85 days on snow before March ... yahoo!

It was another decent week of activity: a bit over 13 hours of exercise, a touch more than 96K (ski, ergometer, run), and just under 6000' of vertical ascent. 

Birkie Week

  Covid has impacted this famous race, with some picking dispersed starting times spread over the week, and others putting their bibs on, and doing the race virtually. I found a picture online, from my 1982 Birkie, and it's memorable special guest Jackrabbit Johansson. 

There were a touch under 7000 skiers and I finished somewhere in the top 200.

Dramatic sunset, ending a stunningly beautiful day

My dog Stash got first tracks yesterday ...

Up and over the Jackrabbit pass to Keene. We had a terrific early morning ski tour on two inches of new snow, and I finished off the day with a 10k classic ski on the Olympic trails.

Nordic World Championships start today ...

A disappointing day for the Americans. 

Porter Mountain Loop ...

I don't know why I waited so long before my first trip around this loop. Superb tracks, spectacular weather, and one of my best outings of the winter.

Another good week of training ...

Which ended with a superb out and back tour, on the snowmobile packed Brooks Road, near the Middlebury Snowbowl.  This 16k out and back (to the Goshen-Ripton road) looked better than the loop which wasn't quite skied in yet.

For my totals I had over 96k (ski, ergometer, run), just under 4600' vertical ascent, in a week with over 13 hours of exercise. 

IBU Cup Biathlon in Slovakia

David Hochschartner (Hock)

From Training For The Uphill Athlete

A good refresher ...

A backgrounder on Alpine Touring

https://journal.alpsandmeters.com/journal/2018/2/16/spring

Amazing solo ascent in Patagonia!



http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web21w/newswire-sean-villanueva-odriscroll-moonwalk-traverse-fitz-roy

A good week of training ...

A week with just shy of 15.5 hours of training, with 90k+ (ski, ergometer, run), and just over 7000' vertical gain. 

David Hochschartner (Hock)

Mount Moosilauke Tour

Didn't quite make it to the South Summit on the Carriage Road, but a good outing nevertheless. Blisters compounded first tour of the season issues for Matt. Still, 12.5k and just under 2100' vertical ascent, with superb weather, made for an enjoyable day.

Obviously, the training run of choice for quite a few ski mo types ... with their Ferrari gear. 

The vasa ... on every nordic skier’s bucket list



Alps and Meters is a clothing company, inspired by vintage ski sweaters. The clothing doesn't do much for me, and is certainly way out of my price range, but their journal has a bunch of delightful essays. 

https://journal.alpsandmeters.com/journal/2020/9/10/in-our-fathers-tracks-for-future-victories

A new skiathlon event for the 2026 Olympics in Cortina?

Inspired by yesterday's workout starting from our front door ...

You start by plowing a half kilometer trench to the Olympic race trails. This back and forth, back and forth, yields a total of 2 kilometers, of gut busting, trail breaking in deep powder. A quick change into your classic race gear, shuffle the half kilometer trench, and then fly on the pristine race tracks for 7k, and then shuffle back through the trench. A memorable 10k "race."

Nice hilly classical ski

The tracks were filling in, as it snowed the entire 75 minutes I was skiing, but it was a good 11k and just under 1000' vertical gain. 

One year from the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics ...

And there is only one sport in which Americans have never gotten a medal. We have the talent as American biathletes have been on the podium at World Cups and World Championships. Hopefully, this will be  the Olympics when someone puts it all together for that first medal.

Two good training weeks ...

With slightly reduced volumes; which is probably a good thing, every now and then as I approach 70. Still 13+ hours of exercise, 4300' vertical gained, and 85k (ski, row, run) is not too shabby.

Another photo from one of this week's many sunset tours.

Central Pillar of Pitchoff

Doing a ski tour with my dog Stash yesterday and saw a party on the crux first pitch. Superb climb, and I have fond memories of my handful of ascents.

Heading home from a great sunset ski

David Hochschartner (Hock)

64th Day On Snow ...

My ski season started on November 2nd.

Still too soon, but in the post covid world ... adventure will be calling

https://vimeo.com/shaneblack/adventureiscalling2

Old school ski tour

During a lull in the storm, I took my dog out for a 70 minute ski tour, on 20+ year old backcountry gear. The snow storm is raging again, so I am sitting in front of the fire, watching a replay of the Falun classic sprint.

Starting to read The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, a lifetime of exploration

It's well written and quite good. One part a tale of natural history museums, one part hunting expeditions, and one part the beginnings of environmental conservation and wilderness protection.