A big day in Zermatt

The first afternoon and the first full day in Zermatt were good ones with some good turns and hikes exploring Winkelmatten, Sunnega, Tuftern Alp, Fideln, Moos, and Schweingatten. It snowed a bunch and the vertical was not off the charts.

Yesterday, however was sunny and warm, and the vertical impressive. The skiing was challenging, the sights and vistas were massive.

It looks like a snowy week in Zermatt

Beautiful day with a hint of spring in the air

A wonderful run on the Lacy road with Stash; and afternoon laps on the East Mountain loop, stopping to catch my breath at the top of Harry's Hill.

The Snow Wars ... by the Arundhati Roy ...the author of The Good Of Small Things

With climate change rapidly advancing, traditional seaside tourism has been flooded, people need to vacation in the Alps or other high mountain areas for the relatively cool weather. With hardly any cold weather for snow making, artificial substitutes are developed.  of course, entire biomes move up in altitude and latitude. Fiction, but with a ring of reality to it.

Climate change and the shifting alpine border between Italy and Switzerland ...

This article in the Wall Street Journal, about the shifting of the watershed, and the border between two countries, can be accessed by the link below.  It also brought to mind a short story about future snow wars, by the Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, entitled "The Briefing." 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/italys-alpine-border-melts-and-leaves-a-pasta-restaurant-in-switzerlandmaybe-11582134089?emailToken=8dff2f986212a79a49151cbfeb0e7ec6gU5GordyOnfypWM/IgEAmWjR+LrugRheNItdzfOlEf4fB6lYlFzSTK5D0ccGKHQCGGJO/rUByo6YENz8CtClaV+X8LVePzqS1NZwWUA150NpVbIsusK52nt9VM7MVyQzpBavYIH413TQka7x7nrcuw%3D%3D&reflink=article_email_share

Afternoon ice climbing laps ...

Spent a couple hours with Gary climbing in the Cascade Lakes area.

Yesterday was my 85th on snow this season

Plenty of skiing left ... Zermatt, Montana, Whiteface, Mount Van Hoevenberg, Avalanche Lake, Mount Marcy, Tuckermans Ravine, and the Chic-chocs are all on my agenda.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK ... from neal stephenson

FYI ... No mountaineering, skiing, or training content in this post.

But, more than a decade ago, NCS alumnus Richard Rockefeller suggested one of Stephenson's books (The Diamond Age) to me. I listened to it as an audiobook, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. It seems that most of Stephenson's sci-fi is dystopian; I think it falls into the cyberpunk genre, whatever that is!  However, the guy knows how to turn a phrase.

In Snow Crash, the hero (Hiro Protagonist) is a pizza delivery guy, brilliant hacker, and a warrior prince. And one of his many quotable quotes:

"Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest mother-fucker in the world."

A problem for Hiro, but I suspect also a problem for a lot of young male climbers and skiers.

Spectacular footage of the Ruth Gorge

Enjoy this video - light hearted and existential at times - of Alex Honnold and Renan Ozturk.  

https://vimeo.com/236787722 

One week until Zermatt

My four goals for the trip are:

- skin up a minimum of 15,000' including at least skiing up some of the minor 3000 meter peaks (Rothorn, Gornergrat, Hohtalli, or the Stockhorn)

- enjoy the time with some of my oldest buddies

- savor a once in a life-time stay at the Grand Hotel Zematthof 

- sip some genepi, the absinthe of the Valais mountains 

Williams College Carnival Races

The next to last carnival relocated to Mount Van Hoevenberg featured a 10k classic race and a 3x5k skate relay. My good buddy Len came up on Saturday to watch the relays. The women changed leads numerous times before Middlebury iced, while the UVM men, blew the doors off the field.

Will we see robotic exoskeletons in mountaineering?

Three or four years ago, I saw a science article about clinical research being done on robotic exoskeletons as an alternative to surgery for knees and other joint issues. Now there is a company that is marketing such a product, and you can take a two hour test drive for $25 at select ski resorts. Space age, bionic man, sci-fi, call it what you will ... interesting though. 

As for how I found such an obscure site ... DON'T GET ME STARTED ON BIG DATA ... as per my daily routine, I start the day with a cup of tea and a digital copy of the New York Times. The more often a read the newspaper the more I realize my personal details, interests, and consumption habits are being closely tracked. So, reading op-ed pieces in the fall about our president, embedded in the articles were always numerous ads such as, "If you can run a mile in under ten minutes you get special life insurance rates with us."  Well it just so happens I was training for an ultra-marathon and so I was frequently on running sites. 

Now it's ski season and I regularly visit nordic, alpine, and ski mo sites. Not to mention googling Zermatt, Squaw, Chic-chocs, Tuckerman's Ravine, and Yellowstone for future ski trips. It's hard to concentrate on the NYT article about Bloomberg making it into the presidential debates, when robotic exoskeletons are embedded in the story. Of course, now having clicked on it ... I am doomed for more. 

Can an ultrarunner drop down to the marathon and win?

Great article from the New York Times ... no doubt trail, mountain, and ultrarunners will be rooting for him. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/magazine/ultrarunning-marathon-olympics.html?action=click&module=storyCard&pageType=theWeekender_ios

Sunrise ski tour ...

Just got in from a 45 minute tour, testing the Voile skis in touring (fish scale) mode. Obviously a real boon to use them without skins, on a rolling terrain approach. Perfect day, although a bit nippy at -10 F.

Fantastic Day at Whiteface

Skiing on a used pair of Voile AT skis from High Peaks Cyclery, and they were awesome. The day before I skied them up the Toll Road.

A favorite ... training for the uphill athlete website

Use this link to access their plan in a printable pdf format.

https://www.uphillathlete.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/TftNA-General-Strength-routine-V2.-.pdf

Skiing and environmental sustainability ...

It is no secret, that whichever aspect of this sport you subscribe to, there is much that is not environmentally stable.  

The electricity generated by coal fired power plants which runs some of our lifts, to the plastic in old skis in our landfills, to the petrochemicals in our ski wax, and on to the jet travel to the mountains, and the urban sprawl around our big ski areas. 

The nordic racing community at this moment, is having an intense debate about the use of complex fluro-carbon wax ingredients. (For instance, the Williams College Carnival races this week, are all non-fluro wax events.)

Please read this review from Wild Snow of one such backcountry wax product.

https://www.wildsnow.com/27583/gliding-on-plants-mountain-flow-eco-ski-wax-review/#more-27583

 

Training for the new alpinism

While I have read and enjoyed this book, as well as the companion, Training for the Uphill Athlete, they may be too dense and not everyone's cup of tea. If you climb, or are a ski Mountaineer, they are important and full of a wealth of good information. For those looking for the "cliff notes version," read the article using the link below.

https://www.uphillathlete.com/training-for-mountaineering/

A beautiful sunrise and day two of the Bates Carnival ...

It all seems unchoreographed, and like so much Chaos - starting generators, testing skis, parents setting up tailgating tables, jogging to warm up a few guys tossing a football - until the race starts and it all falls into place.

Lucy had another good race, finishing in 11th to keep moving forward on her quest to make the NCAA Championships.

Bates College Carnival

An unbelievably challenging day, with mixed precipitation necessitating last minute waxing changes, and racers sprinting to the mass start. Sophia Laukli from Middlebury continues to notch another win. Lucy had a strong race, finishing 13th and adding some more points to her NCAA totals.

For the men Ben Ogden (UVM) and Remi from Harvard, gapped the field early, and continued to distance themselves over the challenging 20k race. NYSEF had three men in the points, and the UVM were dominant with three in the top five.

More charts from Semi-Rad

Especially important if you trail run, ski, climb, or cycle.

https://semi-rad.com/2020/02/6-charts-about-weather/

Great day in the ‘dacks

Sunny and temperatures in the 20s; a perfect day to ski up the Whiteface Toll Road, and the afternoon running laps on Pitchoff Left.

A good day of skiing ...

In the morning Stash and I spent 90 minutes skiing on the Whiteface Toll Road, as I was trying some demo AT gear. Then in the afternoon I had another hour classic skiing at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

Adding two races to the retirement bucket list ...

The Crested Butte to Aspen Grand Traverse, and the Zermatt To Verbier Patrouille des Glaciers.  Two races, and two years to upgrade skills, gear, and suitable partners so I can safely complete them.

You think your winter is tough ...

A short little essay that puts your winter trials and tribulations in perspective. As for Mount Washington, having spent a winter as a caretaker of the Harvard Cabin in Huntington Ravine, I can personally vouch for its claim to some of the worst weather in the world.

https://www.adventure-journal.com/2020/01/the-aj-list-14-great-moments-in-the-history-of-cold/

Heading home from another road trip

One of my retirement goals was to see almost all of Lucy's races this year ... so yesterday was the ninth race I spectated at. Colby College in Waterville, Maine is a seven hour drive from Lake Placid, and the driving route is discombobulated.

My drive on Thursday was nicely broken up by a ski tour up Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire. My drive home was pleasantly broken up with dinner and an overnight stay with the Marchildons.

As for Lucy, she had a so-so 5k skate race, starting way too fast on Friday and losing lots of time on the second lap ... still she finished in the points in 24th. Yesterday's classic 10k was her best ever for that discipline, and the points keep her in position to get a nod to go to the NCAA Championships this March.