Summer Hiking

Ok, so it's not skijoring, it's not rollerjoring, it's not even boot skiing... But hiking to the snow on July 1 counts as something worthy of making it onto our skijoring blog!

The Goal: hike to find some quality snow on July 1.
The Route: (1) hike up 1800 feet on Peak 10 of Breckenridge Ski Resort; (2) hop, play, skip, dig, roll in the wonderful snow; (3) run back down 1800 feet (leave the snow [sob] and catch on fire ;-)

Elevation about 11,500 on Breck Peak 10.
Roaring stream next to the snow - gives you an indication of how cold
the water is (it was just snow a few moments ago!)
Max says, "SNOW! Must cross the water to get to the SNOW!"

Zorro says, "OMG! SNOW! Oh, but look at that wide water crossing!
How will I get to the snow?"

Simple... Just back up, take a running start and long jump the water to
get into the snow! "Hey Bro - we made it! What shall we do first?"

Bury our heads in the snow, of course. Was there any question what
we would do first???

"Who needs water? Tasty snowcone!" says Zorro.

"Hey, what's under this snow? Must dig to find out!" declares Max.

"Hey bro, what did you find down there? Let me look (and dig)!" proclaims Zorro.

"Best July 1st I've ever had," states Zorro, "do we *really* have to
go back down? Can't we live right here?!?!!"

Boot Skiing

Summer Fun with Skijoring Siberians... How about Boot Skiing!!!

Boot Skiing [defined]: find a nice downhill patch of "summer snow" on the Breck Ski Resort. Attach your Siberians (in harness) to your waist, bend your knees and lean back in a squatting position. Tell the Siberians to "go" and get propelled down the ski run without having to lift your feet - Boot Skiing!

It's a blast, but boy is it a workout on the human's knees...

Beginning our "boot skiing" down a "blue run" leaving Peak 9 Restaurant
on Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Looking down at the boot skiing route we are about to embark upon.
Basically, Max & Zorro took off, veered to the right (following the snow)
and then sprinted down the snow and off over the horizon.
The human: in a squat, skiing in boots under Siberian propulsion!

Stopping for a quick "cool off" in a roaring creek of snow runoff.
We had to hike quite a ways up the Breckenridge Ski Mountain before
finding snow good enough to boot ski on.

Finally - encountered some significant snow on the hike up.
Not enough to boot ski yet, but plenty for Zorro to "snow angel" in!

Surveying the surrounding snow at Peak 9 Restaurant - looking for
a good "boot ski" path down...

Introducing Rollerjoring...

What's a skijoring team to do in the summer? Take the season off - no, that is no fun. How about rollerjoring!!! Great idea.

I got a pair of Jenex NordiXC 125RC Roller Skis and Max, Zorro & I are ready to continue our "joring" fun through the summer!

Cruising around a large parking lot - practice for the human
(the huskies "got it" right away)

The only problem with our rollerjoring plans - getting the human "up to speed". In skijoring, you have 2 great safety nets: (1) snowplow to get under control if terrain gets rough; (2) throw yourself in a nice, soft snowdrift as the last resort emergency stop. In rollerjoring: (1) no snowplowing, just forward momentum and voice control... and (2) no snowdrifts, just asphalt and rocks!

Needless to say, the human has a steep learning curve before we can go very fast at rollerjoring. Nonetheless, we had a splendid 90 minutes of rollerjoring exercise today. I set the "speed reducers" on my rollerskis to "maximum speed reduction" - this helped keep speeds under control but also meant the Siberian engine had to work to keep me moving. Excercise for all of us - fun for all of us!

Cruising along one of the less traveled side streets in Breckenridge.
All is going great! The huskies are trucking!

More cruising on the side streets.

Max taking a drink from my Camelbak. Both he and Zorro know how to
drink from the Camelbak nozzle - smart boys!

Zorro's turn to get a glug of water from the Camelbak too.