Still Going

Look who was THRILLED to be back on snow again this morning!!!

"We are having a BLAST!" says the happy, happy kids.

Despite deteriorating snow conditions throughout most of Colorado, Rabbit Ears Pass is still hanging on with good, albeit melting fast, snowpack. Today's outing found us skijoring along the edge of Highway 40 for a while. Every time a car/truck would pass us on the highway, Jack & Rudy would speed up to try and keep pace. They HATE getting passed! But, the speed limit out on the highway is 65 MPH, so obviously we don't keep pace; but not from lack of trying :)

"Hey, don't pass us!!!" says the kids kicking it up a gear once this big truck
passed us to our left. Nice try guys :)

After that initial leg along the edge of the highway, we turned away from the highway to skijor out and back on the Harrison Creek Trail. This trail keeps its snow the longest at Rabbit Ears. It was a bit rough and choppy in places from frozen snowmobile tracks; but we were able to hug the shoulders of the trail for pretty good conditions for this time of year:

Hugging the right shoulder where I can glide nicely on skis.

Now come along for today's video to see I mean about the choppiness. We start out the video on the right shoulder gliding along smoothly. Then, about 35 seconds into this clip, the right starts getting choppy and I start bouncing around on the skis. But, I did notice the left shoulder was now smooth. So, I call out "over to the left" to Jack & Rudy and we drift left until I am on smooth terrain again and off we go. Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Did I mention we did an "out & back" on Harrison Creek? Well, that meant we had to turnaround at one point, right? Well, you know what that means...

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
Nice view, too, although Jack & Rudy had no use for the view :)

Finally, as the day ended, we were back along the edge of Highway 40. But, this time we were first tracks on a fresh groom - what a treat!

First tracks on the groomie zoomie! Wheeee!

Fun day, right guys?

"Any day on snow is a GREAT day!" says the happy kids atop a nice
snow wall to receive end of run treats.

Today's tally: 7.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 53 days on the trails covering 323.5 miles with 34,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Yay Snow

Yay for fresh snow to gallop through in the backcountry this morning!

The fun kids "kicking up powder" as they gallop through the
morning's fresh snow!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. It is so much fun to get out in fresh snow on skis with Jack & Rudy. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our outing this morning started by laying fresh tracks in the backcountry as you saw above. We then continued to lay fresh tracks going out & back on a side trail. Well, any "out & back" means we turned around at some point. So, of course, we had turnaround antics from the comedians:

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes always snow rolling Jack.
"WOOOO! I love fresh snow!" adds singing Rudy.

The nice thing about doing an "out & back" in fresh snow is that you get to make use of your out track to go fast on the way back!

Jack & Rudy making use of our "out track" to pick up the speed on 
the way back. Smart kids!

Then, the reward for all that fun but very aerobic skijoring through fresh snow was to drop onto the newly groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Jack & Rudy know what to do with a groomie zoomie!

The hover huskies catching air as they floor it on the groomie zoomie trail.

Finally, as we were nearing the end of the outing, we got to flirt with this fun family coming up the trail. Jack & Rudy were as entertained by the dad towing his kid as the family was entertained by seeing Jack & Rudy towing me :)

"Cool dude! We could tow that kid for you!" offers curious Jack & Rudy
as the family looks on in all smiles.

A wonderful "fresh tracks to groomed zooming" this morning, right guys?

"Yes. We had a BLAST!" says the happy & focused kids awaiting
end of run treats atop a snow wall.

Today's tally: 5.8 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 46 days on the trails covering 283.7 miles with 30,500 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.

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.

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.

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.