2025/2026 Season Opener

Let the 2025/2026 Skijor Season FINALLY Begin!!!!

Whee, we are back on skis & snow!!!!!
Smiles all around!

After a ridiculously dry October and start to November in Colorado, we FINALLY got our skijor season started this morning. This is the latest start we EVER had to a skijor season (and we've been doing this since 2010 - first with Max & Zorro and now with Jack & Rudy). My goodness, we typically get at least one and usually multiple outings in October and we've even had a few years with September starts. Jack, Rudy and I were starting to wonder if it would ever snow this season!!!!

To get the season started, though, we needed an assist from the snow making machines on Breckenridge Ski Resort. While we did get some new snow overnight, it was not enough to skijor without an assist. So, we went to one of the closed runs at Breckenridge where they are making snow in an attempt to open new terrain. Well, snow is snow - we'll take natural or man made at this point to get the season going!

Zipping along a ski run of mostly man made snow with an active snow gun
making snow to our left. Any snow is good snow!

It was actually pretty fun to skijor amidst the active running snow guns. We were galloping (Jack & Rudy) and gliding (me) in and out of active, man made snowfall. Wheeee!

A somewhat blurred photo from snow guns spraying snow down
upon us. Fun!

Now come along for a video view into the fun as we skijor along a this ski run amidst active snow guns. 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Despite a much later than usual start to the season, some things remain the same with silly Jack & Rudy.

First, snow angels MUST be rolled at any turnaround point of the outing:

"Rub a dub dub, turnaround roll around!" goes the snow rolling goofs
already in "mid season snow rolling form" :)

Second, everyone is at full attention and all smiles awaiting end of run treats:

"We'd NEVER forget about end of run treats! Dish them out!"
says the happy & focused pair.

We needed an assist from the ski resort snow guns, but the 2025/2026 season has FINALLY begun: 3.1 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 15 MPH.

Pray for Snow - we need MUCH more!!!!!

FINALLY: Let the 2024/2025 Season Begin

 Let the 2024/2025 Skijor Season Begin! Wheeee!

Gliding to the finish of this morning's 9.1 mile run with smiling
Jack & Rudy running hard to the end!

I have been skijoring since 2010 (Max/Zorro, Zorro/Jack, Zorro/Jack/Rudy, Jack/Rudy) and have NEVER had to wait until November to start our season! But, it was a dry Sep and Oct in our part of Colorado; so Jack, Rudy and I had been moping around the outdoors all Oct wondering WHEN was the snow finally going to arrive?

Well, last night was FINALLY it. As is typical in the early season, we use Boreas Pass Road for many of our initial outings. There are no houses up this road, just a scenic drive in the summer and hunting access in the fall. As it is still fall, we often get tire tracks from hunters to make for fast packed terrain:

Jack in one tire track, Rudy in the other and myself gliding along
in the soft powder between the tracks.

At one point, on the return leg of this out/back outing, we get some nice views of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. Today, most of the ski resort was under cloud cover, but we did get a nice shot of some of the lower ski runs:

Zipping along with some of the lower ski runs of Breck visible across
the valley from us.

Today's fun video highlight has Jack & Rudy running in a tire track while I glide along in the soft middle powder channel. As the video ends, my middle channel disappears so perfect Jack & Rudy slow too as we don't want my skis catching a rock in a tire track! Great partners!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Jack was in perfect "Jack form": running hard up/down the trail and rolling snow angels at our turnaround point. Rudy forgot about turnaround antics today. Don't worry, he'll be back to his wooing or rolling self in no time!

"Turnaround! Roll around!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"You said 'turnaround', not 'roll around', I'm so mature!" suggests all
business Rudy (hahaha).

One thing both certainly remembered, even after our extended time off: End of Run Treats!!!!!

"Oh, we'd NEVER forget about the end of run treats!" says the happy
and super focused pals.

Finally back on the snow after a painfully dry October: 9.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 1 day on the trails covering 9.1 miles with 900 feet of elevation climbed.

Season Opener

Let the 2023/2024 Skijor Season Begin!

Jack & Rudy celebrated the start to a new season rolling snow angels in appreciation :)

The silly kids starting out this season as they did last season - rolling snow
angels at any break during the outing.

Our season opener found us going to the West Summit of Rabbit Ears Pass to find snow to enjoy. My intent was to go to one of the lesser used forest roads on the west summit. I was convinced we needed to stick to established trails instead of making our own trail with less than a foot of fresh snow. But, we do share Rabbit Ears Pass with hunters this time of year and every road had already been driven on by the time we got there. We wouldn't let a few tire tracks get in our way - we simply started out on the snow between the tires - wheeee!

Starting the 2023/2024 Skijor Season on narrow snow between deep
4WD tire tracks. It may look ugly, but it was snow & skis! Wheeee!

After following the road for a bit, Jack & Rudy convinced me to hop off the set road to inspect some very delicious smelling moose tracks:

"Sniff, sniff - FRESH!" declares the moose track inspectors.

I then noticed how effortlessly this moose had moved through the snow. "Ok, who needs set trails, let's go off road!" I declared to Jack & Rudy. They didn't need to hear that twice, they were juiced to follow the moose trail off into the forest!

Remember moose have very long legs.
But, with the freshness of these tracks, Jack & Rudy powered along using
all their strength to follow the moose!

Eventually the moose trail started drifting far away from the trailheads we needed to get back to. So, I directed Jack & Rudy into the forest to break our own trail. I was pleasantly surprised that the early season snow was deep enough to us to travel safely off trail!

Breaking trail as we make our own path through the forest back towards
the trailhead.

I knew that we would eventually intersect with the west summit ski trail. Sure enough, after weaving our way through the forest for a while, we eventually met up with the ski trail. A few others had been out on the trail before us, so that gave Jack & Rudy some nice ski tracks to run in.

Opening up the throttle as we get on set tracks.

Very few people had been out on this trail before us, so the ski tracks were still pretty soft. Come along and watch as hard working Jack & Rudy are towing me along as the run in soft ski tracks. What power these two have!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, back to the trailhead and time to climb snow walls to get end of run treats :)

"What a blast! Now dish out those end of run treats!" declares the happy pair.

A beautiful morning to start the 2023/2024 skijoring season with 5.4 miles traveled, 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 14 MPH (conditions did not permit going faster than this :)

Unfortunately, we have some upcoming dry and warm days, so we are in a holding pattern waiting for the next snowstorm before we can continue our 2023/2024 skijoring season.

Pray for Snow!

Season Opener

Opening the 2022/2023 Skijoring Season with a trip to the summit of Boreas Pass!

Happy Jack flashing his beautiful smile at the summit of Boreas.
Happy Rudy swooshing his tail in approvement :)

We have been "climbing the walls" this October waiting for mother nature to give us snow to start the season. We've been lucky to start the season in September a few years; but have ALWAYS started by this time in October for the last 12 years. Temperatures have been plenty cold overnight, we just have not had any moisture. Well, Sunday FINALLY brought some snow to Colorado. The forecast was for at least 6 inches and upwards of 18 inches in places. Well, that did not happen and the storm only delivered a few inches in most places. But, we were determined to get out and start the season.

We drove partway up Boreas Pass (it is open to vehicles through October and then closes for skiing and snowshoeing) hoping for some good snow as we got up in elevation. Yet, the best we found was a few inches. This is not enough snow to ski on safely but it is enough to use the dog sled. The sled can run over frozen & exposed ground whereas skis need a good snow base. Here's a photo of some of the best conditions we found:

Jack & Rudy towing the dog sled along a nice stretch of snow.

Unfortunately, the prior photo was the exception to the outing. We kept encountering stretches of frozen ground but wind blown void of snow! Yuck! Anyway, Jack & Rudy can pull the sled just fine over frozen ground but I have to get off the sled and run with them (my weight on the sled is too much on frozen ground). So, I got quite the workout today running behind my pals!

Approaching the summit of Boreas Pass. What a wind-blown mess!!!!!

Despite very hazardous conditions, the kids still had a blast. Towing a sled over frozen ground is better than summer :)

"Yep, we approve!" says happy Jack.
"Yes we doooooo!" adds always wooing Rudy.

On reaching the summit, I pulled a bag of Zorro's ashes out to sprinkle on the ground. Zorro, of course, had been to the summit many, many times over his long skijoring career. I started sprinkling his ashes and said his name. Upon hearing his name, Jack & Rudy snapped to attention and wanted to know why I was using their beloved mentor's name. They then watched intensely as I sprinkled some ashes.

Zorro!!!!! I have a small bag of some of his ashes coming from my
right hand as Jack & Rudy watch closely.

We'll end today's post reliving Zorro's last trip to the summit of Boreas Pass on October 9, 2018. His first trip to the summit was in the fall of 2010!

October 9th, 2018: Zorro training young Jack to skijor as we reached
the summit (Rudy was too young to make it this far yet :)

Well, it wasn't the prettiest of outings with tons of wind-blown exposed ground and having to use the sled instead of skis; but we FINALLY got the 2022/2023 season started! 5.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 14 MPH.

Pray for Snow, we need so much more!!!

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!

Season Opener

 Starting the 2020/2021 Skijoring Season on September 9th!!!! Woo Hoo!

Flying across Carter Park early in the morning of September 9th!

We have had 3 skijor outings in September in past seasons (2013 and 2 in 2016), but all of those were in the September 20s. But, here we are this morning with our first ever skijor in the single digits of Sept to start our 2020/2021 season! We had 3-4 inches of new snow overnight with very cold temps to start the morning. So, we rushed over to Carter Park for a quick little skijor to start the season. We went to the park since it is relatively flat and "snow on grass" is easy to glide across. There was not enough snow to be on any real trail; but enough to do a few laps in the park!

We did one lap with 12 year old Zorro. We know he is not going to do much, if any, skijoring this season as he is slowing down with age. But we were thrilled he came along for one quick lap around the park!

All smiles as we complete our first lap with elder Zorro.

After one lap with Zorro, the kids (Jack & Rudy) and I did two more laps around the park. At 3 years old (Jack) and 2.5 years old (Rudy), I expect this to be a monster skijor year with them. Wheeee!

Flying behind the mature youngsters.

In case you were wondering about the kids.... Well, they are still the kids. Jack continued his streak of rolling at least one snow angel on EVERY skijor of his life! Rudy did not roll snow angels his first few outings of his career; but once he started, he's joined Jack with at least one snow roll every skijor since. What goofs :)

"Oh children! Will they ever grow up?" asks onlooking Zorro.
"Rub a dub dub, wheeee!" demonstrate the snow rolling goofs.

It may have been a short outing doing laps around the park; but all skijors of any length deserve end of run pork treats!

"We remember 'end of run treats' - serve them up!" says the focused trio.

Another fun fact about this morning. This was Zorro's 144th straight month with 'toes on snow'. He first touched snow in October 2008 and has had his toes on snow at least once a month for 12 straight years since. Impressive!

Short & fun laps in Carter Park for our earliest start to a skijor season: 0.15 miles for Zorro and 0.5 miles for Jack & Rudy.

Bring it On!

Pray for Snow!

Season Opener

Let the 2019/2020 Skijor Season begin! Wheeee!!!!

Off we go, starting the 2019/202 season skijoring up Boreas Pass Road!
Yay for "ski tips" in the bottom of the photo - back on snow & skis!!!!

Zorro, Jack & Rudy were SO happy to be back on snow! I was SO happy to be back on skis allowing my partners to open up the throttle after 3 months of boring summer :)

There was just enough snow to get the skis out on Boreas Pass and it was snowing all morning long. Love this shot of snow covered Zorro (and Rudy, but easier to see on black Zorro) with snowflakes falling all around him!

A beautiful snow covered trail for October 10th!
Look at those huge snowflakes around Zorro!

This was the start of Jack's 3rd season skijoring: a handful of introduction training runs in 2017/2018, a full season in 2018/2019 and now onto 2019/2020. Jack started this season keeping his goofball record intact - he has rolled at least one snow angel on every skijor outing of his young (and comical) life :)

"What a goof!" declare onlooking Zorro and Rudy.
"Rub a dub dub! Love snow angels!" demonstrates silly Jack.

A very satisfying first run of the season, right guys?

"YES!!!!!" declares super happy Zorro.
"A blast!" adds cute Rudy.
"Why are we stopped?" asks all business Jack.

It was a short & quick run on Boreas Pass as we had to drive up a ways to find enough snow to ski. But it was still a great "early October" start to what we hope is a fantastic 2019/2020 Skijor Season!

4.1 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 15 MPH. Yay for Snow!

Season Opener

We started our 2018/2019 Skijor Season this morning high up on Boreas Pass!

Wheeee - so fun to be back on snow!!!

Nice shot of the good conditions up high. Jack and I are riding in "side powder" while
Zorro jogs along in the tire track.

As you can see from the prior photo, Boreas Pass is still open to vehicles. But, the road is wide and not many venture up high when it snows. This lead to "perfect October conditions" as I could ride the deep snow on the shoulders while Zorro and/or Jack could dip into the packed tracks if they wanted easy speed.

Jack was VERY excited to be back on snow. So frisky....

"Hehe, love snow! Hey bro, want to play?!?!" says silly Jack to Zorro.
"Kid, I'd flatten you!" declares Zorro.

We had to drive partway up Boreas Pass before the snow was good enough to get on skis. The bonus of driving up meant that we could reach the summit before the day got too warm and the snow started getting sticky. Fun brothers at the summit:

"Love making it to the summit! So happy to have a real skjior partner again!" states happy Zorro.
"I see endless, untouched snow this way!" declares happy Jack.

Come along for a short & fun clip as we cruise along high up on Boreas...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

I was wondering if Jack would remember "what to do" during a skijor break. Yep...

"You are stopped, I am rolling snow angels!" demonstrates funny Jack.
"Tasty snowcones too!" declares Zorro.

A few notes on this fun season opener.

First, you may be asking "where is little Rudy?" Well, take a close look at the conditions in the photos and video. There was just barely enough snow to skijor. Zorro is an expert and Jack has some good training miles under his belt (in good to bad conditions). Rudy, on the other hand, has not been in a skijor hookup yet. It is not safe (for him or ME) for his first hookup to be on sketchy to bad conditions. Don't worry, though, Rudy will be coming along as soon as the snow permits a newbie.

Second, look at how Jack has grown into a real sled dog over the summer. Today was Jack's longest skijor of his young life: 7.2 miles. I see some real distance potential in young Jack once the snow is good!

A fun day to open the season on October 9th with Zorro & Jack: 7.2 miles traveled with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 15 MPH.

Pray for Snow!

Season Opener

We got a large dump of snow overnight and, as a result, we were able to start our 2017/2018 Skijor Season on Boreas Pass this morning!!! Woo Hoo to the "October 2nd start"!!!

Great conditions up high with active snowfall all around us.
Normally you get a stunning view of the Rocky Mountains around us from this high on Boreas.
But, today only gives you a stunning view of snow covered Max & Zorro and incredible
conditions for October 2nd.

We had to drive partway up Boreas Pass to get to cooler temperatures so that the dirt road would be frozen under the snow (the road is open through October if you are brave enough to drive it when it snows :) But, once we got partway up, it was near perfect as we took out the skis and Max & Zorro towed me up Boreas Pass.

Here's a fun little video clip from the morning's outing. Such a great "first outing" of the season while the conditions were good! Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We made it to the summit of Boreas in pretty good time, so we went down the backside a little before turning around to go back up and then down the pass. Clearly I am out of practice in getting the GoPro on my chest aligned properly to capture happy Max & Zorro. But, at least we have Max's happy face in the summit shot:

Happy boys posing at the summit sign while the 'out of practice' human forgets how to get
both Max & Zorro in view :)

What could make an October 2nd skijor even better? How about adding fresh moose tracks to the outing?!?!

"Oh my, these moose tracks smell VERY fresh!" declares track sniffing Max.
"I know, I know, must be nearby - but WHERE?!?!?" asks intense forest scanning Zorro.

Despite active snowfall and cloudy skies, on our final descent, the road eventually started to warm under the snow, letting mud and sticky snow surface. I had to take my skis off 3 times to remove the slush & mud buildup. Well, if the human is going to stop, you know what that means...

"Rub a dub dub, rolling snow angels while we wait for you!" demonstrates silly Max.
"You humans and your inferior equipment!" states 'I want to GO' Zorro.

Here's to hoping an early October 2nd start is a foreshadow to a great snow season!

A fun run up Boreas + a fun frolic around the summit + a fun run down the upper terrain - a slow & sticky finish to the day. Oh well, we'll take that for October 2nd any day: 8.8 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 16 MPH.

Season Opener

Let the 2016/2017 Skijor/Dog-Sled Season Begin!

Buffalo Pass, in NW Colorado, got just enough snow to get us on the trails for a September treat!

Off we go... 3 months of energy ready to unleash! Wheeee!

There was not enough snow for skis; but enough to take out the dog sled and go for a fun run up/down the upper terrain at Buffalo Pass.

It has been just over 3 months since we were last skijoring. Max & Zorro will tell you that was a "lifetime" waiting for winter to return! Watch the nice "start video" Nancy captured as we had a nice little dip to launch down before starting the climb up Buffalo Pass:

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Why the sled instead of skis, you ask? Well, it is September... See for yourself:

Yikes! Look at the occasional mud/puddle obstacles we had to avoid! I can hop off the sled and
let it go through such tough terrain. The skis, on the other hand, would stop and stick to such terrain!

Max as in midseason form... Rolling snow angels at any short stop :)

"Aaaahhhh, snow angel season is back!" demonstrates silly Max.
"What a silly brother!" exclaims happy little Zorro.

At the top of Buffalo Pass, talking about how fun it was to be in active snowfall, before starting the run back down.

Look at the active snowfall atop Buffalo Pass!
We will certainly return tomorrow for another September run!

It was a short run, by our standards, but it was "on snow" in September!!!!!!! 5.2 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 15 MPH.

Let the season begin!!!

Season Opener

Our 2015/2016 Skijoring Season finally got underway this morning with a fun 9.1 mile run on Vail Pass.

Zoom we go as we are so happy to finally be back on snow and running for miles & miles!

It had been a dry October in Colorado and Max & Zorro had been "chomping at the bit" to get our team back on snow. It is so fun to get that slow human back on skis so that we can go real speeds and distances. Off we go...

It was pedal to the metal from the start.

A short clip to show you the nice conditions and terrain we found at Vail Pass. It is still hunting season, so a truck had driven the pass just before we got out on the trail. This actually made for a fast run as Max & Zorro each took a "packed tire track" to run in while I got to safely glide along in the 4-6 inches of powder in between the tracks. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

At our turnaround point of the day and Max was in midseason form:

"Just a second, I must roll a snow angel to cool off before restarting!" demonstrates silly Max.

"Okay, angel done - lets get this team going again!" expresses Max.
"Yep, aligned and ready to go!" demonstrates Zorro.
I said, "Time to turnaround" and then the following happened....

"Okay, turned around - lets go!" exclaims happy Zorro.
"What?!?!? 'Turnaround' - are we really going to use that unnecessary command this season?
Why would we ever turnaround?" states Max in serious question of my 'turnaround' request.

Back on snow and ready for another great season! Today's tally on Vail Pass: 9.1 miles covered with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.