A nice quote and photo from VINTAGE SKIING



Yesterday my 60th day on snow this season



Two weeks until the Winter Olympics and Six Weeks Until Zermatt

A watercolor by John Singer Sargent

Pretty damn cold but …

A wonderful morning riding lifts with my skimo race gear. Moreover, it's only going to get a lot colder in the next few days!

Cold snap has started but the skiing is great

For my morning exercise, I did a 25 minute warmup with Stash on Old Mountain Road and then 55 minute ski on the 1989 Olympic trails.

Cold snap has started but the skiing is great

I did a 25 minute warmup with Stash on Old Mountain Road and then 55 minute ski on the 1989 Olympic trails.

Another good week

This week I logged 15 hours, on 125k (83k bike, 29k ski, 7k run, and 6k row), with 3500' vertical. I also managed one morning of alpine skiing, one strength workout, as well as two stretching sessions.

Excellent skiing at Mount Van Hoevenberg

Skinning up the toll road …

With my buddies John and Gary, and then a stop at Gary's 10x12 cabin.

A fantastic single malt

Drinking some whiskey with Gary and John. They were running laps on Pitchoff Right today, and I was skiing. Tomorrow we are going to skin up the toll road.

A Conversation with the Director of the Gallatin Avalanche Center



Just enough snow so I can ski out the back pasture

The 1980 biathlon trails have been rolled, and most of the massive blowdowns have been dealt with (enclosed picture). So, despite the 40 degree temperature, I had a nice outing on the Olympic trails, however the buried twigs are starting to re-emerge.

BLAST FROM THE PAST … some volcanoes still left to climb

Hope to make a trip sometime in the near future … maybe with Lucy.

The Winter Olympics start in just under one month!

The Olympic torch is due to be carried up to one of the summits of Monte Rosa on Tuesday, January 13. Almost 34 years ago, I skied from that summit down to Zermatt on my tele skis, with leather boots, and cable bindings. BEST SKI OF MY LIFE.

A good week almost spoiled by rain and thaw!

However, the miserable 24 hours of bad weather came Friday, the day of the last race.

Jury decisions to move start time up, and liberalize ski and waxing decisions, made for great racing, on what turned out to be an awful day. (I skipped the qualifiers, so I could get a good ski in, but watched all the heats in the funky weather.) My next day on skis was Sunday, and thank heavens I went with metal edges because as the saying goes, "it was hard and fast" … A.K.A. Glare ice!

In spite of a bit of bad weather, and entertaining guests, I managed pretty good training sessions. This past week I logged just over 15 hours, on 129k (86k bike, 24k ski, 10k row, and 9k run), with 2600' vertical. No strength, no stretching, but I did spend a morning alpine skiing on my skimo race gear.

On a related but different note, with just 200mg a day of celebrex, I am missing my 800-1200mg of ibuprofen; although my doc says my stomach will thank me.

The pictures are from Thursdays 20k mass start … before the 40 degrees and rain.

Threshold not max heart rate or VO2 max



This Key Metric Is More Important Than Max Heart Rate or VO2 Max outsideonline.com

Yesterday was my fiftieth day on snow!



We have been having regular visits from a red fox near our bird feeder



Many wonderful Christmas presents, but my two favorites are …

This beautiful coffee table book from Lucy and this handy-dandy stool from Santa which fits easily in a day pack.   

So, with my early morning tea I flip through this book and muse about what I will ski that day.  As for the stool, when I spend the day on March 21st (World Cup Nordic sprint finals at Mount Van Hoevenberg), I'll be moving around the course, spectating, cheering, and taking photos from my comfortable seat. 

Excellent day in the ‘dacks

A wonderful day, with a couple of inches of new snow last night, a bit of sun, and moderate temperatures (28-32 degrees). All that made for for two hours of excellent alpine skiing at Whiteface, followed by lunch, then two hours roaming around the race course of the National Championship sprint heats, followed by a nice cool down on the exercise bike.

The pictures below are from first 50 meters at the start of the women's final, and one of the many high speed corners from a men's semi-final. EXCELLENT AND EXCITING RACING!

A bit of whiskey with Gary and his son James

A little more data from COROS

Cross Country Ski 10k National Championships

The first of four races at Mount Van Hoevenberg this week, with over 700 racers entered.  Hailey Swirbul and Hunter Wonders won today's race, and are hoping to secure a spot on the Olympic team. 

Gear for serious ski alpinism trips



Well, I am certainly not doing trips like that at 73, but it is a good insightful and engaging piece. Hey, and I use PDG skis too.

Gear For Ski Alpinism - The Backcountry Ski Site wildsnow.com

BLAST FROM THE PAST … trekking the Cordillera Huayhuash Traverse

In June 2019, I was co-leader of this fantastic trip, which had us crossing multiple 16,000' passes, before we closed the loop. Our two week long trip included sightseeing and acclimatization in Huaraz, as well as several hikes up to 12,000' feet before we headed to the Huayhuash.


The big dogs are in town!

Tomorrow kicks off the Cross Country National Championships … a few Olympic berths are still up for grabs. The racing goes all week long, and the last two races next weekend, double as the first D-1 carnival races for NCAA Championship qualifiers. 

Almost 700 racers are on the start lists!   The Mount Van Hoevenberg Nordic center is making some last minute snow, grooming the course for today's training day, and grooming recreational, as well as race courses. 

Overview since using COROS watch in late October

Nordic Combined … let the women into the Olympics!





https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MC6naKkdo1c

Skiing the Troll Trail in Norway

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/travel/norway-crosscountry-skiing.html

The holiday week

It was a wonderful week, with excellent weather and good ski conditions. As with other years - festivities - kept the overall volume low. However, the fun factor and sugary taste treat factor were incredibly high this holiday season!

I managed just under 11 hours, on 85k (47k bike, 30k ski, 5k run, 3.1k row), with 2740' vertical gain. I also did one morning of alpine skiing on my skimo race gear. (After the holiday season I will try and get back to doing two mornings a week riding lifts.)

Trials to make the American team for the World Junior Championships

The next few mornings will be hosted by Mount Van Hoevenberg, with the worlds this February in Arber, Germany.

Crevasse rescue video and a good analysis

https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/12/10/the-prescriptioncrevasse-fall?mc_cid=9cc245047e

BRRR … pretty darn chilly

I skied in the afternoon, when it was a balmy ten degrees!




Today was my 40th day on snow this season

Admittedly, it was also Christmas. It is also true that today I did my first interval workout on my nordic skis. It is also true, that only seven of those 40 days, were mornings riding lifts, and skiing alpine on my skimo race gear. However, you describe it … a wonderful start to the ski season.

Wonderful Christmas: nice presents, great snow, yummy dinner, and terrific time with family and friends

History of Zermatt before it was a major resort

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/new-hiking-trail-zermatt-swiss-alps

Morning riding lifts, afternoon striding and gliding



Despite crazy weather fluctuations a good week

It's going to be a white Christmas. Our ski base survived a couple of warm days and rain. Temperatures will be cold and snow flurries until Christmas … so all is good.

I logged over 15 hours this week, on 120k (73k bike, 27k ski, 11k row, 9k run), on over 3300' vertical. I also managed to do two mornings of alpine skiing, and one stretching sessions, but did not manage to do a strength workout!

Yesterday Mount Van Hoevenberg was closed

They spent the day clearing trails and getting the place ready for the upcoming holidays and races. However, I suspected their ordered priorities would be: stadium, competition trails, 1980 Olympic cross country trails, and lastly, the 1980 biathlon trails.

I assumed (correctly) that the biathlon trails would not be worked on, so that if I went for a ski tour I would not impede their work efforts. So, Stash and I did a loop in our back pasture and a good out and back 5k.

I imagine, it will be safe for me to ski there, today as well.

Thousands of dinosaur footprints discovered in the Dolomites

https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/environment/thousands-dinosaur-footprints-discovered-italy-stelvio-national-park.html

Sunrise on Street and Nye



Ugh … rain and very high winds

Thankfully, by early this afternoon temperatures will start to drop, and the precipitation will turn to snow. No doubt we will still be able to ski, however tree limbs will be down, and extensive re-grooming will be needed.

This afternoon, I may hike out our pasture and ski on the 1980 biathlon trails to examine the conditions.