Lane Change

Fresh powder in the backcountry this morning! Yay for Snow!!!

The fun kids blasting through some nice powder.

Technically, we only got about 1-2 inches of fresh snow overnight. But, it was also VERY windy. As a result, we encountered many deep, wind blown snowdrifts to blast through in the backcountry this morning. Come along for today's video highlight to see what I mean.

I really love the start of this video. Jack starts on the right of the team but then decides he wants to change lanes. Watch as he perfectly backs off, dips under the gangline and then thrusts forward to be back even with Rudy (but on the left side now) - TALENTED!!!! I love watching these occasional lane changes at high speeds from these talented kids! Then, after the lane change, watch as we gallop along while blasting through the occasional wind drift. Talented again - whee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Of course, blasting through wind drifts is quite aerobic and warrants rolling snow angels to cool off when the opportunity arose:

"Aaaaah - rolling to cool the jet!" goes the snow rolling sillies.
I Love the snow Rudy has generated all around his head by dipping it in the
snow before flipping it up. Can't you just see the expression of bliss on
his happy, snow covered face!

Then, after blasting through wind drifts and rolling snow angels, it was time to floor it on the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center. The kids know what to do with a groomed nordic trail - zoom!

Catching air on the groomie zoomie!

It turns out we were FIRST tracks on the freshly groomed trail! It's hard to see that in the prior photo, but we were first tracks. As if often the case, if we are first tracks, then there is a groomer not far ahead of us to chase and catch. Jack & Rudy love catching up with the groomer!

"Caught it, caught it! We caught the groomer!" says the speedy kids.

As I've described and shown many times in the past, the groomer drivers know us from years of skijoring these trails and, eventually, they will pull over and wave us on to pass. But, we have to wait until the trail is wide enough to do so safely. As you see in the prior photo, the trail was exactly "one groomer wide" between trees when we caught the groomer. As a result, we had to slow down and trot behind for a bit before the trees thinned and the groomer paused to wave us on, so the video is pretty boring to watch until we can pass. As usual, as we passed, I gave the driver a wave & smile and he gave an enthusiastic wave & smile back.

While the wind gave us some nice drifts to blast through, it was also still blowing while we were out. Temperatures were near 10 (F) when we started with the wind chill being well below zero, probably approaching -10 (F). As a result, the wimpy human cut today's outing a little short to save himself. But, still a fun time had by all:

The freezing human handing out end of run treats to the perfectly
comfortable Siberian Huskies! :)

A fun albeit temperature shortened skijor: 4 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2025/2026 Season to Date: 50 days on the trails covering 304.4 miles with 32,200 feet of elevation climbed.

Wind Blown

Laying fresh tracks in upwards of 4 inches of new snow this morning!

Wonderful shot of Jack & Rudy laying fresh tracks as I glide along behind
in a nice layer of new snow! Wheeee!

Today's outing found us on Prospect Hill - an unmaintained area open to both snowmobiles and skiers. With the morning's new snow, we were able to gallop along laying fresh tracks in pre-existing snowmobile tracks most of the outing. There's nothing as nice as 3-4 inches of fresh snow over a packed track - just see for yourself:

Jack & Rudy having a blast running in fresh snow over packed snowmobile tracks!

As we neared the midpoint of the outing, I called out for everyone to "Wait," which everyone did as asked and then glanced back at me for further instruction:

"Waiting - now what?" asks the happy & obedient kids.

To their glances, I replied, "Time to turnaround." Then it was, "Oh, turnaround! Why didn't you say so, we've got things to do first!!!"

Yep - turnaround, roll around from Jack
and turnaround, woos abound from Rudy.
Had I said "Wait, time to turnaround" together, I never would have got the
happy glances first and only the snow angels & woos :)

On the way back, we get some nice views of the ski runs of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us:

Skijor with a view - wheeee!

Now on to the video counterpart to the prior photo. Come along for a fun skijor in the backcountry this morning with a nice view of the ski runs at Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from us. If your volume is on, you'll hear the constant & gusting wind blowing. We had come up this trail about 10-15 minutes earlier and by the time we returned it was almost completely recovered with wind blown snow! Not a problem, just a little extra effort required by Jack, Rudy and myself :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

The wind caused me to cut the outing a little shorter than usual. But, any skijor is better than no skijor, right guys?

"Oh yes and I see that bag of treats in your hands!" says Jack.
"I live for snow and woos!" adds funny Rudy.

A quick but very entertaining day laying fresh tracks: 6.4 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2024/2025 Season to Date: 51 days on the trails covering 382.0 miles with 35,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Fresh to First

Jack & Rudy catching air as we fly by the Hallelujah Warming Hut this morning!

"Warming? How silly and unnecessary!" says the sled dogs who have no
use for a silly warming hut :)

Today's outing had a really fun mix of conditions for us to enjoy. When we started the outing, we saw evidence that the groomer had gone out on the trails just before us. But, the network of trails we were on had the groomer turn away from our intended path within the first 5 minutes. After the groomer track disappeared, we were thrilled to find ourselves laying fresh tracks in 2-3 inches of new snow for a few miles:

Fresh tracks - wheeee! The "haze" in this photo is both actively falling snow
and blowing snow as there was a stiff wind all morning long.

Think of the trail network we were on as a figure 8. After laying fresh tracks along the bottom of the 8, we crossed the middle and found the groomer going up one upper side of the 8. Jack & Rudy tow me faster than a groomer drives on flat and downhill grades while they are about the same speed as the groomer on mild uphill grades. When we first encountered the groomer, we were on a mild uphill section of trail. With the groomer to catch, Jack & Rudy had a great time towing me up the trail and keeping pace with the groomer for quite a distance:

Cruising up the trail at "groomer speed" behind my Siberian Husky Tow Rope.
Don't worry about Rudy trotting in the classic track, my skis were in the
track too, so I smoothed out his footprints right behind him.

Eventually, we got to a very steep section of trail. This is only time a groomer can lose Jack & Rudy as we have to work hard on going up steep grades. The groomer driver clearly knew this as when we got to the start of the steep grade, he put his hand out his window and waved "bye" to us :)

Instead of climbing the steep grade, we turned around and followed the path the groomer had taken all the way back to the trailhead. You know what that meant, yep, we were first tracks on the freshly groomed nordic trail. Groomie Zoomie!

"We know what to do with a fresh groom!" declares fast running Jack & Rudy.

How about a "fresh to first" video to showcase the day's fun? Come along for a combo video with us laying fresh tracks for the first 30 seconds of the clip and then laying first tracks for the next 30 seconds. Oh, if your volume is up, you'll hear the stiff wind we were skijoring into and you'll also see the gusts of blowing snow. I guess that's why we did not encounter any other people out on the trails this morning - wimps :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Today's entertainment from the comedians? Well, how about synchronized digging and excavating the snow in the search for rodents?

"Dig, dig, where are those pesky rodents?!?" asks the sillies furiously
digging to try and uncover rodents.

Fresh tracks, first tracks, we loved it all, right guys?

"You bet! Now how about those end of run treats?" says the focused
and happy kids.

Speaking of wimps, I did cut today's outing short due to the intense winds; but at least I got out on the trails with my pals for a little while! 7.4 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 124 days on the trails covering 1068.6 miles with 105,000 feet of elevation climbed.

POW to Groom

Jack & Rudy blasting through upwards of 2 feet of fresh powder!

POW, POW, powder blasting!

We started this morning's skijor in roughly 2 feet of fresh snow in the backcountry. We ended this morning's skijor being first tracks on a freshly groomed nordic trail. What a tale of two trails :)

Catching as we are first tracks on the freshly groomed nordic trail.

If you start in deep backcountry snow and end on groomed nordic trails, then you had to transition from one the next at some point, right? Well, come along for today's video fun showing just that transition. The video starts with Jack & Rudy blasting through 2 feet of powder. Then, we blast through one last stretch of powder and land on a freshly groomed nordic trail. Once on the groom, Jack & Rudy know what to do - groomie zoomie! What's more impressive the powder plowing or the groomie zoomies? Hard to choose one :)

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

At one point along the nordic trail, Jack got distracted by rodents off trail under the deep snow. Jack is known more for his "rodent lunges" than "rodent dives"; but if the snow wall is high enough, he's perfectly capable of rodent swan dives himself.

"Rodents off trail under the snow! Incoming!" goes rodent diving Jack.
"Whoa, what? Where, where?" says Rudy noticing what Jack is up to.

Not to be outdone, here comes the diving professional. Rudy and his beautiful, fox-like high arching rodent swan dives!

Now that is some impressive swan diving form!!!!

Today's outing was shorter than our usual skijors. Why? Well, first we were slowed by deep, deep powder; but no complaints here, powder plowing is fun. Second, though, is that the intense winds are back. We finally had a break from the recent monster winds yesterday but they came back today! So, the wimpy human (me), cut the outing short to hide from the winds.

Skijoring into a super strong wind gust of blowing snow. Brrrr!

Powder to groomies, what an entertaining day, right guys?

"We loved it ALL!" says the happy, happy kids.

Another wind shortened skijor outing (the theme of a lot of the last week) but still fun had by all: 5.4 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 62 days on the trails covering 520.9 miles with 50,500 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Wind

Cruising by the historic Sallie Barber Mine on this morning's skijor.

Zipping on by - wheeee!

The prior photo is about the cleanest I footage I have from the entire outing this morning. What do I mean by that? Well, it has been ridiculously windy across just about the whole state of Colorado starting yesterday, through last night and into (and through) today! Come along to see the "wind impact" on this morning's skijor outing.

To begin with, we started our skijor on the road leading to the trailhead due to a downed tree across the road. This wasn't really a problem as the road was snow covered (albeit very hard packed); but it made for an interesting start to the outing:

Starting the skijor on the road to the trailhead because of a downed
tree across the road behind us.

The real impact, though, was downed trees on the trails. Take a look at this interesting obstacle to get by. In this case we had to dip down into the deep snow off trail to the left, go around the trees and then come back up onto the trail. This was easy for Jack & Rudy to do; but you try it on skis!!!!

Uh-oh, trail completely blocked by downed trees!

A little further along and more downed trees; but at least this one hit a tree on the other side of the trail and has a gap to the right that I can fit under!

Slow down, move to the right and DUCK :)

Total tree obstacles for this morning's short outing: 5 - 1 blocking the road to the trailhead, 2 blocking the entire trail (requiring us to dip off trail in deep snow to get around) and 2 crossing the trail but with enough clearance for me to duck under.

Even when the trail was clear of downed trees, it was littered with wind-blow tree debris!

A nice open stretch as Jack & Rudy are catching air but notice
all the wind-blown tree debris on the trail.

Today's video highlight is, of course, Tree Debris Skijoring! Come along and watch as we are still able to open up the throttle but there sure is a lot of tree debris to navigate around and slow my skis!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Despite a day of tree debris and downed trees, a great time was still had by all!

"We still had a blast!" declares the happy kids.

I mentioned two of the impacts of the ridiculous wind: downed trees and tree debris littered trails. The third impact? Well, the wind chill was approaching -20 F (yes, 20 degrees BELOW zero). As a result, the wimpy human cut the outing short this morning: 5.2 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 60 days on the trails covering 507.3 miles with 48,500 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Blustery

First on the trail to lay fresh tracks in the new snow on the Sallie Barber Mine Trail this morning!

Fresh tracks fun!

Our outing took us up the front side of Sallie Barber, down the back side, back up the back side and then down the front side. This meant we passed the mine twice. As usual, Jack & Rudy put on a different show on each pass.

On pass number one, I paused to check our time out on the trail so far. Well, I paused...

"Stop, drop and ROLL!" goes Jack with gusto.
"Stop, turn and SING!" belts out wooing Rudy.

If you look closely at the prior photo, you can see Rudy's frozen mustache and beard around his wooing mouth. Well, it was a very cold outing this morning. The temperature was 5 degrees F when we started the outing. That's not actually too bad; BUT there was a constant wind with blustery gusts taking the wind chill to somewhere near 20 below. As a result, I made the executive decision to make today a short skijor outing! The temperature had no impact on Jack & Rudy (as you see in the photos) but it sure did on me!

I did not need to pause for any reason on our second pass by the mine, so the kids flew on by this time:

Zipping by the mine with blowing snow from a strong gust
of wind visible in the upper right of this photo. Brrrrr!

Needless to say, we did not encounter any other people out on the trail until the very end of our outing. Come along for today's video highlight as we swing around two fun corners and then take off on an open straightaway. The tracks you see in the video are our own tracks set on the first pass by this section of trail. 

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Now go back to the video one more time. Pay close attention to the tracks we set on the way up at about 19 seconds into the clip. What happened on the right side of the trail on the way up? Well, the kids sensed some delicious rodents under the snow and decided to investigate.

Rudy investigates rodents by doing beautiful, high arching swan dives (as a fox does). Such pretty form:

"Rodents under the snow! Incoming!" declares rodent diving Rudy.

Jack, of course, is just as interested in finding rodents as Rudy; but he has a different technique. I call Jack's rodent investigation technique a "rodent lunge" - not a high arching dive but a low lunging dive:

"I'm with ya bro - incoming too!" goes rodent lunging Jack.

Very different technique from the comedians but the end result is identical!

Dive or lunge but the result is the same. Deep in the snow trying
to find those pesky rodents!

Finally, back to the trailhead for our usual end of run treats:

"You cut the run short, not us - so you still owe us the usual
amount of end of run treats!" states the happy kids.
Yes, I agreed and dished out the treats generously :)

A fun but short & frigid outing this morning: 6.8 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2023/2024 Season to Date: 59 days on the trails covering 502.1 miles with 48,100 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Blustery

Laying fresh tracks in a nice layer of wind blown fresh snow. Whee!

The "haze" on the trees in the foreground is NOT fog or low clouds,
it is snow being whipped around by strong winds!

It was a very windy morning out on the trails. The temperature when we started the outing was around 7 F with a strong wind bringing the wind chill to well below zero. I was expecting a cold morning but not strong winds to add to the cold. As a result, the wimpy human cut the outing short due to extreme cold. But, it was only me who thought it was cold :)

The haze in this shot against the bottom of the trees is snow
blowing in the wind! Brrrr!

Come along for a fun video clip of the outing. If you simply watch the clip without volume, it is just impressive & fast running Jack & Rudy towing me along this fun and winding trail. But, if your volume is up, you'll hear the extreme wind being captured by the camera microphone. It is REALLY windy for the camera mic to pick up this much wind noise!!!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Goofy Rudy is usually good for at least one "dork with my brother" moment on every skijor. Mature Jack often just looks the other way and ignores the silly kid...

"You KNOW you want to play with me!" says Rudy baiting Jack.
"You are a goofy little brother!" responds Jack.

But, occasionally Jack falls for it and takes Rudy's bait. Shall we dance?

Dancing or wrestling? Silly kids!
Oh Jack, you fell for it :)

As I said, only I thought it was cold; but I still get to end the outing early. Unfortunately, Nancy's camera had a smudge on the lens. But, you can still make out Jack & Rudy's happy faces for end of run treats:

Their happiness can shine through a blurry camera!

A wicked wind leading to a wimpy human calling the day early: 7.7 miles traveled with 750 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2022/2023 Season to Date: 39 days on the trails covering 323.0 miles with 27,850 feet of elevation climbed.

 

Blustery

A snowy and blustery day skijoring atop Buffalo Pass.

A day only a Siberian Husky could love! :)

Happy tails in the air as we find 4-6 inches of fresh snow at the top of Buffalo Pass. Yay!

The haze you see in the prior photo is not low clouds or fog, it is actively falling and blowing snow!

We expected a snowstorm last night and hoped to wake to enough fresh snow on trails close to home. Unfortunately we only got a trace of new snow on local trails; but we saw via satellite radar and snotels that Buffalo Pass did get the overnight snow reward. So, we all packed into the Jeep for the rough ride up Buff Pass. It was worth it as the snow was incredible atop the pass!

Another snowy & blustery shot as we cruise along the morning's fresh snow:

Once again, the haze is actively falling and blowing snow.

Ok, temperatures in the low 20s to high teens (F) plus actively falling snow plus a steady wind with occasional 30-40 MPH gusts. Some would think that lead to a cold day, right? Well, some would not...

"Oh man, so hot, must roll snow angels to cool off!" demonstrates silly Max.
"Really, I would never stop skijoring to do such silliness!" declares all-business Zorro.

What was that you were saying in the caption in the last photo, Zorro???

"Ok... phew, must roll to cool my jets too!" shows silly Zorro.
"Loving my snow-covered back!" states happy Max.

Only time for a short blog today as the ride to/from Buffalo Pass is a doozy. The wicked wind kept our outing to a mild one (due to the cold human - I swore my nose blew off at one point :)

5.2 miles of fun with 500 feet of elevation climbed on a snowy & blustery day atop Buffalo Pass.

2017/2018 Season to Date: 3 days on the trails covering 22.4 miles with 2400 feet of elevation climbed.

Snowing

It was snowing & blowing on Rabbit Ears Pass so Max & Zorro were happily going :)

Nice shot of sprinting Max & Zorro with heavy falling and blowing snow all around us.

The forecast called for "light snow and occasional wind" at Rabbit Ears this morning.

Instead, mother nature brought heavy falling snow with constant 20 MPH winds and 40+ MPH gusts. So much for the forecast....

No complaints here, though, as Max & Zorro thought the conditions were exceptional. Fresh snow on the ground and heavy falling snow all around - a Siberian's dream come true:

Nice shot of Max kicking up powder around himself as you can see all the big snowflakes
against the trees.

How about a little video to showcase the morning's conditions. Come along as we are laying fresh tracks in 2-4 inches of powder with snow falling and blowing all around us. You'll also see the occasional deep "wind drift" for Max & Zorro to plow through. What snow fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Okay, snowing + blowing + temps below 20 F. That's cold, right?

"Oh man, must roll snow angels to cool off!" demonstrates silly Max.
"Really? Why are we stopping?!?" asks Zorro.

A little later in the outing and role reversal:

"You were right, must roll in snow to cool my jets!" shows silly Zorro.
"Really? I would never cause us to stop for such silly antics!" declares Max.

A great outing with active falling & blowing snow laying fresh tracks and plowing through wind drifts for 8.4 miles with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2016/2017 Season to Date: 124 days on the trails covering 1032.9 miles with 109,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Snowing and Blowing

It was a "snowing & blowing" morning at Rabbit Ears Pass.

Max & Zorro thought the conditions were PERFECT...

Take a look at the following photo and consider this: there was NO fog or low clouds this morning...

The swirling white going up to about the middle of the tree in front of us is blowing snow.
The "dense looking fog" above the blowing snow is not fog at all but heavily falling snow!
A day only a Siberian could love...

"Who wouldn't have fun on a snowing, blowing and trail breaking day?!?" asks 'having a blast' Max:

More blowing snow all around us and Max & Zorro are hopping through deep snow to
break trail. Notice all the snowflakes you can see against Zorro's black fur.

Temperatures at the trailhead were in the single digits (F) with snow fall and a constant wind with intense gusts mixed in. So, of course, Max & Zorro got "hot" and needed to roll snow angels to cool off. What goofs :)

"Aaahhh, look at my snow covered head!" exclaims Zorro as he is coming out of a snow
angel roll and is very happy & content with his snow covered body!
"Amateur!" says Max....

"Now this is how you roll a snow angel!" demonstrates Max the professional snow roller.

Low temperatures + heavy snow + constant wind + intense wind gusts meant the wimpy human cut the day's outing short: 5.4 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed.  What a wimp I am :)

2016/2017 Season to Date: 97 days on the trails covering 802.7 miles with 86,700 feet of elevation climbed.