Season Finale

Today was our last skijor of the 2023/2024 season. Look at what we accomplished this season:

Impressive & happy kids looking back to me as we conclude another
awesome season of skijoring!

What are all those towers behind Jack & Rudy in the prior photo? Well, those are the communication towers atop Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass. Yep, to conclude the 2023/2024 season, we skijored up & down what is the summer service road to the towers on Walton Peak. The temperatures were too warm for us to skijor the crust over vast meadows, so we had to stick to snow over summer roads. 

So, up the Walton Peak Service Road we went:

Cruising up the snow over the service road behind the Siberian Rope Tow :)

As I expected, the conditions at the top of Walton Peak were VERY nice. Nice enough for the hover huskies to catch some air on the way back down:

Catching air as we begin the descent from the top of Walton Peak.

Now come along and watch our final skijor of the season from high atop Walton Peak. Look closely at the beginning and you'll see lots of speckles flying in the air. These are pieces of slush flying off Jack & Rudy's feet. Then, about 18 seconds into the clip and one of the slush balls lands and sticks on the center of the camera. Keep watching though, you can see most of Jack & Rudy despite the water spot until finally the spot dries and we have a clear view of Jack & Rudy again. Wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Making it to the top of the peak on May 29th made everyone very happy & frisky:

Unauthorized game of tag breaking out at the top of Walton Peak. Silly kids.

You might be thinking, "Look at all these wonderful, snow covered photos. Why is this the season finale?" Well, I'lll spare you some of the treacherous patches of exposed ground we also encountered. All the photos above are from near the top of Walton Peak, what we had to cross lower in elevation was occasionally ugly! It was a WONDERFUL season, though, we had a slow start due to bad early season snow; but Jack & Rudy really caught up to our standards once the snow arrived. Let's end the season with one last fun action shot:

Flying Rudy and cannonball Jack cruising along.
Look at that encroaching ground to our left, though!

Back to the trailhead and our final "end of run treats" celebration of the season:

"What a great season! We LOVE snow and we LOVE treats!" says the
happy, happy kids.

Today's season finale: 8.6 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2023/2024 Season Total: 157 days on the trails covering 1328.1 miles with 132,000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 26 MPH.

Perfect

Who is having a great time out on the trails this morning?

"We are! We are!!!!!" exclaims the happy, happy kids looking
back at me with all smiles.

As is often the case for us, we started this morning's skijor in the backcountry cruising around on single track ski trails. Wheeee!

Just wide enough to fit shoulder to shoulder in the single track and
speed, speed, speed!

Little did we know the extreme treat that was in store for us once we finished our initial tour through the backcountry. For background, Gold Run Nordic Center is hosting the Colorado High School Ski League State Qualifier Races on their trails later today. As a result, a lot of the nordic center is closed to the public today. But, they did leave a few trails open for general use. I expected the limited trails to be very busy this morning, so we went out on the early side. Well, what happened was the complete opposite of my expectations. Apparently the trail closures kept everyone away from the nordic center today. So, instead of finding the limited trails packed with other skiers, we did not see another soul ALL DAY LONG!!! On top of this, the open trails had be freshly groomed right before we dropped onto them. Can you believe it, we were first tracks on the fresh groom the entire time we were on the nordic trails. Wow!

We just dropped out of the backcountry and onto the Gold Run Nordic Center
trails. Pinch me, are we really first tracks (all day) on the limited open trails?!?

Jack & Rudy were just as excited as me at what we found. They immediately put the pedal to the metal and were zooming all over the place. I wear sport sunglasses (similar to goggles but a little less restrictive) for three reasons: 1) to protect my eyes from the sun; 2) to improve my vision (they are prescription sunglasses); and, foremost, to protect me from the occasional snow, slush and ice bombs flying of Jack & Rudy's feet! Here is an example :)

Incoming "bomb of snow" about to hit me in the chest.
I do get my sunglasses hit by such bombs occasionally. The price for
being at the back of the pack :)

Happily, most of the day I am not dodging bombs but comfortably riding the Jack & Rudy skijoring machine as we fly along the trails:

Ah, flying without any incoming snow/slush/ice bombs :)

Of course, given the perfect nordic conditions we found all to ourselves this morning, today's video highlight is "first tracks zooming" on perfect, wide trails. Come along as the GPS clocked us topping 24 MPH along this stretch of trail. Zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Now that was fun, right guys?

"Oh my - we were FLOORING it!!!!!!" says the happy & satisfied kids
awaiting end of run treats.

A zippy fun day: 7.8 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 78 days on the trails covering 651.7 miles with 62,600 feet of elevation climbed.

React

Cool shot of some serious "snow poofs" flying up behind fast running Jack & Rudy!

That's a lot of POOF coming off the fast moving sled dogs!!!!

Every once in a while, it's fun to highlight the "work" I do out on the trails with my partners. While "propelling me" is Jack & Rudy's primary job, I do have to read & react to various situations. Come along for some of my reaction jobs this morning :)

With two fast kids in front of me, I always have to be aware of snowballs or slush bombs flying off Jack & Rudy's feet and into my face and chest!

Look straight up from Rudy and a little to the left. The white blob is a
chunk of snow coming off Rudy and into my face!!! Since the camera is
on my chest, a snow or slush ball up from the camera is coming right
at my head. Look out human :)

I also have to remember that Jack & Rudy are shorter than me. I like to stay directly behind them as often as possible, but I also have to be aware of our differences in height!

Low to the ground Jack just went under the tree branch on the right and he
is ducking more to go under the upcoming branch in front of him. I have
to remember to swing out from behind them to avoid branches taller
then them but shorter than me!!!!

Another read & react scenario for me. We were in known moose territory in and around Gold Run Nordic Center today. I need to read & react to Jack & Rudy's "moose detectors" to know when to scan the trail and trees for moose! When Rudy has his "outside ear" up, he's hearing something nearby. When Jack glances into the trees, he's scanning for something (i.e., moose) that he hears or smells nearby. I have to scan all the terrain for moose to react to!!!

"Beep, beep - outside ear listening for moose!" demonstrates talented Rudy.
"Scan, scan - I detect moose nearby!" says forest scanning Jack!

Next, I have to "hang on" when we top 20 MPH. Come along for the today's cool video of fast running Jack & Rudy. Also, note Jack really hugging the right side of the trail in this clip. There are multiple low hanging branches I need to swing left to avoid along the way :) Look out human!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Finally, I have to remember that retired mentor Zorro always gets the 'end of run' treats first! Haha, this is not really something I have to remember. Zorro is always quick to remind me and Jack & Rudy politely wait their turn!

"Me first!" declares mentor Zorro.
"Us second!" adds wonderfully patient Jack & Rudy.

See, I really do have to pay attention and read & react out on the trails :)  10.3 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2021/2022 Season to Date: 92 days on the trails covering 766.4 miles with 72,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Slush Bombs

This June 14th was our latest day ever skijoring and a GREAT time was had by all!

SO HAPPY to still be on snow!!!!!
Just look at those ecstatic faces!

Our previous "last day" record was June 13th in 2017 with Max and Zorro. We have now eclipsed that record and I think we may still have more to come!

Of course this is Rudy's first season skijoring, so he has no idea just how impressive June 14th really is! It is Jack's second spring skijoring and he made June 1st last year with really sketchy conditions; so he has a little context for how great today was. Zorro on the other hand, has been skijoring for 10 of the 11 springs of his life. As you can see by his happy face, I think he knows how special today really was!

We headed back to Buffalo Pass this morning as the snowpack on top of the pass is still measuring over 7 feet! We start driving up the pass and go until the snow is too deep to keep driving. Today we had to stop driving over 4 miles from the top of the pass. With this much distance to travel, I expected we would hit a few dry patches along the way skiing up. Well, as I expected:

"You better take those skis off and hike!" says veteran Zorro.
"Whoa!" say the youngsters!

So, skis off and hike a bit, then back on snow to restart. But, I have to stop to put my skis back on. Well, stop....

"Did you expect any different?" asks Zorro.
"A stop is a stop and a stop is a roll in the snow!" demonstrate the goof twins.

We ended up having to take my skis off 3 times on the way up (and, of course, 3 times on the way down). But, once we got high enough it was INCREDIBLE. We did not make it all the way to the summit, but we did make it high enough to see just how much great snow is still near and on top of Buffalo Pass.

Beautiful up high! Sprinting sled dogs having a great time running up high!

Today's video has two fun plots. First, come along as we are opening it up on the great conditions up high - wheeee! Second, notice the slush bombs flying off Zorro, Jack & Rudy's feet and into me and the camera. About 15ish second into the video and, SPLAT, a slush bomb hits the camera dead center! You see some blurry Zorro, Jack & Rudy for a bit until it occurs to me to wipe the camera clear of slush and then you get a great view of the running sled dogs again :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a wonderful June 14th and I do not think we are done yet. Stay tuned...

"That was so much fun!" cute Rudy is telling me.
"Yum, 'end of run' treats!" slurps Jack.
"Ok, I guess you can have your share." says Zorro to Jack :)

Yay for June 14th skijoring: 5.4 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 16 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 133 days on the trails covering 780.7 miles with 72,750 feet of elevation climbed.

Great May

Closing out an incredible "May winter" with excellent snow pack to carry us into June!

"We have had SO much fun this month!!!" declares the happy & focused trio at the
end of our morning run.

How great was our May winter? Well, consider this - we had a very warm April and were wondering if we would really be skijoring into June as April ended. Then, Mayuary came and put our trails back into February or March like conditions. Take a look at the endless snowpack in the following photo from today, May 31st!

Sprinting along endless snowpack as far as the eye can see! What a May winter we had!

We got a later start to the outing than we prefer this time of year. The result, the trails started to really soften during our outing. The prior photo was near the start of the day and the crust looks (and was) very firm. But, now take a look at the softening conditions near our turnaround point of the morning:

A cluster of slush balls coming off Jack (visible in Zorro's shadow).
Lots of footprints & ski tracks in the softening snow.

Softer and softer the trail became until slush was flying off Zorro, Jack & Rudy and into the camera (and me)! All the white speckles you see in the blue sky and against the trees are slush balls flying off my partners' feet and into the camera. Attack of the slush bombs!

Speckles of slush all over the place :)

There is one good thing to do with soft snow - roll in it! Just ask Jack & Rudy:

"Aaahhh - rolling to get the soft, cold snow into our fur!" declares the silly pair.
"These two are such snow rolling goofs!" says Zorro.

Completing the day's outing and Rudy flashed a happy "Hi Mom!" to Nancy as we ran by to finish the day.

"Hi Mom - what a fun day!" flashes Rudy to Nancy.
"Still going!!!!" say happy & forward looking Zorro & Jack.

You could not ask for a better May 31st that we had today atop Rabbit Ears Pass. Snowpack as far as the eye can see with a perfect crust to start the day but quickly softening snow to complete the day: 6.9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

Come back tomorrow as we will get out early to celebrate Zorro's 11th birthday on the great snowpack!

2018/2019 Season to Date: 126 days on the trails covering 735.3 miles with 68,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Slush Bombs

Fun shot from the front of the happy sled dogs towing me to the end of this morning's run!

Happy running sled dogs! Wheeee!

We were thrilled to find the trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center freshly groomed as we were first tracks on the perfect trail all morning long!

Hovering Zorro & Jack with Rudy barely one foot out of sync.

Temperatures were just above freezing when we started the outing. As a result, this made for a soft trail. Look closely in the prior photo and you see all the snow slush flying off the feet from the running trio.

Now think about what happens with all those "snow speckles" in the prior photo. That's right, the speckles get launched back into me! I call these "slush bombs" as they are small pieces of slush that fly off their feet and into me! It is the "attack of the slush bombs" as these slush balls get sprayed all over my body - including my face! Look out, here comes a slush bomb:

The white blob in the upper left is a slush bomb about to slam into the camera on my chest!

This was Rudy's first participation in the "attack of the slush bombs". Come along and watch closely as you can see pieces of slush flying off their feet and into the camera. Listen carefully and every time you hear a click, that is a slush bomb hitting the camera. Count all the clicks during this segment and that is also about how many slush bombs flew into my face as well! Attack of the slush bombs.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

If you have been following along lately, you knew this was coming. Stopped to turnaround and...

Jack & Rudy rolling snow angels. Yes, Jack is partially on top of Rudy as they roll a "connected
snow angel" - talented :)
"I wonder how far we could run if these two would stay upright?" ponders Zorro surveying
all the nice trail we COULD be running if the youngsters would get up :)

End of a fun run, time to celebrate with 'end of run' treats:

"You have my FULL attention!" demonstrates Zorro pinned to my chest.
"Look at us patient youngsters!" add Jack & Rudy.

Perfect groomed trails this morning with temperatures just high enough for an attack of the slush bombs: 7.1 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.


2018/2019 Season to Date: 92 days on the trails covering 514.8 miles with 46,700 feet of elevation climbed.

1400 Miles

We did it! We surpassed 1400 miles of skijoring for the season!

1405.3 miles and counting....

"We did it!!!!" say all three of us to one another as we relive and celebrate the milestone
at the end of our run this morning.

After 3 seasons in a row of 1300+ miles of skijoring, we broke through to surpass 1400 miles this season. What a fun accomplishment. Max & Zorro are incredible!

Okay, on to this morning's outing. We did roughly the same route as yesterday: climbing quickly up Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass to get to better and higher elevation terrain. While conditions are deteriorating quickly near the trailheads, it is still nice near and at the top of Walton Peak. A few fun shots and video from the upper elevations...

Flying along in a 'shoulder-to-shoulder sled dog machine':

You cannot get in a tighter configuration than this as Max & Zorro sprint while
rubbing shoulders :)

One more interesting shot before the video as it will help you watch the video. A suicidal chipmunk ran across the trail in front of us and barely escaped being scooped up by Max's mouth...

The arrow shows the chipmunk. Max & Zorro see "trail food" :)

Okay, on to today's video highlight. We start skijoring on "soft summer snow" near the top of Walton Peak. If your volume is up high, the "clicks" you hear are slush bombs flying off Max & Zorro's feet and into the camera (and my face :).  About 8 seconds into the video and you'll see some of the slush bombs hit & stick to the camera. Then, watch closely, about 33 seconds into the video and the suicidal chipmunk crosses the trail. Max & Zorro, of course, floor it towards the "trail food" and you see Max dip out of view as he tries (and barely misses) scooping up the chipmunk before hopping back into the skijor setup. Silly...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

One last shot from the top of Walton Peak:

"Oh man, JUNE.... so hot!!!!" say the snow rolling sillies.
The cool curvature of this photo is due to the fact that we are on the tiptop of Walton Peak.

Unfortunately, this was most likely our last run at Rabbit Ears Pass this season; but what a fun time and major accomplishment today: 7.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 169 days on the trails covering 1405.3 miles with 148,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Under Attack

The musher (me) was under attack on the trails today...

Attack of the Slush Bombs!  :)

Slush Bombs flying off Max & Zorro's feet into me. Under attack!

What are "slush bombs" you ask? Well... The snow crust on the trail was firm enough to hold our weight but there was a layer of soft snow atop the crust. As Max & Zorro are running, you get slush bombs (blobs of snow slush) flying off their feet and into me! Look at the prior photo again, all the white specks you see in the upper left are slush bombs flying off my partners' feet. Look to the right edge and middle of the photo and you see a good sized slush bomb.

Here is an even better shot capturing a slush bomb. Look at that large white blob of slush in the upper left coming straight towards my face.  Incoming....

Incoming!

What does the attack of the slush bombs look like? Well, turn up the volume as you watch this short video clip. Every "click" you hear is a slush bomb hitting the GoPro camera case. Now, consider that my face is much larger than a GoPro and realize that for every click you hear there were 2-3 other slush bombs hitting me in the face. Need some "slush flaps" on these vehicles :)  Attack of the Slush Bombs!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Attack? Who, us?

"What attack? I'm having a ball!" declares Max.
"Hehehe, just hehehe!" smirks silly Zorro.

For our parting shot... The more shaded areas of trail did not have the soft layer to create slush bombs. So it was Attack of the Slush Bombs in the sun and Launching of the Siberians in the shade:

Zoooom we go on a nice stretch where the human's face was not pelted by slush bombs!

Attack of the Slush Bombs on Rabbit Ears Pass this morning: 8.6 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 140 days on the trails covering 1174.7 miles with 129,050 feet of elevation climbed.

Wow

Pinch me - is it really April?!?   :)

"Can you believe the conditions? February terrain in mid April! Wow!" exclaim my ecstatic
partners looking back at me at our turnaround point of the morning.

We went to one of our favorite trails at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning expecting to follow snowmobile tracks up, down and around Rabbit Ears Peak. Oh my, did we get a treat instead. The trail groomer had been on the main trail within hours or minutes of our start. As a result, we were first tracks on perfectly groomed terrain for the entire outing. Max & Zorro were clearly ecstatic as they put the pedal to the metal all day. We were flying!

Every time you encounter fresh groomed terrain in April or May you know it could be your last "groomie zoomie" of the season. If today was the last, then we certainly got the most out of it as we had our fastest run out & back on the "1A North" trail at Rabbit Ears ever! Here we go...

Catching air on perfect terrain. Zoom, zoom, zoom. That is Rabbit Ears Peak in the upper
center of this photo. Look really close and you can make out the two rocks on the top of
the peak which are known as the "rabbit ears".

The entire outing was freshly groomed and fast. Unbelievable mid April conditions!

Outstretched, flying Siberians zooming along the trail.

Today's fun video clip starts with us gliding through the forest in a gentle trot & glide (not wanting to go too fast through blind corners) until we get to a wide open straightaway and off we go - zoom! I give out an encouraging "here we go" as we hit the straightaway, but Max & Zorro have already taken off without my voice. They understand "straightaway" and will automatically floor it when we hit one. I just like to talk for my own sake so I feel like I am contributing :)  Finally, the 'clicks' you hear during the video are slush bombs flying off Max & Zorro's feet and into the GoPro (a few hit me in the face too!)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A fast fun on perfect conditions: 9.8 miles traveled with 1050 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2015/2016 Season to Date: 115 days on the trails covering 978.5 miles with 107,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Fast Day

A great day to "catch air" atop Rabbit Ears Pass:

Airborne, flying Siberians - wheeee!
What a beautiful day, what a beautiful snowpack atop Rabbit Ears Pass in May!

Max & Zorro were excited to find perfect conditions at Rabbit Ears Pass as we uncorked the skijoring engine all day long. It was zoom, zoom, zooooom! When we are going super fast, I typically have one ski behind either Max or Zorro and the other ski outside of the two (I alternate back & forth between them). This lets me get their pull for speed (the inside ski) yet have an emergency brake for unplanned events (the outside ski). The result, though, is I typically get some nice profile shots of the one who I am not behind. Here we go:

Great profile of long Max! Such a pretty sprinting Siberian.
Nice shot of sprinting Zorro from behind with a great shadow shot.
Notice the slush bombs flying up behind Max's feet.

Now aligned behind Max as we get a great profile of out-stretched & airborne Zorro.
A nice view from behind of sprinting Max.

Put the last three shots together and you get the theme of the day: zoom! The other theme of the day was "slush bombs". With warming May temperatures, you get slush coming off Max & Zorro's feet and flying into the human. The following video highlight gives you a feel for the slush bombs: you can see them flying in the air, you can see them hit the GoPro now & then and the "clicks" you hear in the video are slush bombs hitting the GoPro case. For every click you hear, there is at least one hitting me in the face instead of hitting the camera - need some slush flaps on these two...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A fast & fun day:

"We are having a BLAST!" exclaim the happy pair at our turnaround point of the day.

Great May conditions atop Rabbit Ears Pass this morning: 9.2 miles with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 135 days on the trails covering 1161.6 miles with 121,800 feet of elevation climbed.

May Opener

Yes it is May and yes we are still on snow! Yay!!!! What a great May Opener this morning.

Zoom we go on some great conditions for May!

May is the "month of melt" for the Colorado Mountains; so every day we get on the trails is a special day. We still hold out hopes for 1-2 snowstorms in May; but the reality is that we are in the month of melt. As a result, we make the best of all the snow we can find...

"Things were great on today's terrain!" exclaims giddy Max.
"Toes on snow means we GO!" states happy Zorro.

We could not resist making an extended video for today's highlight reel. A few things to watch & listen for in today's highlight. (1) Listen (or watch) closely for the "slush bombs" flying off Max & Zorro's feet and into the camera (and my face) - the "clicks" you can hear in the video are slush bombs hitting the GoPro. (2) Mostly nice terrain but watch for the ice patches that appear along the trail - at least it was ice and not dirt! (3) Pretty nice for May.....

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A few good "view shots" along the way today:

Oops, this side trail ended in dirt; but we get a nice view of the ski runs on Peaks 9 & 10 of
Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley.

Trotting along as the ski runs on Peak 6 at Breckenridge Ski Resort come into view on the
mountain far in the foreground.

But, if you ask Max & Zorro, the best view was...

"Moose Tracks!!!!! Fresh Moose Tracks!!!" state the intense pair plunging their noses
into the moose prints. We never found the owner of the tracks; but they were fresh enough
to generate some excitement in Max & Zorro's noses!

A May Day on Snow is a Great Day: 7.9 miles with 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2014/2015 Season to Date: 134 days on the trails covering 1152.4 miles with 121,000 feet of elevation climbed.