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.

Angels with a View

Rolling Snow Angels with a View!

Beautiful postcard shot of the slopes of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the
valley from us as Jack & Rudy roll around in the snow instead of taking
in the stunning views :)

We have not done a lot of side trail or single track skijoring this season as the snow has not been great. But, with some good snowfall the past week, we were able to venture off the main trails and onto one of our favorite single tracks this morning. Fun!

Winding through the trees on a narrow, single track ski trail. You need good
snow to risk skiing through the trees!!!

After the fun side trail, it was back to the main backcountry trail at Dry Gulch. Jack & Rudy love flooring it along this wide albeit unmaintained trail. Whee!

The fun kids kicking up snow as they pack themselves in tight to 
zoom in the backcountry.

The next leg of our outing was on the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Jack & Rudy love encountering oncoming skiers to flirt with and fly on by:

"Coming through! Made you smile!" says the fun kids putting a smile
on the face of the oncoming skier as they fly on by.

The kids also love encountering oncoming machinery to flirt with and fly on by. Today was a mini snowcat groomer coming up trail.

"Still coming through! Made you smile too!" says the entertaining kids
putting a smile of the face of the oncoming snowcat driver.

Now let's put it all together for today's video highlight. We start out zipping along, then we encounter and fly on by the oncoming skier, then we encounter and fly on by the oncoming mini snowcat and finally we are clear of traffic and on good snow so the kids FLOOR it and off we goooo! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Fun day, right guys?

"Oh yes, that was a blast!" says the happy, happy sled dogs.

We sure packed a lot of activity into today's relatively short outing! 4.2 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 42 days on the trails covering 262.4 miles with 28,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Safety Dust

Nice wide angle view of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us this morning!

The fun kids in the morning shade while Breck Ski Resort is in
full sun across the valley from us. Postcard shot :)

Today was a "safety dust" outing for us on Dry Gulch, one of our favorite trails. A snowmobile had run along the trail a day or two ago. With warm days and cold nights, such tracks become very icy and almost unskiable each morning. But, we had a light dusting of new snow overnight. All we need is such a dusting to turn unskiable icy snowmobile tracks into safe to ski tracks. I refer to this as the "safety dust" :)

Just enough of a dusting of new snow to make the "unskiable yesterday"
snowmobile track skiable today! Yay!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. It is so much fun to have the safety dust so I can let Jack & Rudy uncork the skijoring engine. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After a fun ride along the backcountry safety dust, it was time to transition to the groomed trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. Well, the transition came with a pause, so the pause came with a stop, drop & roll from the comedians:

Hopped off trail to "stop, drop & roll" in the untouched new snow.

Next it was time to entertain the oncoming skiers at the nordic center. Jack & Rudy love flying on by skiers and putting smiles on their faces:

"Hi! Bye! Coming through!" says the entertaining sled dogs.

Then, when we had the whole trail to ourselves, it was time to floor it. Wheeee!

Pedal to the metal on the groomie zoomie nordic trail.

Finally, it was the usual ritual to end the day: climbing a snow wall to receive end of run treats:

"What a fun day! Ready for the treats!" says the happy, happy kids.

From backcountry safety dust to nordic groomie zoomies: 7.6 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 34 days on the trails covering 218.3 miles with 24,100 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.

View & Go

Nice view of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us as we round a corner on a single track trail in the backcountry:

Nice view of the ski resort. Nice view of trucking Jack & Rudy :)

Today's video highlight goes along with the prior photo. Come along as we start with nice views of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. Then, after rounding a corner, the ski resort goes out of view so it's time to watch Jack & Rudy galloping along in this nice single track trail. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We did an "out & back" on Prospect Hill to start today's outing. So, that meant we turned around at one point. Oh those turnaround goofballs :)

"Turnaround, roll around!" goes always snow rolling Jack.
"Turnaround, woooooos abound!" belts singing Rudy.
Oh, another nice view of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley.

Once done with the single track skijoring on Prospect Hill, it was time to drop onto the wide trails of nearby Gold Run Nordic Center. The kids really opened it up on the nordic zoomies today!

They started by topping 23 MPH on the upper nordic loop trail:

Zooming! Wheeee!

They continued by catching air in a little bit of sun breaking through the morning clouds:

Let's catch some air with some nice shadow effects!

Then it was time to entertain the oncoming crowds (it was pretty busy near the trailhead on this weekend morning). Jack & Rudy love to fly on by and put smiles on the onlooking faces!

"Coming through! Made you smile!!!!" says the entertainers zipping on
by the onlooking skiers.

Backcountry single tracks to views to speeding to catching air to entertaining the crowds - all in a day's work for two impressive sled dogs :)

"I was smiling all day too!" adds cool Jack.
"You have my UNDIVIDED attention!" says very focused Rudy
awaiting the end of run treats.

Fun day, fun skijor partners! 9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 41 days on the trails covering 298.8 miles with 27,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Flirts

"Hello from the historic Sallie Barber Mine!" says the happy sled dogs.

"HELLO!"

We did a "different than usual" skijor tour around Sallie Barber this morning. We started the day by climbing to the mine from the quiet, backside trail. As is usual with the silly kids, it was necessary to stop, drop and roll in the snow after the initial climb to the mine. We typically do the initial climb from the frontside. But, as you see, climbing from the front or the back yields the same snow rolling results:

"Ahhh, rub a dub dub, cooling our jets after the initial climb!" says the
snow rolling goofballs.

Then, for another different twist, we went out & back on the narrow Trail of Tears starting at the mine. This trail is barely 2 Siberians wide in the summer and gets even narrower with snowpack. Sometimes Jack & Rudy can still fit shoulder to shoulder in the winter; but often they have to switch to single file skijoring to fit on the narrow single track. They still jog and tow me at a nice pace in this configuration, just not nearly as fast as when both are able to pull side by side :)

Jack taking the lead to tow me on the narrow Trail of Tears while
Rudy takes a break jogging behind him (they do switch to take
turns doing the work in the lead).

Finally, it was time for us to complete the day on the popular frontside of the Sallie Barber Mine Trail. Jack & Rudy love flooring it on this trail and flirting with the crowds we often encounter.

"Hi! Coming through!" says the fun kids. Rudy always gives onlookers a
flirting glance when he is on the inside lane when we pass. Jack is typically
all business flying by whether he is on the inside of outside lane.

Did I mention Rudy loves to flirt when he is on the inside lane? A little more proof:

"Whee! Made you smile!" says silly Rudy giving another flirting glance
from the inside lane as we glide on by.
"Yes, made you smile; but 'focus forward', 'focus forward' - maintain speed!"
adds all business Jack.

We'll go back to the first "on by" photo above for today's video highlight. Come along as we weave through a couple of curves in the trail before flooring in on an open straightaway to eventually fly on by the oncoming snowshoer. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and a much better snow wall to climb for treats than yesterday, yay!

"We love climbing snow walls to get treats!" says the happy & focused kids.

A quick, but very fun, outing at Sallie Barber this morning: 4.6 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 30 days on the trails covering 229.5 miles with 22,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Wave

First tracks on a freshly groomed nordic trail once we got far away from the trailhead and weekend crowds. Wheeee!

First tracks on a fresh groom with snow poofs flying off Jack & Rudy's feet!

It was a beautiful bluebird morning. Once we got high enough in elevation, the views were stunning and the kids, Jack & Rudy, were still flying!

What a beautiful morning, what impressive skijor pals as we fly
along this high elevation nordic trail.

We did encounter a few others along the way (especially when we were closer to the trailhead). Most people stop and watch in awe as Jack & Rudy tow me on by. Some will even clap and cheer. Today we got a nice wave from a onlooker watching us cruise on by :)

Look really close and this skier's right arm is raised giving us a wave.
I waved back :)

For today's video highlight it was "zoom, zoom, zooming" and then the fun wave. If you look closely, you'll see the skier we encounter near the end of this clip lift his arm to give us a wave as we fly on by (look closely around the 43 second point of the clip for the wave :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course all that zooming means you have to roll snow angels to cool off at any pause during the outing!

Jack, as always, rolling to cool his jets.
Rudy participating in snow angels today as he simultaneously grabs
a snowcone to munch on while rolling - talented!

Finally, a really nice snow wall to climb today so I could hand out end of run treats from a standing position. Such polite guys to climb the walls to my level :)

"Up & ready, let's get to the treats!" says the happy & fun kids.

It was a beautiful morning to skijor fast and far! 9.4 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 24 days on the trails covering 189.8 miles with 18,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Trail Snack

Fun "shot from the front" as we approach Nancy to end this morning's skijor!

Happy, happy kids! Wheeee!

Today's skijor had a pretty entertaining first for us. We came across our first ever elk leg laying across the trail. It was complete with some tender, frozen meat still attached. Jack & Rudy thought this was the find of the century!!!

"Fresh frozen elk meat. Yum!" declares the two sampling their
delicious trail snack.

We have come across deer legs many times before (often with their own fresh, frozen and yummy meat). What I do is let Jack & Rudy have a little fun with the leg and then I tell them to "give" and I pick it up to toss off trail. Today's "give attempt"....

"No, I'm not finished yet!" says Jack as he tugs back on the leg.
"Hey, if you aren't going to 'give', then I'm coming back for more!" adds
Rudy (who originally listened to my 'give').

Today, I learned a very interesting fact. Elk legs are HEAVY, even when most of the meat is gone. Once I got Jack to "give", I went to toss the leg off trail like I've always done with deer legs. Well, the elk leg was shockingly heavy. My feeble toss only went a few feet off trail. Jack & Rudy quickly jumped off trail to grab the leg and pull it back into the trail to continue chewing on it.

"Ha, nice toss wimp! We weren't done, so we'll just bring it back!" says
the trail snackers hopping off to fetch the elk leg.

Ok, lesson learned. We went through another round of "give" and then I rocked back and used all my strength to toss the leg far off trail. It still didn't go that far, but far enough that Jack & Rudy couldn't just pluck it up again :)

With that exciting elk leg episode, Jack & Rudy were juiced all day long and hunting for everything as they were skijoring fast to find the next trail treat. Here's Jack pulling off trail due to some snowshoe hare tracks in the snow.

"Rabbits went this way, can we too?" suggests Jack.
You can see one set of hare tracks in the left of the photo.
I let Jack lead us off trail a little ways, but we never caught a rabbit :)

A little later and we were jogging along when Rudy lunged off trail. As he did, a gross of grouse (or a flock of feathers :) spewed out of the nearest tree. Seriously, there were at least 5 grouse that flew off due to Rudy's lunge their direction.

Look up from Rudy and slightly left against the blue sky.
The white you see is one of the grouse flying away.

What a day of trail snacks and hunting! We really did skijor too! Come along for video proof that we really did skijor between all the wildlife entertainment!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Back to the trailhead and a large group of people was preparing to get going. They all cheered at Jack & Rudy towing me and then quite a few wanted to get photos of the handsome pair. Rudy really knows what to do with an audience. He belted out a WOOOOO for the cameras and then a second (and longer) WOOOOOOO when everyone laughed and more people took out cameras to capture the woo child.

"WOOOOO! Glad to entertain you!" belts Rudy.
Quiet Jack simply flashed his beautiful smile and wagged his
bushy tail for the onlookers.

In between trail snacks & hunting: 9 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 26 days on the trails covering 208.4 miles with 18,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Entertaining

 Breaking trail on Baldy Mountain. Wheeee!

Jack & Rudy powering through 10+ inches of fresh powder. POW!

If you know where to look, there are always untouched caches of snow on Baldy the morning after fresh snowfall. As you see in the prior photo, Jack, Rudy & I know where to look!

But, it is no secret that Baldy Mountain is one of the "go to" places to skin and ski after fresh snow. With 6 inches of new snow at the trailhead and more as you went up higher, Baldy was its usual popular destination this morning. When Jack, Rudy & I were not powering through private snow caches, we were on the main trail entertaining all the other skiers.

Flying on by a skier paused on the trail to watch and smile
at the impressive sled dogs.

It was a great day for Jack & Rudy to put on an impressive skijoring show. I love when we see people pull out a smartphone to take a video of us cruising on by!

Smiles on the faces of the onlookers as the guy in front
is also taking a video of the impressive skijor team.

Fun video highlight today with good listeners Jack & Rudy. We start out following set tracks on a Baldy side trail. Eventually the tracks go right but my intention is to continue forward. So, a simple "forward, forward" call from me and Jack & Rudy abandon the set trail to go forward and start their own trail. Their instinct is to follow the existing trail. So, abandoning a set trail with verbal cues is quite impressive :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A little breaking trail and a lot of entertaining the crowds means you need to cool off whenever we stop!

Rolling snow angels to cool the jets.

What a fun morning on Baldy. Look at the cool trio back at the trailhead for 'end of run' treats!

"Psst, me first!" Zorro reminds me.
"Chilling, waiting for my turn!" adds cute Jack.
"Super chilling awaiting threat #3!" says mellow Rudy!

Fun, fun on Baldy: 7.8 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 100 days on the trails covering 814.3 miles with 71,100 feet of elevation climbed.