you stop, we roll' sillies.

I did determine that the crust could hold our weight, so we set out so skijor across vast snow covered meadows. I realize it looks very bumpy in the prior photo; but that is because we were at the edge of the meadow. Once we got into the center of the meadow, it smoothed up a bit for some fun "no set trails" skijoring:

See, not as bumpy once we got into the open. Whee!

We then connected onto marked snowmobile trails to begin our return to the trailhead. This type of trail gets very packed by snowmobiles running all winter and, as a result, it was still in perfect condition especially for May! Yay!

The kids opening it up on packed snowmobile trails. Fun!

To complete the day, we got back on the surprise groom and sprinted across it in the reverse direction to arrive back at the trailhead.

The hover huskies catching air on the surprise groom!

What an enjoyable and great surprise today, right guys?

"Oh, I had a blast!" declares Jack who is laying down atop a nice snow wall.
"Yes, we love Rabbit Ears!" adds giddy Rudy.

A really nice outing for mid May: 9.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 104 days on the trails covering 792.1 miles with 78,300 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Leftovers

Catching air with the Rabbit Ears in view to our upper left, whee!

Fun Jack & Rudy catching air!
Nice view of the ears for which Rabbit Ears Pass is named in the upper left;
the two rocks atop the peak to our upper left are the ears of Rabbit Ears Pass.

Today's outing can be summarized by one phrase: Groomer Leftovers. Yesterday found us being first tracks on freshly groomed snowmobile trails at Rabbit Ears Pass. Today we were playing leftovers from yesterday's groom. Since it is late April, not a lot of traffic was out on the trails yesterday (go figure, some people apparently think it is springtime or something :) As a result, we were able to hug the shoulders of the trails most of the day to find some leftover groomer corduroy to enjoy today. 

In the photo above, we are on a really nice & wide strip of leftover corduroy on the left shoulder of the trail. In the photo below, the leftovers are much smaller, but still enough to safely let Jack & Rudy floor it!

Much narrower leftovers than the prior photo; but still enough for me on skis.

For some added fun to the outing, we veered away from the vast open meadows we usually stick to at Rabbit Ears in Spring and did an out & back on a lesser used snowmobile trail. But, it was the same theme as the rest of the day: hug the shoulders for groomer leftovers for my skis and let Jack & Rudy do their thing :)

Still enough leftovers for my skis on the right shoulder as Jack & Rudy
zoom down the middle.

Let's go back to the first photo for today's video highlight. Come along and watch as we have some really nice leftover corduroy on the left shoulder for an awesome & endless skijor. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

As with yesterday, it was above freezing all morning. So, you know what that gets you from Jack & Rudy:

"Stop, drop & ROLL! Need to cool off!" says the snow rolling sillies.
That is the official geological marker for Rabbit Ears Pass behind Jack & Rudy.
Notice talented Jack is rolling AND eating snow at the same time. Talented!!!

For some reason, Nancy's "end of run" video had either me or Jack (or both) cutoff for most of her footage. I guess she wanted to focus on Rudy today, haha!

At least most of Jack & I are in this frame (most were missing much more of us).

Another really nice late April skijor outing: 9.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 100 days on the trails covering 766.6 miles with 75,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Fresh Tracks

Who was enjoying the wonderful fresh snow this morning?

"I am! I am!" exclaims happy Jack.
"You know if you ask I'll respond in song!" woos silly Rudy.

Today was a surprising and absolutely amazing day of laying fresh tracks in new snow.

We started in the Dry Gulch backcountry and, no surprise here, we were first laying fresh tracks in 4-6 inches of new snow. But, to our surprise and pleasure, we came across the occasional wind blown drift providing us upwards of 10 inches of snow (or more) to blast through for short distances. What fun!

Jack & Rudy blasting through one of the short-lived, but many, wind blown
drifts of fresh powder!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. As you'll see, most of the outing was spent laying fresh tracks in 4-6 inches of snow. But, the occasional wind drift provided some nice powder caches to blast through. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We then dropped onto the trails of Gold Run Nordic Center to extend the day. Well, it was "surprising and amazing" as there was 2-3 inches of untouched, fresh snow over the otherwise groomed and packed upper nordic loop:

Jack & Rudy literally FLYING as we are laying fresh tracks on the
upper loop at Gold Run! What a treat.

Next it became "shocking and amazing" as we transitioned onto the popular and well-used main trail at the nordic center. What did we find? Well, once again, 2-3 inches of untouched, fresh snow over the nordic trail. We were laying fresh tracks on the busy main trail almost the entire distance! It wasn't until the last 1/2 mile or so that we finally encountered other tracks and people. I don't think we've ever been able to lay fresh tracks on this busy trail for almost the entire distance! Shocking!

Laying fresh tracks on the popular & (usually) busy main trail.
Shocking and amazing :)

We did have one turnaround point during the outing. Jack & Rudy were running hard in the fresh snow all morning long; so I fully expected dual snow angels from them to roll in the fresh snow to cool off. Yep:

"Ah, rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies.

Laying fresh tracks in the backcountry and then almost the entire distance at the nordic center! Could it get any more surprising and amazing than today?

"No, you cannot top today's amazing outing!" states the happy & proud
kids awaiting their end of run treats.

Today's fresh tracks tally: 9.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 82 days on the trails covering 646.3 miles with 61,600 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Surprise

Who was enjoying this morning's fun skijor outing?

"We are!!!!! We are having a blast!" exclaims the happy kids looking back
to me at a short pause during the outing.

We started the day on the Buffalo Park Trail atop Rabbit Ears Pass. The trail was as expected: a bunch of soft snowmobile tracks to follow forever:

Zipping along in soft snowmobile tracks. Wheeee!

One nice snowmobile track eventually went right and up towards the Harrison Creek Trail. We decided to follow this path, fully expecting to find Harrison Creek to be a collection of snowmobile tracks too. But, to our surprise and delight, as we got onto the Harrison Creek Trail, we found it FRESHLY groomed! Wow, what an unexpected surprise and treat! Jack & Rudy knew what to do with the fresh groom:

Zoom!

We quickly changed our intended path (which was to be an out & back on the Buffalo Park Trail) to do and out & back on the freshly groomed Harrison Creek Trail instead. Of course, an out & back means you turnaround at some point, right?

Yep, turnaround antics from my favorite comedians.
"Turnaround, roll around!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Turnaround, woos abound!" sings Rudy.

Now come along for today's video highlight - running fast on the groomie zoomie. At 12 seconds into this clip and we get an interesting moment. The trail we are on goes forward, left and right at the 12 second point. In all the years we've skijored Harrison Creek, we've never done anything but go forward. But, today, the groomer went left. As you'll see in the video, Jack & Rudy are completely prepared to abandon the groom and continue forward (as we've always done before). So, you'll hear me call out a "Left" to my pals. They slow momentarily; but then execute the left as requested and off we GO again. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a surprise beauty of an outing:

The hover huskies catching air being first tracks on the fresh groom. Zoom!

What a treat, right guys?

"Oh yes, now how about those end of run treats too?" says the happy kids.

There's nothing like a surprise groom for a fast & fun day: 9.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 78 days on the trails covering 611.9 miles with 58,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Fresh and First

Look at what we found this morning in Dry Gulch!

Upwards of 10 inches of fresh powder to blast through
in the backcountry!

When we get in deep snow like this, I love watching Jack & Rudy work in slow motion. You can really get a feel for their power and strength by watching this way. So, come along for today's video highlight: a slow motion glimpse into the Jack & Rudy trail breaking duo! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our plan was to enjoy fresh snow in Dry Gulch and then get some speed on the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. But, within 10 yards of transitioning from backcountry to nordic terrain, this unfolded :)

"I sense rodents under the snow! Incoming!" goes beautiful rodent diving Rudy.
"What? Really?" responds Jack pausing when he noticed Rudy's actions.

Jack, of course, was quick to join the rodent hunt. You never let your brother dunk in the snow for rodents alone! Jack does what I call a "rodent lunge" versus Rudy's high arching, fox-like rodent dives. From what I've seen over the years, the dive and the lunge tend to produce the same results. But it is certainly Rudy's personality to do a dramatic dive and Jack's personality to do a mellow lunge :)

"Joining! Where are those pesky rodents?" ask lunging Jack.
"Searching, searching!" responds Rudy furiously digging in the snow.
Nobody came up with a rodent in their mouth, bummer for them :)

Now go back to Rudy's dive photo above. Notice anything special in front of Jack? Well, the nordic trail is freshly groomed and we are FIRST tracks on the fresh groom! Once the comedians recovered from their failed rodent hunt, they knew what to do with a fresh groom! Zoom!

Topping 24 MPH being first tracks on the fresh groom.
The groomie zoomie brothers!

Much to our surprise and pleasure, we were first tracks on the fresh groom the entire upper loop at the nordic center and then we were only second tracks on the lower main trail for most of the way. What fun:

On to the main trail and only 1 set of ski tracks (look in between Jack & Rudy)
and one set of dog tracks (to Rudy's left). This was just a guy skiing along with
his dog (not skijoring), we caught them just around the next corner and he was
quite jealous of the help I get while he gets nothing from his dog, haha :)

Today's parting shot? Jack & Rudy the snow angel rolling sillies at our turnaround point of the outing:

Jack quite often hops in the deeper snow off trail to roll a very deep
and energetic snow angel. Rudy is hit or miss whether he wants to
roll "in track" or "out of track" - today was rolling in track.

From trail breaking in fresh snow in the backcountry to first tracks on a fresh groom at the nordic center, a perfect day: 8.9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 77 days on the trails covering 602.5 miles with 57,200 feet of elevation climbed.