Season Opener

 Let the 2021/2022 Skijoring Season begin! Wheeee!

Pausing with Jack & Rudy to celebrate reaching the top of
Boreas Pass on the Continental Divide this morning!

While skijoring is our primary activity in the winter, sometimes we have to use the dog sled instead of skis to get out in early season conditions. Frequently our initial 1-3 outings are on the dog sled as the conditions are not good enough for skis. The sled can glide over frozen ground and bounce among exposed rocks, the skis cannot! 

But, it turns out that this was actually young Jack & Rudy's first time ever hooked to the dog sled. The lucky kids had me on skis every other season opener of their lives (Jack is 4, Rudy is 3). What did Jack & Rudy think of the sled? 

"If it glides on snow, we pull it!" demonstrates the youngsters in 
perfect form on their first ever sled outing.

Most of my footage usually comes from the GoPro on my chest. But, as you see above, when I'm on the sled, a lot of the action is blocked by the sled and my arms and Jack & Rudy are often completely blocked from view. No problem, though, look at what I have mounted on the sled handlebar above - a secondary camera! So, with the sled, I often get better shots from the secondary camera than the primary on my chest:

Nice shot from the secondary camera of Jack & Rudy flying
along near the summit of Boreas Pass.

Today's video highlight goes along with the prior photo and comes from the secondary camera. Come along as we are gliding along the trail near the summit of Boreas Pass. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Today was Jack's 485th "skijor outing" (ok, 484 skijors and 1 dog sled outing :) - well, he kept his record intact, he has rolled at least one snow angel on every single one of the 485 outings. What a silly goof!

"You didn't really think my streak would stop, did you?" says
silly Jack as he rolls his patented snow angels.

Back to the trailhead to meet up with our favorite retired mentor, Zorro. The 13 year old still loves joining us for "end of run treats" after every outing!

"Yum, just as good as I remember!" says treat taking Zorro.
"Me next!" Jack is telling me.
"I see the stash in your hand!!!!" declares Rudy.

A fun dog sled run to the summit of Boreas Pass and back to start the 2021/2022 season: 6.2 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 14 MPH.

Pray for Snow!

Good Time at Good Times

Today was the real deal - Max & Zorro running wheel in an 8-dog sled team!

Beginning a lean into a hard right. Max, Zorro & their 6 new buddies all airborne sprinting
machines! It is just me on the sled at this point (i.e., the sled basket is empty), so not much
weight to slow down 8 sled dogs! We hit 20 MPH somewhere on the trail and it may well
have been into this hard right :-)

Our friend Wes from Good Times Adventures invited Max & Zorro to come run in a full hookup with their sled dogs. Now, Max & Zorro have run in a 2 and 3 dog sled hookups before and, of course, they have skijored over 2000 miles in their lives; but today was the first time in a full dog sled hookup. As you can see from the photo above and the images & videos below - they were quite prepared to drop into a full sled team and GO! Woohoo, did we have a blast on the trails!

Wes decided to start them together in the wheel position (just in front of the sled) and we would adjust, if needed, as we hit the trails. Well, no adjustments necessary - Max, Zorro and their 6 new sleddog friends took off and enjoyed a great run through the trails. Highlights below:

About to start. I am in the sled basket and Wes is driving the sled. Notice cute Max & Zorro
glancing back at me as I called out one last bit of encouragement before Wes released
the snow hook.

And we are off! Max & Zorro (and their 6 new buds) sprinting out of the gates.
Clearly Max & Zorro "get it" - just like pulling the human on skis :)
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It is now me driving the sled, Nancy sitting in the basket and Max & Zorro still
sprinting along in wheel. Watch for the fun dip near the end of the video - whee!
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Nancy got this shot from the front when I was
driving the sled solo. Nothing like 8 happy
sled dogs hauling you along the trails!

Back to Nancy riding in the sled basket with me driving and Max, Zorro and their 6 buds
weaving us through the trees.
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

My first comment to Nancy once we finished was, "I could get addicted to that!"
My first comment to Wes after we unhooked the dogs was, "I could get used to 8 sled dogs!"

Max & Zorro were all smiles at the finish - I think they could get used to this too...