Pros

Young Jack & Rudy's first season with over 1200 miles skijoring (1202.1 miles as of this morning). Woo Hoo!

The flying kids surprising me and pulling out a 1200 mile season!

I expected 1000 miles from the kids this season, I entertained thoughts of 1100, but I never thought we'd surpass 1200! Keep in mind this is Jack & Rudy's FIRST season skijoring without training wheels (i.e., we held them back for training and growth in the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons). Wow, these youngsters have grown into quite the professionals!!!

We returned to the same groomed track as yesterday near Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass. We figured the trail could not deteriorate too much in 24 hours and we got to the trail early in the morning. What did we find? PERFECT (especially given that it is May 27th)!

We started the day doing a short & fast lap with elder Zorro. Catching air with the threesome:

Whee - the triple hover huskies.
Look closely at the shadows to see that all 12 feet are off the ground in unison!

As usual, all smiles as we completed the initial leg with Zorro to then drop him off with Nancy:

All smiles, all power! Wheeee!

After dropping Zorro, the kids and I went out for an extended run with the goal of surpassing 1200 miles for the season. The groomed trail from yesterday was still in excellent condition; but we could not leave the set trail as the conditions "off trail" were too bumpy to ski safely (for ME especially). So, I was wondering how I was going to convince Jack & Rudy to repeat the same trail multiple times. Well, all it took was a little flirting to keep them entertained.

We encountered a handful of other kindred spirits doing laps on this same perfect trail. There were about 8 people doing laps with us on the same trail. Few enough people to keep our social distance but enough people for Jack & Rudy to have a ball play "chase, follow & pass" with all the other skiers :)

Flying along as we flirt with and entertain an oncoming skier.

But, here is the most impressive story from the morning. One of the other skiers we encountered was wearing a "U.S. Ski Team" jacket. As I watched this guy skate ski, I said to myself, "Wow! He is GOOD! That jacket is real!" Seriously, this guy flew over the trails with absolute perfect and effortless looking strides. He looked just like what you watch in the Winter Olympics!

Now, here's the real impressive part. We got behind this pro for 4 laps on the trail (out, back, out and back). Whenever the trail was flat, Jack & Rudy would match his pace. Whenever the trail had an uphill grade, Jack & Rudy would close the gap on the pro!!! Whenever we hit a downhill dip, he would open up space between us as downhill skis are faster than dogs can run. But, with the flats & uphills mixed in, we kept pace with a member of the U.S. Ski Team for 4 laps! He even looked back at us a few times (on the uphills) and smiled and shook his head in disbelief that he could not shake us. He was lapping all the other people on the trail repeatedly while Jack & Rudy simple kept pace. Wow, these kids are impressive!

Uphill grade so we are closing the gap on the U.S. Ski Team pro in front of us!!!!

Now on to today's video highlight. We have a fun "combo video" for your viewing pleasure today. Come along as we start the clip with Zorro as the team tows me to the finish of Zorro's leg of the outing. Then the video transitions to fast Jack & Rudy propelling me along the beautiful terrain as we also come upon a skier to "on by" in the oncoming direction.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Besides showing they are professional athletes this morning, Jack & Rudy had other talents to showcase:

Deer prints in the trail (look next to my right ski for one of the prints).
"Smells DELICIOUS!" states print inspecting Rudy.
"We roll in deer prints, right?" demonstrates goofy and always rolling Jack :)

Finally, reconnecting with elder Zorro to dish out the 'end of run' treats to all my hard working partners:

"Happy and READY!" says the focused trio.

Quite an impressive day from Jack & Rudy as they showcased their professional endurance skills as we flew on by 1200 miles for the season: 8.9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 175 days on the trails covering 1202.1 miles with 110,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Postcard Day

Today was "postcard day" skijoring atop Vail Pass.

The views were awe inspiring!

A postcard view of the snow covered Rocky Mountains as seen from atop the Shrine Bowl
at Vail Pass.

Yesterday was so gorgeous skijoring at Vail Pass that we went back again today. Yesterday's route was an out & back on Shrine Pass Rd and Lime Creek Rd. Today was a different twist: we ascended Shrine Pass via the snowshoe trail (instead of Shrine Pass Rd), then we climbed up into the steep Shrine Bowl terrain, then turned around to capture the "postcard views" coming down Shrine Bowl and finally sprinted down the freshly groomed Shrine Pass Rd.

Heading up Shrine Pass via the snowshoe trail.

"YES! The views ARE awe inspiring!" exclaim Max & Zorro as we paused to watch a
herd of deer run off in the distance.

What could possibly top the views of the day? How about a professionally groomed sprint track! About 70% of our skijor outings are spent on un-groomed backcountry trails and the other 30% are on trails set by snowmobile tracks. But, every once in a while we get to experience a "groomed cross country trail". Today was such a day as Shrine Pass Rd was freshly groomed from Shrine Pass all the way to the Vail Pass trailhead. It it truly awe inspiring to watch what my skijoring buddies do on groomed trails. Easy & fast terrain equals ZOOM!

Zoom - groomed trails lead to speed!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Since we decided to ascend & descend Shrine Bowl today, the outing had a lot more elevation in a shorter distance than our typical runs at Vail Pass. It was a trade of elevation for mileage: 8.3 miles with 1550 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

Groomed Elevations

Hot day... Max cooling off by rolling a snow angel on
the trail.

Today's skijoring outing found us exploring the higher elevations of the Breckenridge Nordic Center.

We do not visit the nordic centers around town that often; but every once in a while we will take a spin on the few trails they have designated "dogs allowed".

After a hot & dry March, our typical backcountry trails are in very poor condition. Conversely, a nordic center does constant packing, grooming and other maintenance of their trails. So, when the unmaintained backcountry trails start to really deteriorate, it is time to switch to the well-maintained nordic center trails for skijoring fun.

So, what's the big difference between backcountry trails and nordic center trails? Two things you find at the nordic center: (1) groomed, groomed & groomed; and (2) wide trails. Groomed trails are easy trails - you are never breaking trail and you rarely hit any ice or slick/hard-packed surfaces. Wide trails are easy trails - no worry of maneuvering through tight trees or veering off trail into deep snow and plenty of room to swing out right & left to keep control.

Another typical feature of nordic centers versus backcountry trails is "flat". Most nordic centers have little elevation gain and you are skiing around pretty flat terrain. But, this is where the Breckenridge Nordic Center differs - they have great elevations on their upper trails.

Thus our outing today - groomed, wide and steep. Wheee, what a Siberian fun time! We scaled up (and down) about 2150 feet of elevation over a course of 12 miles. Our skijoring time to cover this distance & elevation was only 105 minutes - groomed and wide means fast, even if steep!

Hallelujah Hut - one of the many "warming huts" sprinkled throughout the
Breckenridge Nordic Center.

"What? A warming hut?!? You've got to be kidding, I've never been so
hot!" demonstrates Max.

"No really - what's in that building? I've never heard of something as
silly as a 'warming hut'!" ponders Zorro as he surveys the hut.

Groomed & wide - a Siberian Speed Track!

Vital Stats: 12 miles; 125m total time; 105m skijoring time (we took one 10m break to cool off at the warming hut and had 2 sections of exposed terrain to shed the skis and walk over); 21 MPH top speed; 2150 feet of elevation climbed.

22 mph on the Breck "Groomed Road" System

Sprinting down the final homestretch.

We hit our top speed of the season today: 22 mph! Woohoo -we were FLYING!

Every once in a while you get a full days dump of snow (as happened Saturday) which leads to the following fun condition the next day:

The entire system of roads throughout Breckenridge become a network of "groomed ski trails." That is, the plows clear and pack the deep powder - transforming the roads into a condition akin to the trails you'd find at a well-groomed nordic center.

You have to hit the roads early & quick, before the sun can melt through to the dirt or asphalt and before the plows do any 2nd passes on the roads.

This is what Max, Zorro and I did today - skijored the streets of Breck as if the town was one large, well-groomed nordic center!


If you have followed our adventures of this season, you will note that I have never mentioned "well-groomed" or "nordic center" to date. Our usual skijor routes are strictly backcountry - today was a rare venture onto well prepped trails. The difference between skijoring a nordic center versus backcountry, you ask? Speed, Speed, and MORE Speed - nordic center conditions are a frictionless sprint track to my Siberian Husky pals!

The Route: Carter Park (in central/south Breckenridge) to Sunbeam Drive; cruise up Hermit Drive and connect to Goldflake Drive; sprint down Goldflake to Wellington Rd; cruise up Wellington to French Gulch Rd; cruise up French Gulch Rd to the French Gulch winter trailhead; (rest the human); SPRINT back down French Gulch Rd to Wellington; cruise back down Wellington to Royal Tiger; ski up Royal Tiger to Pine to Goldflake and reconnect with Hermit Drive; return Hermit/Sunbeam to Carter Park.

Vital Stats: 9.7 miles total; 1h 45m total time; 85 minutes moving time (we had to deal with the occasional cars, plows and loose dogs - leading to 20 minutes of non-moving time); 6.9 MPH moving average; 22 MPH top speed!


The only letdown: Wellington Rd had been "return plowed" for both of our stints on this road. That meant we had to take this stretch carefully - dodging the occasional asphalt/dirt/concrete patches (often skiing on one ski, holding the other off the ground until sufficient snow returned). Had Wellington been less plowed, we would have *easily* hit a moving average of well over 7 MPH - darn, that would have been cool!

Cruising up French Gulch Road.
Recently plowed over yesterdays' big dump of snow - turning the road into a "nordic center like" groomed trail.
Our return leg down French Gulch Road is where we hit 22 mph!!!