Great day in the mountains

A beautiful sunny day. Warm weather. Reconnecting with Lenny, college buddy and his son Sam. I did 15 easy kilometers, as I had to tone it down since they were on snowshoes.  Several parties came in to ski the Angel Slides (in the background) but most judged them to be past their prime.

Before you turn your attention to hiking, rock climbing, and trail running ...

savor the last bits of winter

https://vimeo.com/259411563

Climate Change ... not when? not if? Now!

A long, important, dense, and profound article.  It begins with a 2068 fictional climate dystopia scene, reviews all the pertinent science, segues into the politics of climate change, and ends with a rallying cry for action. Well worth your time ... pass it on to someone else ... a key takeaway from Black Diamond's, Pete Metcalf is that recreational impacts are the least of our worries. (I knew the guy when he was a brash 18 year old, just off the Salathe Wall, whipping off pull-ups at the Climbers Ranch in Jackson.)

Ueli Steckler memoir

I am planning to read the first couple of free chapters on the kindle and give you a thumbs up or down in a few days. 

https://gripped.com/news/climbing-books-ueli-stecks-memoir-bittersweet/

So, will it be an Italian, Austrian, or Swiss haute route when we go back?

To get you excited about another ski mountaineering trip to the Alps here is a nice bit of ski history ... arlberg technique, to North Conway, and back to St. Anton.

https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/the-american-king-of-austrias-arlberg

On being a hut care-taker in Chamonix

How about this view out your front door?

https://www.patagonia.com/blog/2018/01/charpoua-mon-amour/

Jessie Diggins goes two for two at the Spring race series

For quite a few years now, every winter has ended with a spring series of four races, which U.S. Team members are required to attend.  The series rotates around the country and this year it was held at Craftsbury, Vermont.  In addition to all the Olympians, it brings out the best collegiate, as well as junior and senior domestic racers.

Jessie Diggins, Sadie Bjornsen, and Kikkan Randall went 1-2-3 in the 10k, crushing the rest of the other 15 Olympians. The picture below is from less than a kilometer to go, and after a big climb they put the pedal to the metal and sprinted all out to finish.  The power, speed, and endurance of these athletes is amazing.  After watching their performance up close, it is easy to see why these gals are on World Cup podiums, and why they won the recent Olympic Team Sprint event.

The 10k skate race was my daughter's last race of the season. Lucy finished ahead of one Olympian back from South Korea, beat a gal just back from the NCAA championship who finished in the top 20, ahead of a skier that got the competitive Craftsbury internship last summer which she is applying for now, she was 30 seconds back from one of our Olympic  biathletes, and just under a minute back from another woman who was on the cross country Olympic squad.  She felt good, and given the level of competition, she described it as one of her top results this season.

A great end to a somewhat frustrating season.

Quote of the Week ... Anatoli Boukreev

Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.

Beautiful ski on Greater Hosmer Pond ...

before the long drive home.

Last nordic races of the season ...

The super tour finals are in Craftsbury this year. It is awesome to see these amazing women on the US team. Jessie Diggins won; Lucy had a good qualifier but missed the top thirty by about six seconds. After these races Kikkan and Liz will retire.

Tomorrow is the 10k skate, then club relay teams on Sunday, and finally the national 30k championships on Tuesday.

Getting rid of jet lag ...

It was a 35 hour travel day that ended at 4:30 am in my own bed. Given the nor'easter I had a circuitous route with tenuous connections ... Hong Kong-Beijing-SFO-Chicago-Albany-Lake Placid.

I thirty minute run on Old Mountain Road, seemed to help.

The evolution of the training log ...

Back in my youth, it was just a few numbers jotted down on the calendar hanging on your wall, and later I went to a training diary.  With my entry into the digital age in the 1990s I went to a spreadsheet, and now because of huge technology advances, people have sophisticated analytic tools that connect to their heart rate monitor and Fitbit devices.  Mind boggling really!  

I certainly can't imagine doing this at my age, but back in my youth I would've loved it.  Watch as Steve House walks you through one of the state of the art analytic tools, for a climber that is training for a serious Himalayan climb.

https://www.uphillathlete.com/performance-management-chart/

Does caffeine enhance endurance performance?

https://www.outsideonline.com/2289531/caffeine-makes-some-people-faster-others-slower?utm_content=buffer00f88&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=tweet

So, when did you become embarrassed for liking ON THE ROAD?

A great little essay.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-slightly-embarrassing-love-for-jack-kerouac/amp?__twitter_impression=true

A fossil icon ...

So, will this be one of us a decade from now?

https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/555527/dag-aabye-death-race/

Mountaineering Fiction ...

My experience is that most climbers - certainly my fossil buddies - shy away from reading mountaineering fiction. A fact the Katie Ives tackles in her introduction to the book (excerpt below). Let me assure you though, that Jeff Long nails it, and his stories and novels, throw much needed light on "the games climbers play."

A quick and engaging read, and pretty inexpensive as an ebook.

Mountaineering Fiction ...

My experience is that most climbers - certainly my fossil buddies - shy away from reading mountaineering fiction. A fact the Katie Ives tackles in her introduction to the book (excerpt below). Let me assure you though, that Jeff Long nails it, and his stories and novels, throw much needed light on "the games climbers play."

A quick and engaging read, and pretty inexpensive as an ebook.

Heading to China but ...

missing the best snowstorm of the winter. However, looks like we will have great spring skiing when I return.

Spectacular picture of the super moon rising over half dome

Heavy snow and rain in the northern sierras and foothills

On Tuesday I left Tahoe a day early, to make sure I made it over the pass and not get stuck like the Donner Party. On Wednesday as I headed to the Bay Area, I took advantage of a break in the pouring rain to do an easy run off of Lagoon Valley Regional Park.

Peaking and Tapering

So, El Presidente and I have been joking about an article we read in Master Skier while we were sniffing gear at Alpenglow Sports. The question we are debating: If your training base is zero - like some fossils who shall remain nameless - does that mean you have done a successful taper, or does it mean that joining the gym is the start of your peaking?

A huge existential question ... however we had a good day at the gym (notice Mark hefting the three pound dumb bell), followed by a sauna, and then a hike into Blackwood Canyon.

Beautiful day skiing in Tahoe

It has been a grim winter out here but they have great snow now! A couple more days and I am off to China to see alumni.

Lucy's last races of the season ... Super Tour Finals!

From March 23-28 all the big dogs will be there.  The entire US Nordic Team is already signed up (listed below by local club), including our two gold medalists from the Olympics. 

Holmenkollen ... Woodstock and the Super Bowl all rolled into one nordic package

Camping out for a week during March is on my bucket list. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P2VRjBg2XOY&feature=youtu.be

Do not neglect strength training ... especially if you are over 50!

https://www.outsideonline.com/2263346/delay-death-lift-weights?utm_content=buffera1d17&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=tweet

Relay socks ... a new SLU tradition?

The return of Winter

Ski mountaineering in the Punjab Himalaya

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/adventurers-of-the-year/2018/hilaree-nelson-oneill-ski-mountaineer/

Sick as a dog ...

A week after my college ski mountaineering buddies left, I was sick as a dog.  I took infinite grief from the two physicians in the group who could not believe I had not gotten a flu shot.  Indeed, they counseled that it made sense to still get the shot ... I was incredulous.  A week without training, a week feeling like I was going to die, and the only thing that was as miserable as last week, was the week after my prostate cancer surgery a decade ago. 

For the nordic aficionado ... a must read

Published two days before the Olympics opened in South Korea, this is a detailed chronological study of the rise of US Women's Ski Team.  The writing is modest at best, but the stories and anecdotes are memorable. Amazing that the Olympic Gold, came in the same event, with the same team, five years later!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076HTQHN7?storeType=ebooks 

Where and when did skiing originate?

https://www.skiinghistory.org/news/origin-story-where-did-skiing-begin