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!

Two in a Row

On the snow 2 days in a row in September - woo hoo!

"Loving it!" exclaim the happy pair looking back at me at our turnaround point of the morning.

We knew two things coming into today. First, the snow was over and the bright & warming sun would be out. Second, the trails at Buffalo Pass are still open to 4WD vehicles as it is hunting season and yesterday's snowfall ranged from 2-6 inches atop the pass. Warming temps + vehicles on the trails meant we got out early (while it was still below freezing) to enjoy what was left of the snow atop Buffalo Pass.

Our decision was perfect, as the sled could still glide over frozen ground where vehicles had cut down to dirt or a thin layer of snow...

It may look "sketchy" in this photo; but it was perfect for dog sledding. The ground was frozen
so we easily glided over patches that would have been sticky mud within a few hours!

Did I mention hunters & 4WD vehicles? The "dot" in the upper/center of the photo is a truck that we encountered and then kept pace with for a while until hitting a steep incline. Max & Zorro viewed it as a target to chase and kept this same distance until a steep hill - impressive :)

"Let's catch the truck, bro!" declare the sprinting pair.

Everyone is already in midseason form for silly antics at our quick "turnaround break" of the day:

"Chomp, chomp - love snowcones!" declares snow chomping Zorro.
"Rub a dub dub!" exhibits snow rolling Max.

Since this wonderful September snow is disappearing quickly, we had to drive to the top of Buffalo Pass before taking out the dog sled to frolic around the rolling terrain. As a result, we were able to cover 6.9 miles on the sled with 400 feet of elevation climbed. A nice early season sled run!

2016/2017 Season to Date: 2 days on the trails covering 12.1 miles with 1200 feet of elevation climbed.

Unfortunately, this afternoon's warming temperatures will melt away what is left on Buffalo Pass and we are back into the "waiting cycle" for the next snowstorm. Pray for Snow!

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

Yes, the date on this blog entry is September 23rd...

Yes, the title of the blog is "Season Opener"...

The Colorado mountains got a wonderful blast of early season snow last night and into this morning. Snowfall could be measured in the 3-5 inch range at elevations above 11,000 feet! "Woo Hoo!" we all exclaimed, "We have to find terrain for a Sept 23rd season opener!'

"We've had a whole summer off! We have snow! Here we GO!" demonstrate an excited
Max & Zorro as they lean into the harnesses to take off at the start of our outing.

Ok, so it was not the best of conditions (3-5 inches of wet snow on warm ground/mud), but it was useable snow in September! No complaints from any of us... Given the wet/slushy nature of the trail, we used the dog sled instead of the skis today. Highlights from the wonderful early season start:

Zooming along Shrine Pass Rd. Warm ground + hot Siberian feet meant we left tracks down to
the mud most of the outing. But it was slick enough for the sled to glide - wheee!

Happy Siberians at our quick turnaround break at the midpoint of the outing.

Everyone was in their "midseason form" as Max is rolling his patented snow angels to cool off
while Zorro chomps down on snow cones to cool off. It was like we had no time off at all!

Look closely... That is a deer just ahead and to the left on the trail! Add a little
"deer juice" to the Siberian Engine and you really go!

We headed up to Shrine Pass in the Vail Pass Recreation Area for today's outing. This kept us at elevations over 11,000 feet most of the day and delivered a wonderful September 23rd treat!

Stats for the day: 6.2 miles with 750 feet of elevation gain and a top speed of 15 MPH. A nice little run to get the season going!