Surprise

There was a lot to be excited about on this morning's skijor, right guys?

"Yes! My head is covered in snow and I love it!" declares happy Jack.
"WOO! I LOVE SNOW! WOOOOO!" belts singing Rudy.

The excitement? Well, the forecast last night was "a slight chance of a dusting of snow" overnight. But, the reality was 3-5 inches of fresh powder! We love surprise powder days!

With the surprise new snow, we headed to the backcountry at Dry Gulch to enjoy the powder:

POW - the fun kids blasting through 5 inches (or more) of snow at this
point in the backcountry. Wheeee!

While fresh snow is great for powder blasting, it is also great for rolling snow angels with gusto!

The funny kids launching snow all around themselves as they
roll with vigor!

Then, as we like to do in this location, it was time to floor it on the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center after our aerobic romp through the backcountry powder. The groomer had been out on the trails recently, but there was also a fresh layer of new snow atop the groomie zoomie nordic trail. The kids were having a blast!

The fun kids catching air on the groomie zoomie with cool snow poofs
coming off their feet from the light layer of new snow atop the groom.

Today's video highlight? Well, it HAS to be blasting through the surprise powder. Come along for the fun! Note near the end of the video where I almost wipe out as my ski cut through the fresh snow to hit what was exposed ground just yesterday. But, I'm still standing!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a surprise! What a treat! Who had fun?

"We had a BLAST!" says the ecstatic kids atop a nice snow wall
to receive end of run treats.

What a fun "surprise powder" day this morning: 4.6 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 49 days on the trails covering 300.4 miles with 31,900 feet of elevation climbed.

Woo Angel

Rolling snow angels and singing woos at the official Rabbit Ears Pass geological marker this morning.

"Rub a dub dub!" goes snow rolling Jack.
"Woooooooo!" adds singing Rudy :)

It was a beautiful morning at Rabbit Ears Pass this morning. We had a light layer of fresh snow over packed snowmobile trails to enjoy all morning long. Apparently a lot of North America thinks winter is over as we did not encounter another soul all morning long! 

Starting off the day catching air on perfect conditions with cool snow
poofs coming off Jack & Rudy's feet.

The kids were in a real groove this morning, catching air again and again!

Whee - catching air with snow poofs again!
Oh, the ski and dog prints you see to our left are our own out tracks on
this same trail. As I said, we had the whole pass all to ourselves this morning!

How much of a groove? Well, how about topping 23 MPH in May!!! Come along for a fun speed video clip from the outing as the GPS registered us topping 23 MPH during this speed burst!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Along the way, we veered off the main trail to do two "out & back" tours on side trails. Well, this meant we had two turnaround points and, yes, you guessed it - turnaround, roll around from the comedians:

"Aaahh, so refreshing to roll in the snow!" says the sillies.

When Jack & Rudy were upright, though, it was all business and all action all morning long!

Catching air yet again on the final leg of the outing.

Finally, we were even able to find a mini snow wall to climb for end of run treats. Jack & Rudy LOVE to scale these walls to get their treats :)

The happy kids patiently waiting for me to open the bag of end of run treats.
Good boys!

A beautiful day to start May: 7.2 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 142 days on the trails covering 1209.3 miles with 119,700 feet of elevation climbed.

First Tracks

Look at who we ran into out on the trails this morning:

"Hi Mr. Groomer, thanks for setting the trail for us this morning!" says
Jack & Rudy pausing to let the groomer turn right and continue on his way.

If we ran into the groomer, you know what that means. Yep, we were first tracks on the freshly groomed nordic trail for almost the entire outing! After breaking trail in 15+ inches of fresh powder the last two days, it was a complete reversal today as Jack & Rudy were flooring it on fresh nordic trails. Zoom!

Jack & Rudy know what to do on a fresh groom! Zoom!

Zipping around the upper elevation trail at Breckenridge Nordic Center and we were first tracks on the fresh groom the all morning until the last mile or so returning to the trailhead when we finally ran into so other groups of people and dogs. The views of both Jack & Rudy and the Colorado Rockies are stunning at the highest elevation points on these trails:

Fun snow poofs coming off Jack & Rudy's feet with awesome views
all around us.

We got on some wonderful, extended straightaways to really put the pedal to the metal. Wheeee!

Fresh groom and not another soul on the trails. Time to open up the throttle!

Now come along for the video counterpart to the prior photo. Groomie Zoomie!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course all that zooming around meant rolling snow angels to cool off were in order whenever we paused. 

Stepping off trail to roll and cool off in the side snow, aaahhh!

Back to the trailhead and, with all the snow we've had recently, the snow walls created from plows are getting quite high. Today Jack & Rudy were eye level with me for end of run treats!

Now that is a high snow wall and what happy, happy sled dogs!

A real groomie zoomie day: 10.3 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 108 days on the trails covering 922.8 miles with an even 90,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Bluebird Day

It was a beautiful bluebird day to get out skijoring on the trails this morning.

Everybody agree?

"Yes!!! So much fun!" states happy, happy Jack.
"WOOOOOOO! Me Toooooo!" adds singing Rudy :)

Come along for today's fun varied terrain skijor...

We started the outing on narrow backcountry trails barely two Siberian Huskies wide:

Just wide enough to fit shoulder to shoulder as we zip along
in the backcountry.

Then we dropped onto the wide trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. As we started, the trail was a bit used up from traffic yesterday as the groomer had not made it this far yet. Not a problem, Jack & Rudy are perfectly capable of flooring in on "day old" nordic terrain :)

The kids catching air as we zip along the fun nordic trail.

As we were nearing the main trail, we saw the groomer finishing its work on that trail and turning to continue onward and upward. Oh boy, that meant we were going to be FIRST on the freshly groomed nordic sprint track. Jack & Rudy know what to do on a fresh groom! Zoom!

The fun kids catching air with cool snow poofs from the soft
groom flying off their feet.

Today's video highlight has to go with the prior photo. Come along as we are first tracks on the freshly groomed trail. So fun to be first on the trail! Zoom, zoom, zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Next, nearing the end of the outing and the fun kids are still running strong with huge smiles :)

"Yay, what a fun day!" says the happy kids towing me to the
finish of the day's outing.

Finally, some well earned "end of run" treats from atop a nice snow wall (as usual for these two :)

"You have our full and undivided attention!" says the fun kids!

I think Jack & Rudy really LOVE these "varied terrain" outings where we start on technical trails to then finish on super fast groomed trails: 7.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 77 days on the trails covering 643.9 miles with 62,000 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Bluebird

It was a beautiful bluebird morning for a fast & fun skijor on the upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center.

The kids catching air as we zoom along this perfect
nordic trail. Wheeee!

As you can see in the prior photo, we were not first tracks on the recently groomed trail but we were second or third on the trail most of the morning. We weaved together 4 different trails on the way to our highest elevation of the day. Then it was time to turn around and fly back the way we came:

Zooming kids with cool snow poofs coming off their feet.

Now here's the video counterpart to the prior photo. Come along for this gorgeous skijor at around 12,000 feet in elevation. If you can take your eyes of impressive Jack & Rudy, notice what a beautiful morning it was! Top speed in this clip? Well, the GPS registered us at 24 MPH - zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, going that fast means you need to roll snow angels to cool your jets at any turnaround points along the way :)

"Ah, rub a dub dub!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
Don't both their faces just look like they are in heaven rolling in the snow?

There are not many things that distract Jack & Rudy from running, typically it is only large wildlife (moose, elk, coyote) that can draw their attention away from running. But, every once in a while one of them will find a stick along the way to be interesting. Then, once one picks up the stick, it becomes a "stick sharing" event and often a stick tug of war. I don't know what makes certain sticks so interesting as they will ignore most; but something is really special about the occasional stick.

Jack found this stick on the edge of the trail interesting so he picked it
up without stopping. But, then Rudy noticed Jack had a "special" stick
and a joint stick chew unveiled for a few moments before both dropped
the stick and on we continued.

Done sharing that special stick and back to skijoring. As we were approaching the trailhead to conclude the day, we encountered quite a few skiers starting out on the trail. Well, Jack & Rudy love to fly by skiers and put smiles on their faces; people are always in awe of the impressive sled dogs towing me along:

"Hi! Coming through!" says the fun kids impressing this
onlooking skier.

Finally, my super fun pals climbing a mini snow wall for end of run treats:

"We had a BLAST today!" declares the happy kids.

A speedy day on wonderful, recently groomed nordic trails: 10.3 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 49 days on the trails covering 412.0 miles with 39,300 feet of elevation climbed.

25 MPH Burst

Oh my, what a fast day we had on the recently groomed nordic trails this morning!

"WOO! I feel the need, the need for speed!" belts out wooing Rudy.
"Oh my we were FLYING, need to roll in snow to cool my jets!" adds
snow rolling Jack.

After spending the last 4 skijor outings on ungroomed backcountry trails, today we decided to go floor it on the groomed trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center. We were not first tracks on the recently groomed trails but we were 2nd or 3rd all morning long - that's pretty much the same as being first tracks!

The kids, Jack & Rudy, were in super speed mode this morning. I could not believe how fast we were flying around the terrain! Come along and see for yourself...

It was catching air as we zoomed by the Kathy's Viewpoint Warming Hut:

Flying! Love the snow poofs you can see in sun behind Rudy.
If you look closely, you can see similar poofs behind Jack; but they
are in the shade so harder to see.

It was catching air with views as we flew along this stretch with awesome views to our right:

Poofs off the feet again, catching air again, zooming again!!!!

It was catching air on the approach to FLY by the Hallelujah Warming Hut:

Did the kids ever actually touch the trail today? :)

It was catching air as we hit our top speed of this season: 25 MPH!

Such incredible lift from the hover huskies!

Now come along for the video of Jack & Rudy's 25 MPH burst. The kids maintain 14-18 MPH for extended distances on groomed trails; but we typically get a few speed bursts mixed in along the way. Come along for today's burst. We start out on the approach to the Hallelujah Warming Hut. Then, about 8 seconds into the clip and you see Jack & Rudy kick it into overdrive. Boom! It's quite the amazing feeling to be behind these bursts on skis. What a fun & wild ride :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

What a way to earn end of run treats by FLYING all morning long!

"That was fun! How about some refueling?" asks the focused, happy kids.

The theme for today's skijor outing? Zoom! 9 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 47 days on the trails covering 392.0 miles with 37,300 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Sprint then Roll

It was a perfect day on freshly groomed nordic trails to sprint and catch some air :)

Catching air as we were first tracks on the freshly groomed trail!

We got on the trails just after the groomer had started out itself. As a result, we found ourselves laying first tracks or second tracks (to ourselves) all morning long. We never actually met up with the groomer as it went a different direction than us on the large upper elevation loop at Breckenridge Nordic Center; but we knew we were just behind it as the trail was perfect and untouched! I love watching the snow poofs coming off Jack and Rudy's feet when they get on a soft & freshly groomed trail:

Catching air with snow poofs coming off the kids' feet. Wheeee!

It was an incredible zippy fast day with snow poofs galore :)

Out-stretched, fast running Jack & Rudy with more snow poofs
flying off their feet.

Today's video highlight has Jack & Rudy doing their two favorite activities skijoring. We start out in a serious fast sprint along the freshly groomed and perfect trail. Then, near the end of the clip I was planning to turnaround and redo this fun section of trail; so I guide Jack & Rudy to the left and tell them to wait. Well, then we get their second favorite skijoring activity (the first was sprinting, of course) as the two stop, drop and roll snow angels to cool off while I turn my skis around. Fun & fast kids but also stop, drop & roll sillies :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We actually had 4 turnaround points on this morning's outing as we redid several sections of perfect trail. As you saw in the previous video, it was snow angels at that turnaround point. Well, our first turnaround was also angels from Jack, of course, but woos from Rudy on this one. You never know about that comical redhead.

"You know it's rolling angels from me!" says giddy Jack (I love the look
on his happy face).
"WOOOO - I'll roll later!" says stop & woo Rudy at this turnaround point.

It was our longest skijor outing of the season this morning - talk about well deserved end of run treats!

"Ready to refuel!" says the happy, focused kids.

Great outing on PERFECT conditions: 11.2 miles traveled with 1200 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 42 days on the trails covering 352.8 miles with 33,500 feet of elevation climbed.

24 MPH

Top speed of the season today: 24 MPH. Wheeee!

Jack & Rudy catching air on a perfect, freshly groomed nordic trail!

Our top speed every season tends to be either 26 or 27 MPH; but we only hit those speeds once or twice a season. Yet, when the conditions are good, we regularly hit 24 MPH as our typical top speed of an outing. Well, today we were first on the freshly groomed upper elevation trails at Breckenridge Nordic Center and the conditions were PERFECT! Zoom!

Zipping along the untouched corduroy with nice views ahead and
to our right.

At our highest elevation points of the day, the groom was soft and incredible. I love the snow poofs coming of Jack & Rudy's feet as the fly along the soft groom:

Flying with snow poofs - wheeee!

Now come along for the point where we topped 24 MPH. We are on a side, but still freshly groomed, trail to start the clip. Then, about 30 seconds in and we make a right to connect onto the main trail. Well, Jack & Rudy take off once we complete this right connect. Top speed: 24 MPH - zoom!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The nordic center has a 7-8 mile loop on the high elevation terrain. Well, Jack & Rudy want to skijor much further than 7-8 miles; so we always redo sections of the trail along the way to completing the full loop. We did three such redos this morning. Well, that also meant we stopped to turnaround three times and you know what that means....

"Stop, Drop and ROLL!" goes the fun kids hopping in powder off trail to
roll some really nice & refreshing snow angels.

What a beautiful fast & fun outing this morning, right guys?

"We felt the need, the need for speed this morning!" declares the happy
and proud kids awaiting end of run treats.

A day of nordic groomed speed: 10.2 miles traveled with 1100 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 35 days on the trails covering 288.0 miles with 27,600 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Cool

Cool action shot of Jack & Rudy whipping me around a corner on a fast nordic trail!

Love the snow poofs behind the fast kids.
Love the action as all three of us are leaning into a fast & wild left in the trail!

We got a light layer of new snow overnight, so we headed to the backcountry to start this morning's outing. With some new snow, I knew the trails that were slick & icy just a day or two ago would be safe this morning.

Cruising along in a backcountry single track. Wheeee!

We actually spent the majority of today's outing in the backcountry. Nice to use these trails when they are safe with new snow. We were winding through the forest having a great time!

Zipping along, winding through the trees!

Then, to end the day, as the first photo implies, we dropped onto the wide & groomed trails of Gold Run Nordic Center. Once on the groomie zoomie trails it was ZOOM from the cool kids:

Jack & Rudy literally FLYING along the groomie zoomies.

Today's video highlight? Another day topping 25 MPH skijoring! Jack & Rudy love this particular stretch of trail as they know I'll let them fully open the throttle and go, go, GO! Oh yea, perfect trail conditions too as we were first tracks on the freshly groomed nordic sprint track! Come along and watch the fast fun.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Our turnaround on the nordic trails was at a point called Jumbo Overlook. Humans stop here to take in the views. Siberian Huskies stop here to roll snow angels :)

Those snow rolling sillies at it again :)

Winding through the backcountry to then finish on the groomie zoomie nordic trails. My pals really earned their end of run treats today!

"Ready!" declares the happy, focused great kids.

Really enjoyable morning skijoring with Jack & Rudy: 9.9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 96 days on the trails covering 845.8 miles with 77,700 feet of elevation climbed.