Anton Krupicka ... mountain dude

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS TRAILER.

MARK TWIGHT SOUNDS OFF

Always worth listening to, here his justifiable scorn and ire are directed at supplemental oxygen in mountaineering, a doping scandal of huge proportions. CLICK HERE TO READ THE SHORT ESSAY ON THE COLD THISTLE WEBSITE.

Tony Krupicka ... running in winter

Great images. Nice soundtrack. Super stud. But, why doesn't he ski?CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.

Lake Placid Loppet ... 25k classic, 2000', 2:00:36, third under 21

Blowing Off Some CO2

A future fossil gathering ... 2014?

I have always wanted to ski in the Chic-Chocs of the Gaspe Peninsula. Many years back, eastern hardman and charter Ski-to-Die member Todd Eastman told me there were fifty glacial cirques as big as Tuckerman's Ravine. The logistics always seemed daunting. However, as this recent New York Times article makes clear, now there is a Traverse the Gaspe Peninsula mid-February ski festival that takes care of all that.

Looks like a great way to spend a week in February 2014. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

LAKE PLACID LOPPET ... ncs ski team

I was in Manhattan for a board meeting, so this is one of the first loppets I have missed in a very long time. Our bunch - which included novice ski racers - did very well, and the times for this classic race ranged from two hours (my daughter Lucy) to several folks just over three hours. As most of you know it is a darn tough course ... 25k with almost 2000' of climbing.

An enlightened uphill ski policy ... yahoo Mount Snow

I greatly appreciate that Whiteface, Mad River, and others turn a tolerant eye toward to headlamp, dawn patrol types, but even better is this p,ace which sells an uphill ski ticket for $10 or a season pass for $45.

Still On The Bucket List ... Swiss route on Les Courtes

Read a quick trip report of a recent ascent in perfect conditions. CLICK HERE.

Unfortunately they were repairing the Grand Montet lift in 2008 when I was there with Larry, and there was no way either of us wanted to walk up from the valley. When I was there in the winter of 2010 with Carter we had other things on our list. Hopefully, in the not to distant future I can jump on this classic ice route.

Coldest day of the year so far ... brrr

I am in Manhattan for a board meeting, however yesterday before I left, the mercury dropped and dropped and dropped. Instead of going out for a ski I jumped on the rowing machine.

Alpine Climbing in Dynafit AT boots

Silvretta Range Ski Report

Training Insights From Star Athletes

CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE.

Climbing Skin Renewal

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS SHORT BUT INFORMATIVE ARTICLE AT OFF PISTE.

Red Sky In The Morning Sailor Take Warning

Sunday was an excellent training day. We got up early and did the dawn patrol scene up the Whiteface Ski Area. Thirty minutes after this sunrise picture was taken an intense snow squall enveloped us, reducing visibility to just a few meters. Ripping the hide an getting into all our warm stuff, set us up for a nice run down the mountain, and we got off the hill just as the first paying customers were heading up the lift. Back home Selden cooked us a huge breakfast and we watched the Eurosport coverage of Nordic Combined (yahoo USA) and the women's cross country World Cup relay. Then it was out the door for another 75 minutes on the NCS ski mountaineering loop. As you can see, we did some kick turn practice on our ski hill ... Dick are you honing your kick turn for the Alps? Although conditions were not ideal we managed 5000' over the two days and had a pretty good shakedown cruise.

Whiteface

Yesterday Guillaume, Harry, Ted, and I skied up the Toll Toad. It was windy as hell at the Lake Placid turn but nothing compare to the summit. We got a late start and cancelled our plans to head down the ski area side, but a good time was had by all.

The Rise of Ski Mountaineering

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PIQUE, NEWS MAGAZINE.

Climbing Skin Care

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS INFORMATIVE ARTICLE AT THE OFF PISTE WEBSITE.

Grand Envers ... Valle Blanche variation

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A RECENT SKI DESCENT OF THIS HARD VARIATION TO THE CLASSIC ROUTE.

5 degrees and the temperature is plummeting

Finally got out of the office for a 50 minute ski ... It is going to be well below zero tomorrow morning.

NCS at the paintball biathlon

The younger and less experienced part of our team was out for a race last Sunday. One student had never seen snow before, and four others had only skied three times. A good time was had by all, and Daniel with the yellow hat was the only racer to clean all his targets.

Nordic Strength Training

How do you spell studs ... Russian Nordic team. CLICK HERE AN WATCH THESE GUYS GO THROUGH THEIR PACES.

Climbing and Skiing with Dynafit Boots

I first heard (and saw) folks using these lightweight ski mountaineering boots to tackle big alpine routes when I was in Chamonix a few years ago. Here is a photo from a climb and descent of the Couturier Couloir on the Aiguille Verte (visit Jon Griffith's website - Alpine Exposures - for the full story). I have to tell you I am sold on these boots, comfortable, fit crampons well, hike well, and ski well. The only knock in the blogosphere has been their durability, but mine are doing well in that department.

How Many Shoes Do You Own?

A picture of alpine photographer/guide Jon Griffith's collection.

For those arriving early

Fancy a six hour jog ... the famous Sella Ronda Skimarathon on March 8th. CLICK HERE TO SEE A SHORT VIDEO OF THE COURSE.

2013 Nordic National Championships

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE MEN'S SPRINT.

BD on Positive Thinking

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS AND READ ABOUT BRIAN.

Calling all fossils ... anyone want to gear up for a wall?

Leaning Tower? Half Dome? The Big Stone? This book is due out in February and it outlines an exact six month training plan to get you up a valley grade V or grade VI. El Presidente ... Last week in August?CLICK HERE, VISIT THE SITE, WATCH THE VIDEO, AND READ THE FIRST 55 PAGES.

Moonrise, slack line, and Dean Potter

Poetic, sublime, evocative, but of course maybe slightly crazy too. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO.

TEMPTING FEAR: inside the mind of extreme skier Andreas Frasson

I have posted the trailer, now get comfortable and set aside 25 minutes, to watch the full story.

Good start to her season

Lucy's first nordic races of the season were a pair of races (7.5 k freestyle event, and a 5k classic event) at MVH last weekend. These are traditionally the opening races of the Lake Placid nordic season, and are memorials honoring former NCS headmaster Harry Eldridge.CLICK HERE TO SEE RACE RESULTS.

NCS nordic team practice

We did some video analysis of our students and their double poling technique on Tuesday, and afterwards I demonstrated a more dynamic version of double poling that you are seeing on elite junior and senior racers.

BD nails the big KAHUNA!

In the span of ten days Brian gets FDA approval for a critically important new TB drug (CLICK HERE), is a bit humbled on his day in Chapel Pond Canyon and leading Buster (NEI II+), and then manages to flawlessly follow Positive Thinking (NEI V+) on Poko-moonshine, one of the premier hard ice routes in America. In between all this excitement he managed to ski some laps at the Olympic venue of the Ladies 5k, and the Porter Mountain race loops. HE IS DEFINITELY GETTING MY VOTE FOR THE FOSSIL OF THE MONTH.

So, what are the hot ski mountaineering boots?

This picture is from a recent ski mountaineering race in Grand Targhee. I think if you look at the picture ... just after the starting gun went off there are only two types of boots ... Scarpa Aliens (green) and Dynafit Performance (white).

Beautiful Day In The Mountains

A great 12-13k ski with Brian, and then I caught the tail end of the NCS practice ... speed work on the 1/3k cloverleaf loop.

Alpe Cermis ... Russian stud takes tour de ski

Sunset and the last run on our ski hill

I spent an hour doing laps in my randonee gear. Students arrive back from vacation tomorrow, they will be psyched with all this snow.

Avalanche Airbags ... thinking outside the box

It is clear that there is a developing world-wide market for avalanche airbags, and it is also clear the first generation of products currently out on the market will be relentlessly tinkered with, and go through multiple innovation cycles. CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THIS NEW INVENTION AT THE WILD SNOW WEBSITE, WHICH IS IN A PRE-PRODUCTION, PROTOTYPE STAGE.

Would ultra-marathoning gear work for lightweight alpine ascents?

CLICK HERE TO WATCH SCOTT JUREK TALK ABOUT THE ULTRA VEST.

The Two Faces Of The Holiday Week

Quote of the Week ... the bucket list

An excellent movie, and one that has particular meaning for Fossils, especially as we get older. (As an aside you might want to look at the recent Cold Thistle Alpinism post ... How Many Days In Your Life. Click here to read it.)

Toward the end of the movie, Jack Nicholson gave this advice for older males:

"Never pass up a bathroom, never waste a hard on, and never trust a fart."

A chill is in the air!

This is the first truly cold snap we have had in the Adirondacks thus far. Fossil alpinists (or their young friends) from near and far, please be sure to bring extra layers, when you visit this winter for ice climbing or ski mountaineering.

Another great workout yesterday

The temperature was predicted to drop all day from its high of 12 degrees at 8:30 am! So, Lucy and I got in an early hour of skiing, which included some speed work for her on a .3k loop. These were her fastest times ever.