Lane Change

Fresh powder in the backcountry this morning! Yay for Snow!!!

The fun kids blasting through some nice powder.

Technically, we only got about 1-2 inches of fresh snow overnight. But, it was also VERY windy. As a result, we encountered many deep, wind blown snowdrifts to blast through in the backcountry this morning. Come along for today's video highlight to see what I mean.

I really love the start of this video. Jack starts on the right of the team but then decides he wants to change lanes. Watch as he perfectly backs off, dips under the gangline and then thrusts forward to be back even with Rudy (but on the left side now) - TALENTED!!!! I love watching these occasional lane changes at high speeds from these talented kids! Then, after the lane change, watch as we gallop along while blasting through the occasional wind drift. Talented again - whee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, blasting through wind drifts is quite aerobic and warrants rolling snow angels to cool off when the opportunity arose:

"Aaaaah - rolling to cool the jet!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
I Love the snow Rudy has generated all around his head by dipping it in the
snow before flipping it up. Can't you just see the expression of bliss on
his happy, snow covered face!

Then, after blasting through wind drifts and rolling snow angels, it was time to floor it on the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. The kids know what to do with a groomed nordic trail - zoom!

Catching air on the groomie zoomie!

It turns out we were FIRST tracks on the freshly groomed trail! It's hard to see that in the prior photo, but we were first tracks. As if often the case, if we are first tracks, then there is a groomer not far ahead of us to chase and catch. Jack & Rudy love catching up with the groomer!

"Caught it, caught it! We caught the groomer!" says the speedy kids.

As I've described and shown many times in the past, the groomer drivers know us from years of skijoring these trails and, eventually, they will pull over and wave us on to pass. But, we have to wait until the trail is wide enough to do so safely. As you see in the prior photo, the trail was exactly "one groomer wide" between trees when we caught the groomer. As a result, we had to slow down and trot behind for a bit before the trees thinned and the groomer paused to wave us on, so the video is pretty boring to watch until we can pass. As usual, as we passed, I gave the driver a wave & smile and he gave an enthusiastic wave & smile back.

While the wind gave us some nice drifts to blast through, it was also still blowing while we were out. Temperatures were near 10 (F) when we started with the wind chill being well below zero, probably approaching -10 (F). As a result, the wimpy human cut today's outing a little short to save himself. But, still a fun time had by all:

The freezing human handing out end of run treats to the perfectly
comfortable Siberian Huskies! :)

A fun albeit temperature shortened skijor: 4 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 50 days on the trails covering 304.4 miles with 32,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Headless

Oops!

Sometimes, "Oops!" is all you can say about unauthorized tag & wrestler
breaking out on the trail between the two comedians.

Prior photo aside, it was a great day of fresh & first tracks out on the trails this morning. Come along for the ride...

First it was laying fresh tracks in a couple of inches of fresh snow in the backcountry:

Wheeee! Love the snow poofs coming off Jack & Rudy's feet as we enjoy
the morning's new snow!

Then it was first tracks on the recently groomed trail at Gold Run Nordic Center!

Such a treat to be first tracks on the groomie zoomie trail.
Jack & Rudy know what to do with a fresh groom! ZOOM!

To add to the fun, it was then stepping off trail to roll snow angels in fresh snow at the Jumbo Overlook:

Some of us take in the views at the overlook - ME!
Some of us take the overlook turnaround as a chance to stop, drop and roll
in the fresh snow - Jack & Rudy!

Today's video highlight will be the flying fun on the groomie zoomie! Come along as we are ZOOMING along this wonderful trail. Then, we come to a hard left in the trail which causes me to crouch into a ski tuck to try and keep pace with the kids around a tight corner. Finally, it's opening it back up to zoom, zoom, zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Did you notice the snowshoer coming up trail in the video as we rounded the corner? Usually I get fun shots of oncoming skier/snowshoers smiling and waving in awe at Jack & Rudy launching me on by. But, today I was in a "23 MPH ski tuck", so we miss the onlooking smiles. It was there, I was just trying to keep pace at fast speeds :)

"Coming through!" goes Jack & Rudy who are swinging to the right to fly
by the oncoming snowshoer. I caught his smile (even though the camera did not)
and he said, "COOL!" as we zipped on by.

I have an excuse for the headless shot above - you try cornering over 20 MPH on skis and see if you don't dip into a tuck too! Nancy, on the other hand, has no excuse for cutting most or all of my head off in today's end of run treat shots :)

At least she got 1/2 my head in this shot - I was headless in most of the
other shots she took!
"You going to babble on or dish out the treats?" asks curious Rudy.
"You have my FULL attention!" adds focused Jack.

Despite how pretty today's photos & video look, it was quite cold this morning with starting temperatures around 5 degrees (F) with a breeze bringing the wind chill below zero. So, the wimpy human (ME) kept the outing short - better to save the human today for more fun on another day! 4.8 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 39 days on the trails covering 245.1 miles with 26,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Fresh, First and More

Laying fresh tracks in the backcountry! Wheeee!

About 2" of new snow all to ourselves! Nice!

It was a great morning out on one of our favorite network of trails. Despite being a usually busy Saturday, we were thrilled to find the terrain all to ourselves almost all morning long! We started by laying fresh tracks in the backcountry and shown above and then we finished by being first tracks on the recently groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. It doesn't get much better than this!

First tracks on the recent groom despite being a typically busy Saturday.
Wow!!!

How could we top "fresh tracks to first tracks"? Well, Jack & Rudy can always add more :)

To start with, there was an addition of hopping off trail to wrestle in the deeper snow:

Unauthorized snow wrestling! Silly kids!

Then there was an addition of lunging and diving off trail to search for rodents under the snow. There is ALWAYS time to add rodent hunting to any outing :)

"Lunge, dunk, where are those pesky rodents?" asks searching Jack.
"I'll find them! INCOMING!!!!" adds beautiful rodent diving Rudy.

But, aside from one episode of unauthorized wrestling and one hilarious search for rodents, it was a wonderful morning to go, go, go! Come along for a glimpse into the skijoring fun for yourselves:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fresh tracks, first tracks, wrestling and rodent hunting - which was your favorite guys?

"ALL OF IT!!!!!" says the happy kids proudly awaiting end of run treats
atop a snow all.

A nice and peaceful fresh tracks to first tracks outing: 5.4 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 36 days on the trails covering 231.1 miles with 25,500 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.

Finally

Nice "postcard shot" of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us with the morning clouds burning off to showcase the ski runs.

Fun & fast Jack & Rudy with a postcard shot in front of us.

Today was really exciting for me. We FINALLY got to skijor my favorite network of trails this morning. It has been a way below average snow season in Colorado so far and many of our usual trails still do not have enough snow to safely skijor. But, with some fresh snow the last few days (not a lot, but some is better than none), we were FINALLY able to get out on my favorite route. I believe this is one of Jack & Rudy's favorites too as I can see how they kick it up a notch in excitement and enthusiasm on this network.

We start in the backcountry doing some technical skijoring on unmaintained trails:

Zipping along in the backcountry. Whee!

We eventually drop onto the well maintained trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. We typically begin by doing the uppermost loop which is an aerobic ride on black diamond rated trails. There are various up/down dips interspersed along this route. It's such a cool feeling to be below Jack & Rudy in an "up dip" and see them higher than my waist (sometimes even chest high)!

I'm still down in the dip while the flying kids are up. So cool :)

Finally, we get out onto the gentler (blue rated) main trail to FLY to the finish. Today was PERFECT!

The hover huskies catching air! Notice anything special in this photo?
Yes, we are FIRST TRACKS on the freshly groomed nordic trail. Sweet!

Of course all this zooming around a types of terrain means you really need to "stop, drop and roll" to cool your jets at any & all pauses during the outing!

"Aaaahhh, stop, drop and roll!"
Powder Jack loves to step off trail into deeper snow to roll.
Rudy tends to just drop wherever he is at and roll :)

Such a fun and varied network of trails to enjoy. Today's video, though, has to showcase us zooming as first tracks on the fresh groomie zoomie. Come along for the fast & furious fun!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

So great to FINALLY get on our favorite network of trails, right guys?

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

What a marvelous day: 8.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 24 days on the trails covering 150.8 miles with 17,800 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.

Snack

Look at what we stumbled upon at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning!

Whoa, a FRESH groom! Holy smokes!

Yes, the local snowmobile club had groomed some of the trails late last night and we were first on the new groom for miles and miles this morning! We pay yearly dues to the snowmobile club, so it is perfectly fine that Jack, Rudy and I were the first snow machines out on the groomed trails this morning. What a fun late April surprise!

The fun kids catching air again on the fresh groomie zoomie.

Eventually the surprise groom did end. But, conditions were still perfect to keep skijoring the packed snowmobile trails for miles.

No more fresh groom, but still perfect late April conditions!

While the surprise groom might seem like the highlight of today's outing, it was upstaged by another event at one point. A suicidal squirrel darted across the trail in front of Jack & Rudy and nearly became a trail snack for them!

What a stupid crazy squirrel to dart in front of two meat eaters!!!

Now let's put the squirrel event to video. Come along and watch as we start out galloping along until the suicidal squirrel darts across the trail, barely making as Jack & Rudy are on the hunt once they see it! Nothing like a squirrel near miss to add a little extra juice to the Jack & Rudy skijoring engine!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It was above freezing all morning long, so I knew this would happen at our turnaround point:

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the silly kids rolling in the snow
to cool their jets :)

Since we (barely) missed the squirrel, how about some pork end of run treats instead?

"Ok, we'll take the pork; but that squirrel would have been tasty!"
says the fun kids.

It is not often we come across conditions good enough for a 10 mile skijor in late April: 10.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 99 days on the trails covering 757.5 miles with 74,200 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Final Gold Run

Rudy had a lot to say at our turnaround point of the outing this morning :)

"Woo! Woo! Did you hear me, I said WOOOO?" sings wooing Rudy.
"Does he ever NOT have something to say?" asks mellow & quiet Jack.

Today was our last skijor at Gold Run Nordic Center for this season as they close tomorrow. I swear Jack & Rudy got the memo, as they were tearing it up sprinting around the nordic trails today!

We started on the upper Preston Loop. There was a light layer of new snow on a day old groomed trail. Since this trail gets light usage, a dusting of snow over a day old groom is quite perfect conditions. See for yourself:

I told you, the kids were tearing it up all day long!
They are FLYING in this photo!

We then transitioned onto the main (and very heavily used) trail. I was originally fearing the condition since this trail gets a lot of traffic and the upper loop had not been groomed yet. But, what did we find? Well, low & behold, a freshly groomed lower trail. We were shocked and ecstatic to be first tracks on the fresh groom!

The hover huskies catching air being first tracks on a fresh groom!

Once I saw that we were first tracks, I immediately thought, "Could it be? Could it be? Could we get to play our favorite game at nordic centers: Catch and Pass the Groomer?" Well, sure enough, Jack & Rudy slung me around a few bends in the trail until finally it was Catch the Groomer!

We did it! We caught the groomer! Jack & Rudy love doing this.

As I've described many times before, the groomer drivers know us and will stop to wave us on by when the trail gets wide enough to do so safely. So, we hung behind the groomer for a few moments until the trail widened and the driver stopped and waved us on. Oh boy: Pass the Groomer!

Passing on by! What fun for our final skijor at Gold Run this season!

Now let's put it all together in today's video highlight: 1) flying along being first tracks on the fresh groom; 2) catch the groomer! 3) wait, wait; 4) pass the groomer! 5) FLOOR IT once safely on by. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a wonderful outing for our last skijor at Gold Run Nordic Center this season, right guys:

"We LOVE Catch and Pass the Groomer!" says the happy kids.

Today's tally: 6.6 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 88 days on the trails covering 682.9 miles with 65,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Classic

Love how skinny Jack can fit in a classic ski track to roll a snow angel!

That's classic Jack :)

While Jack is known for his skijoring POWER, he is also a skinny guy as you see above. There's a LOT of power packed into that skinny frame!

This morning was a gem of a day, especially for April! We started out laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow in the Dry Gulch backcountry:

Laying fresh tracks! Wheeee!

We then found ourselves first tracks on the freshly groomed upper trail at Gold Run Nordic Center. Sweet!

The hover huskies catching air as we are first tracks on the fresh groom!

We were doing a short outing today, so we only spent a short distance on the upper loop trail before transitioning onto the main trail. But, what did we find on the main trail? Darn near PERFECT. Only one other skier with a dog had been on the trail since the fresh groom. That's pretty much still "first tracks" :)

If you look closely, you can see a set of dog footprints in front of and to Jack's
right. The skier had used the classic track (you can see the ski pole holes on each
side of the classic track). This was about as close as you can get to being first
tracks on this popular section of trail!!!!

So much fun footage from today's short outing. What to feature in the video? Hmm, how about the counterpart to the prior photo as the GPS registered us topping 23 MPH along this section of trail. Come along, watch the fun and enjoy the light snowfall coming down around us. Whee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a classic day!

"Ready!!!" says the happy kids perched atop a snow wall awaiting
end of run treats.

Today's tally: 4.3 miles traveled with 200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 87 days on the trails covering 676.3 miles with 64,800 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Pass the Groomer

We started this morning's skijor laying fresh tracks in a light layer of new snow in the Dry Gulch backcountry. Fun!

Zipping along laying fresh tracks.

Then, as we love to do, we dropped out of the backcountry and onto the groomed trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. When we got on the upper loop at the nordic center, we found a dusting of new snow over a day old grooming. Not a problem, this upper loop does not get a lot of traffic (being very far from any trailhead), so a dusting over a day old groom was just perfect!

Zipping along with a dusting of new snow for safety over a day old groomed
trail. Safety dust :)

After flying around the upper loop, we paused to catch our breaths before transitioning to the main trail. Well, ok, I paused to catch my breath. Jack & Rudy paused to roll snow angels to cool their jets!

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

Then the day turned absolutely perfect (although it was darned near perfect before this point) as we found ourselves being first tracks on the freshly groomed main trail!

Whee - first tracks on a fresh groom!

Then the question became, just how far in front of us was the groomer and would we catch it? The answer was: not too far and yes, we caught it!

We love to chase and catch a groomer in front of us!

Once we catch the groomer, it is always time to pass. The groomer drivers know us from years of skijoring these trails. When they notice us in their rearview mirror, they will stop (when the trail is wide enough) and wave us on by. Jack has no problem gently passing right next to the groomer snowcat. Rudy, on the other hand, likes to put a little space between himself and the snowcat. Usually the passing lane to get by is wide enough that Rudy just stays on the outside of Jack and that is enough space for him. But, today the passing lane was quite narrow. What did Rudy do? Well, he hopped off trail into the deep side snow to pass as his preferred distance. Funny kid.

Jack cruising right on by the snowcat.
Rudy hopping off trail to pass at his preferred separation.

So, let's put it all together into a video now. Come along as 1) we are zooming on the groomie zoomie; 2) we catch the groomer and slow down; 3) the groomer slides slightly right, stops and waves us on by; 4) silly Rudy hops off trail to pass while mellow Jack walks on by; and 5) back on the trail in front of the groomer and Jack & Rudy floor it again. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"YES! We love to chase, catch and pass the groomer!!!" says the happy kids.

Today's tally: 8.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 80 days on the trails covering 627.5 miles with 59,500 feet of elevation climbed.