July Skijor

Our first ever Skijor in July!!!! Woo Hoo!

Happy sled dogs, nice views and skijoring in July!!!!

If you have been following along, you know that we had near record snowfall this past season in the Colorado High Country. The season was highlighted by a super May which dumped a ton of snow on the already solid snowpack in the mountains. This lead to our best June of skijoring in the last decade (Yes, Zorro & I have been skijoring for ten years!). I had secret hopes that we would actually get our first ever skijor in July. With a hot last week of June, we were anxiously awaiting July 1st to see what snow was remaining for us to enjoy. Well, as you see above - SUCCESS!!!!

How do you skijor in July? Well, you find a snow patch long enough to skijor back & forth again and again and again :) We found a beautiful patch of snow on Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Resort to do just this - skijor back & forth and back & forth, repeat, repeat, repeat, .... :)

Cruising across a perfect patch of snow on Peak 8.

Come along for today's video showing one "back & forth" across the snow patch on Peak 8. We ended up doing 11 "back & forths" across this snow patch. Skijoring in July - wheeee!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

It was short with a non-standard sequence of repeated "back & forths", but it was skijoring in July. Great time, right guys?

"We'll go back & forth all day to be on snow & skis in July!" says the happy & focused trio.

Today was our final run of the 2018/2019 season. As you see from the small snow patch in the video, it is getting hard to find any contiguous patches of snow to string together a real skijor outing. There are still plenty of snow piles on the mountains, so we will switch to "hiking to roll in the snow" for the remainder of summer.

It has been quite the interesting season. We started back in October with Jack entering his first season of "skijoring without limits" while young Rudy was on short & tight limits to start the season. Zorro, Jack & I dropped Rudy once a week to get in a long skijor. Rudy started with 30 minute skijors with 2 mandatory long breaks along the way (so we were only running about three 7-8 minute intervals). As far as the trio could run within the limits is what we did. Each month we removed one of the mandatory breaks until we were running 30 minutes straight as a four pack. We then added 5 minutes a month to the "Rudy limit" and it was amazing how far my three partners could travel in 30, then 35, then 40 minutes, etc.

Finally mid June arrived and we were able to skijor without limits. In a normal year, we would be done skijoring by mid June; but we were graced with an incredible season of snow and got to see three sled dogs skijoring without limits for the last half of June (and 1st of July). Wow, what a year!

Today's outing was short, but it was skijoring: 0.5 miles traveled (in 11 back & forths) with 100 feet of elevation gain.

2018/2019 Final Stats: 137 days on the trails covering 803.8 miles with 75,250 feet of elevation climbed.

That is a pretty impressive season given it was Jack's first full season and we had "Rudy limits" on the team almost the entire year. What a season of snow!!!!

We'll be back with skis on snow in October and, who knows, maybe even September!

Pray for Snow!

Janu-June

Look at all the snow on the top of Buffalo Pass!

"Amazing - just AMAZING!" exclaims ecstatic Zorro.
"Perfect for snow angels!" adds the goof twins :)

26th of June or 177th of January? You tell me...

Looks like the 177th day of January not the 26th day of June!

We returned to Buffalo Pass this morning to continue our incredible endless June of 2019. Sadly, things are finally starting to melt everywhere except the top of the pass. How's the following for some narrow & sketchy conditions?

It might not look pretty, but, heh, the skis and Rudy are still gliding on snow!

Interesting changing of the guard in the prior photo. In Zorro's first 9 seasons skijoring he was always the one to keep toes on snow at all cost and keep the skijor going. But, at 11 years old, it appears as Zorro has handed the torch to Rudy and young Rudy is assigned the job of trotting with me in the soft and slushy shoulders.

Despite deteriorating approaches to the top of the pass, near and at the top was still incredible this morning. Wheeee!

Just beautiful up high on this January 177th.

Today's video highlight is full of dips. We start in a gentle trot and then I almost lose it in a large dip. Then Jack takes a dip to the right to grab a mouthful of snow before rejoining the team to cruise along (think of a marathon runner taking a dip to the side to get a shot of water :) Lots of dips, but lots of fun!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A quick break in the action along the way. Everybody having a good time?

"Yes! Is it really the end of June?!?" reply happy Zorro and Jack.
"Sniff, sniff, do I sense moose in the area?" suggests Rudy.

Despite Rudy's speculation, we did not find any moose (or elk, deer or other delicacy that is tickling his nose :)

Remember that it really is late June, not mid January. That means even Zorro will join in on the snow angels antics now and then to cool off.

"Ahhhhh!" says Zorro.
"I'll roll angels with ANYONE!" adds Jack.
"Now let me get this straight - *I* am the goofy young one?" asks mellow Rudy.

Here is an amazing stat: it is June 26th and today was youngest Rudy's first 10+ mile skijor. I never dreamed he would hit 10 miles this year since he was not mature enough to consider it until June. Well, welcome the record June in the Colorado High Country giving Rudy his first 10+ mile skijor: 10.1 miles traveled with 1000 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 16 MPH.

2018/2019 Season to Date: 136 days on the trails covering 803.3 miles with 75,150 feet of elevation climbed.

Are we done for the season yet? Of course not! I think we will get one more outing, probably on July 1st. Stay tuned...

Summer Jor

June 24th? Yes. Summer? Never!!!!

Following snowcat tracks atop Rabbit Ears Pass in Summer!

The calendar may say it is Summer but the mountains have declared Winter is still here!

Today was our first ever skijor in summer. Sure we have had lots of June skijors; but today was our first ever when the calendar says "summer" instead of "spring".

It started snowing in the Colorado High Country on Saturday and continued on and off through Sunday. Upwards of 12 inches of snow fell on top of Rabbit Ears Pass so we headed back to Rabbit Ears this morning for our first ever Summer Jor.

As you can see in the first photo above, we found some really nice conditions and even found a snowcat track to follow out and back. But, it was really summer at Rabbit Ears just a few days ago and, as a result, we did encounter the occasional treacherous stretches.

Yikes! Just enough ice in the cat track to continue going.

For the majority of the day, though, we were on a snowcat track that felt like the middle of winter!

Perfect cat track again - wheeee!

Despite lots of stretches of great snow from the weekend storm, summer is fighting hard to break through!

"Egad, now what?!?" asks Rudy.
"Oh boy!" adds Jack.
"This is a 'skis off' patch!" declares veteran Zorro.

People often ask if I fall when skijoring. Well, yes, but not very often and typically in the sketchy conditions of the shoulders of the season (October and May/June) when my skis catch something hidden under the snow. So, here is a rare "wipeout shot" but notice how nice, polite and patient my three partners are! The youngsters have certainly learned from Zorro this season that preserving the human is a good thing!

"You ok back there?" asks the happy & polite trio.
Notice the sideways skis and chunk of loose ice bottom/center that gave way and caused my spill.

Today's video highlight is a first for young and maturing Rudy. I have documented Jack's skill at changing lanes while skijoring (often at high speeds). Zorro is also a skilled lane changer. But come along for Rudy's first time changing lanes at moderate speed. Sure we are not going as fast as we have when Jack or Zorro change lanes; but you have to start somewhere :) What a skilled and mature sled dog he has become this season!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

End of day's fun run, time for a group celebration :)

Happy boys all circling and focusing on the musher.

Our first ever skijor in summer!!!! Temperatures are supposed to rise quickly this week so this was our last run at Rabbit Ears. Are we done for the season? Heck no - Buffalo Pass still has enough snow to keep us going. Stay tuned for MORE...

Yay for Summer Jor: 5.9 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a modest top speed of 15 MPH (too may obstacles to open the throttle more than this).

2018/2019 Season to Date: 135 days on the trails covering 793.2 miles with 74,150 feet of elevation climbed.