24 MPH Day

Aerodynamics at their best:

All four ears across Jack & Rudy tucked tightly against their
heads to achieve maximum aerodynamics. Impressive!

We had a fast & fun day on the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. Jack & Rudy kept flooring with maximum aerodynamics on the groomie zoomie straightaways:

The aerodynamic hover huskies in perfect form. Impressive again :)

What happens when you keep achieving maximum aerodynamics? Well, the GPS clocked us topping 24 MPH skijoring is that happens! Come along for today's fun clip were we topped 24 MPH somewhere along the first half of this clip (before we come to the tight right in the trail where the camera dips as I struggle to keep upright and corner with the speed demons :) Whee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Sometimes, though, you need you ears up to hear upcoming "treats" along the trail:

Ears up as we round a corner with a little squirrel in the trail.
The black dot up and to the left of Rudy is a little black squirrel.
Squirrels are quite small at 10,000+ feet elevation in Breckenridge.
But, all squirrels are potential "trail food". Unfortunately for Jack & Rudy,
it scampered off trail before they got to it.

With all that fast aerodynamic running this morning, rolling snow angels to cool off was definitely needed at our turnaround point of the outing:

"Rub a dub dub!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Aaahhh, I LOVE snow!" adds happy Rudy who is just completing his roll.

Finally, the ears are ALWAYS up for full attention to get end of run treats!!!

"You have our FULL attention! Ready!" says the happy & focused kids.

A zippy day on fast nordic trails: 7.4 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 35 days on the trails covering 225.7 miles with 25,1000 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Zoom

What 24 MPH skijoring often looks like:

The kids catching air on a recently groomed nordic speedway!

What is slightly unusual about the prior photo? Well, you cannot see much in front of Jack & Rudy as I'm in a tight ski tuck myself trying to keep pace & upright with the speed demons! Talk about working the human's legs!!!!

When I'm not in a tight ski tuck to save my life, I am able to rock back a bit and enjoy the scenery:

Ah, just a mild 20-22 MPH so I can rock back and take it all in.
Jack & Rudy catching air again as we round a slight left in the trail.

When we get on open straightaways, I can really rock back and relax:

The fun kids still catching air as I'm able to rock back and catch my breath!

When off trail antics break out, then I'm really able to stand upright and watch the comedians:

"Rodents under the snow! Must dig!" says rodent lunging Jack.
You can see Jack's first dunk into the snow behind him.
"What? Rodents? INCOMING!" adds the always high arching, rodent
diving Rudy.

It really was a beautiful morning to glide along behind the power kids. We were second on the freshly groomed trail as only 1 skate skier had been out before us. Come along and see the wonderful & peaceful morning for yourselves:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Such fun, right guys?

"Zoom, that was FUN!" says the proud speed demons awaiting end 
of run treats atop a snow wall.

Today's groomie zoomie: 7.4 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 33 days on the trails covering 210.7 miles with 23,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Nordic Fun

Who was having a great time out of the trails this morning?

"We were! We were! We had a BLAST!" says the happy, happy sled dogs.

It was a day of fast skijoring zooming around the trail at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. The kids were in a real fast mood!

It was zooming along in the early morning shade:

Cannonball Jack and Rudy the Missile with fun snow poofs behind their feet!

It was catching air as it got lighter as the morning unfolded:

Whee - the hover huskies at it again :)

It was flying by the silly warming huts, zoom;

"Who needs a warming hut? Floor it!" says the 'never cold' Siberian Huskies.

There was one interruption, though, you CANNOT ignore pesky rodents under the snow off trail!

"Dunk! I sense rodents!" declares rodent lunging & dunking Jack.
"Really? Well, then, INCOMING!" adds high arching rodent diving Rudy.

But, aside from the rodent dunking/diving distraction, it was zooming all day. Come along for today's video highlight as Jack & Rudy tow me around some fun corners as we complete the morning's fast and fun outing. Hang on human! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Oh yeah, we love nordic zooming days!" says the happy kids awaiting
end of run treats.

Today's tally: 8.4 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 32 days on the trails covering 203.3 miles with 22,500 feet of elevation climbed.

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.

 

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.

 

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.

Zoomies

Sometimes you just need to roll in the snow to cool your jets!!!!

"Rub a dub dub, cooling the engines!' goes the snow rolling sillies
taking in the soft snow just off trail to roll and cool in :)

What a tale of two days between yesterday and today. Yesterday was a technical brain day weaving through downed trees. By contrast, today was a speed day ZOOMING along recently groomed nordic trails. Come along and see for yourself.

We went to the higher elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. As expected, the nordic center had cleared all downed trees on the trails from the Wed-Fri super wind event here. But, to our surprise, only 1-2 skiers had been out on the day's recently groomed trails. What a treat to be 2nd or 3rd tracks on a nordic speedway all morning long. What did Jack & Rudy think of this?

Well, it was flooring it to catch air on speedy straightaways:

Whee - the hover huskies in action!

It was flooring it winding around gentle bends in the trail.

Whee - the hover huskies catching air as we swing through a slight
left bend in the trail.

It was ZOOMING to top 23 MPH and catch air at the highest elevation point of the outing:

BOOM!

I think you get the idea, it was a day of the "nordic groomie zoomies" with Jack & Rudy. Come along for a video glimpse into the action. Most of the day looked just like this 60 second clip. Whee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a contrast from technical yesterday to zooming today. But, all outings are deserving of end of run treats, right guys?

"You bet! We work hard in ALL conditions!" says the happy & focused kids
atop a nice snow wall to receive their treats.

A nordic zooming day: 8.4 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 14 days on the trails covering 86.6 miles with 10,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Sniff

Jack smells moose in the neighborhood!!!

"Sniff, sniff, moose in the hood!" declares moose detecting Jack.
"Where? Where?" asks curious Rudy.

While we never spotted an actual moose, I know Jack was right and one must have been nearby camouflaged in the trees. I know from experience that Jack is an EXTREMELY accurate moose detector. Rudy, on the other hand, can get equally bothered by the scent of a moose to the scent of a moth; but not Jack, he's moose accurate!!!!

Back to skijoring, we had a great morning on the highest elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. With a busy Saturday on the trails yesterday, we knew we had to get to the highest elevations for the trails to not be too tracked up. Success, very few humans had made it as far as us yesterday. Yay!

The fun kids catching air near the highest point of our outing.

We were dipping in & out of sun & shade all morning long. I love this contrast shot with me (and the camera) still in the shade while Jack & Rudy are glowing in the bright sunlight:

What a fun "shade to sun" contrast shot!

We are on "dogs allowed" trails of course. So, that means we often encounter loose dogs along the way. Very few others skijor like us; most people are cross country skiing on their own power with loose dogs accompanying them - how boring!

Anyway, Jack & Rudy are great and have no problems with other dogs. But, every loose dog we encounter is a wildcard - some are friendly, some are scared (of the fast sled dogs) and some are downright aggressive and should NOT be loose out on the trails. Today, as we came around a corner as loose dog appeared ahead of us. First it downed when it saw us (not always a good sign) and then it got up and started trotting to us. So, with the dog in the middle of the trail, we had no choice but to stop.

Here comes fluffy meandering down the middle of the trail. Ugh.

Now come along for the video event of the loose dog obstacle. The clip starts out with us happily galloping along the great nordic trail. Then, about 30 seconds into the clip and the dog appears. It then starts coming up trail towards us and things go "out of view" as I'm stopping us to wait and see what kind of dog fluffy actually is (nice or not). Well, fluffy was nice, so, as you'll see, Jack & Rudy only give it a passing sniff (it was in the middle of the trail after all) and then they have no use for fluffy and would rather pass on by and FLOOR it again. I love skijoring with these guys, they love SPEED over loose dog any day!!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and a different section of the wonderfully high snow wall we climbed yesterday for end of run treats.

The happy kids perched up high for end of run treats - fun!

A great outing with a mild "loose dog obstacle" to glide on by: 8.4 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 11 days on the trails covering 67.8 miles with 8100 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.

New Snow, New Camera

Today was our first "perfect conditions" skijor of the 2025/2026 season.

Let me tell you, Jack & Rudy knew it too, they were FLYING around the trails today!!!

Oh, and my new "high quality" camera arrived to replace the dead gopro, so we have crispy & clear photos and smooth video footage again today! Yay!

Fun kids laying fresh tracks atop a recently groomed trail at the
highest elevations at Breckenridge Nordic Center.

We have had on the order of 20+ inches of new snow in the last 36 hours. As a result, Breckenridge Nordic Center was able to finally open all the wonderful upper elevation trails. Jack, Rudy and I LOVE skijoring these trails. To make it even more exciting, the groomer had run about an hour or so before we got to the trails and it had snowed in the meantime. So, we had a light layer of fresh snow to enjoy atop our first groomie zoomie trail of the season.

As you see in the prior photo, we out skied all humans on these trails and found ourselves laying fresh tracks at the highest elevations of the outing. At the mid elevations, only one or two skiers had been out before us, so it was still laying fresh tracks with 1 or 2 existing tracks to the side:

Catching air at the mid elevations. You can see two pre-existing ski tracks
to Rudy's left (close and far left); but still plenty of untouched trail for us
to continue laying fresh tracks on the right side of the trail. Whee!

With so much wonderful new snow, even the well-used lower portions of the nordic center were still a safe treat to continue flooring it:

Despite lots of traffic/tracks on the lower trail, there was still plenty
of soft snow for me to keep upright and in pace with the fast kids!

When we got to the highest elevation point of the outing, we paused for a moment to rest from the climb before zooming back down. Well, we paused...

"You stop to rest, we stop to Drop & Roll!" says the snow rolling sillies.

Now come along for the video treat of our highest point of the day. Nobody had made it this far before us, so we were first tracks on a recently groomed trail with a light layer of new snow. What a great day!

Now, for something to watch for in the video. Remember we have had 20+ inches of new snow in 36 hours. While the groomer had run to pack this wonderful new snow, it was still a LOT! Think of a groomer machine like a tank, it has two treads supporting the heavy machine. So, what happens is the trail is the most packed & firmest where the groomer treads had been and it is somewhat soft in between and outside of the tread lines. 

Okay, now watch the video again and you can see smart Jack & Rudy moving side to side to find the hardest packed groomer tracks to run atop. You'll notice the softness in between the tracks when one moves from one side to the other. Such smart kids to automatically find the firm groomer tread lines to run in. Impressive!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our most enjoyable outing of this early 2025/2026 season, right guys?

"Oh we had a BLAST! Zoom!" says the happy, happy kids awaiting end
of run treats atop a nice snow wall.

What does the first "perfect conditions" of the season yield? Well, 9.7 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH - wheeee!

2025/2026 Season to Date: 8 days on the trails covering 46.6 miles with 5400 feet of elevation climbed.