The return of winter

After a two week thaw - with rain and quite warm temps - we got a dusting of snow and normal temperatures in the teens.

Another breakthrough for American men’s nordic team

https://fasterskier.com/2023/12/ogdens-first-podium-third-in-tour-de-ski-sprint/

Tour de Ski starts tomorrow at 8:30 eastern

Watch the freestyle sprints on Ski And Snowboard Live.

https://youtu.be/1dB4U0qvVew?si=xbwBmm2GA5G2p-Pb

40th day on snow

Since June 1st I have nordic, backcountry, or alpine skied for 40 days.

Tune in to Ski and Snowboard Live tomorrow for a freebie

Rebounding after the Covid Rebound

Despite unseasonably warm temperatures yesterday, I had my first ski since Saturday. The fever, and nasal congestion, as well as the washed-out feeling of the past two days have all abated.

Another look at Killian’s training year

A peek at Killian Jornet’s end of year training log

Pretty impressive, and a pretty diversified multi-mountain sports athlete.

Merry Christmas

A brief lull, before opening presents. The big present for me was Covid Rebound … yuck!

Getting ready for Christmas

Covid has squashed much of our holiday spirit and traditions. However, with N95 masks on The Crèche came out, in front of our oil painting of the NCS sugar house, Stash snoozed, and Lucy put the last ornaments on a tree, from our back 20 acres.

Great Ski Touring Video

https://youtu.be/qnIbv6TTxOM?si=cUrqWgFh1CoXV5Bv

Post-Covid and easing back into skiing

Yesterday morning was riding lifts at Whiteface, and skiing easy terrain.  Today, I skied laps on the World Cup trails for 50 minutes.

A nordic, alpine, and snowboard update on a great World Cup week



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSxqtlw3jfw

Getting excited about skimo racing season



 https://youtu.be/YTjfyOnOpYg?si=UCebzqw4xT37f4ie

The Demise Of The SkiBum

https://writersontherange.org/ski-bum-culture-hits-reality/

The week started on a high note and ended quite poorly

From the first big snow storm, to a few days of great skiing, onto Covid, and ending with a Sunday/Monday massive rain. Thankfully, the drug paxlovid quickly mitigated the "I was run over by a truck" feeling of Covid. However, it's obvious that exercise last week, and this week, will be severely curtailed.

That said, I still managed just under 11 hours of exercise, on 91k (75k bike and 16k ski), with 1000' vertical. Additionally, I did a morning of alpine skiing, one easy strength session, and four yoga sessions (mostly PT related).

Mürren Inferno

The largest and toughest, amateur downhill ski race!  Excellent article from OUTSIDE.

https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/snow-sports/inferno-ski-race-switzerland/?_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ZKpdv0iTHivGTUPnwvz6eo0wr5f8fYjYFw46SDiWPRK_gO0asGH_QBuQBnt3ae625cntQVqurCUpYis57a0Qs4Pjipg&utm_medium=email&utm_term=ool&utm_content=20231215&_hsmi=286593525&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=long%20reads

Importance of weight training for octogenarians

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/02/20/aging-weight-training-health/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F392d33d%2F63f3a8811b79c61f879e3037%2F5f257dce9bbc0f3a78f16f54%2F44%2F72%2F63f3a8811b79c61f879e3037&wp_cu=0f088327ad99ed2801a3ae9e64df18fe%7CABD2A91CBFD21DADE0530100007FA15B

Holiday gift book suggestions from the sweat science guy

https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/2023-sweat-science-holiday-book-list/

A few great nordic ski days

Including yesterday morning when I took out my fat AT gear and spent almost 50 minutes skiing in a solid track to the 1980 biathlon trails. Then in the afternoon, I classic skied for another 50 minutes on much lighter gear.

Of course, then last night I caught some kind of bug, and am feeling quite awful. So, no PT today, no race for me tomorrow, no High Peaks Cyclery holiday party, no skiing on the toll road with Gary, and no AT demo clinic this weekend.

Hard to imagine … Mark Ewing turns 75

Just 35 years ago he had these celebratory hats made up for his climbing buddies!

A wonderful morning at Whiteface

Making turns with Skimo gear.

First big storm of the winter

We got just under 12 inches. 

Americans continue to be on a nordic World Cup roll

Both women and men continue to have a good day in the 10k skate race on Sunday in Sweden. The women placed three in the top ten, and another - Julia Kern - scored World Cup points finishing in the top 30.  In the men's race we placed three young athletes in the top 30 scoring World Cup points. 

On a different note, we got our first good snowstorm of the season, with 6-7 inches this morning, and another 2-3 coming by the afternoon.  As for me, last week I logged 15 training hours, on 121k (83k bike, 27k ski, 11k fun), and 3675' vertical. I also had two mornings of alpine skiing, two PT/strength sessions, and the equivalent of three yoga sessions doing PT stretches. 

https://nordicinsights.news/2023/12/10/jessie-diggins-continues-mastery-of-10km-skate-with-win-in-ostersund-rosie-brennan-5th-sophia-laukli-8th/

An amazing day of racing at the World Cup sprints

Swedish women dominated. Klaebo is back on form, and distanced the field. However, Rosie and Jessie finished fourth and fifth, but the big surprise was JC finishing third and Ben fourth.  To see these young 24 year olds, going toe-to-toe with the top dogs from Norway was pretty incredible.

https://fasterskier.com/2023/12/great-day-for-usa-schoonmaker-podiums-in-classic-sprint-ogden-fourth/

Not excited about this weekend thaw and rain, BUT …

Forecast looks exciting for Monday!

30th day on snow since June 1, 2023

I have never been but would love to ski Sun Valley

Reading this interesting - name dropping book - about the first three decades of this famous resort. It is available to borrow for free on the Internet Archive.

Mount Van Hoevenberg getting their act together

Grooming was top notch today. They opened up the World Cup sprint course, so three nice hills; they had other terrain available but they were blowing snow on it, so I stayed away.

One of my best routes … sentinelle rouge

The history behind the first ascents on the Brenva Face and the feud that ensued.  An article from the 2014 edition of the British Alpine Journal.

http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_2014_files/AJ%202014%20221-230%20Foster%20Jones%20Brenva.pdf

Snow picture seems grim, however …

There was just enough snow for me to have 18 ski days since November 1st.  

The expected overnight storm did not materialize, however I believe the toll road is still skiable, Whiteface is open, and Mount Van Hoevenberg has a 1k loop as well. So, I will be able to ski, until we finally get a real storm.  (Moreover, parts of northern Vermont and New Hampshire have done better … I may visit the Jay Peak golf course again, and word is that the Sherburne Ski Trail is open.)

As for the training log, I managed just under 15 hours, 2100' vertical, and 137k (113k bike, 18k ski, 6k run). Pretty modest, but in addition to three nordic sessions, I added my first two alpine ski sessions, as well as adding two PT sessions and daily ZPT followup. So, it seemed like a pretty full week to me. 

Reading a variety of skiing literature

Helping to get me through the late October/November seasonal transition, I have read (and re-read) a variety of ski favorites: The Story Of Skiing, A Medal Of Honor, Sun Valley: a biography, The God Of Skiing, The Downhill Racers, Wild Snow, Presidential Skiing, as well as the delightful volume pictured below. Of course, I have also dipped into Chouinard's Climbing Ice.

North Face Of Jannu Climbed Alpine Style

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/us/climbing-jannu-north-face.html

Courtney Dauwalter

https://www.outsideonline.com/running/news/people/courtney-dauwalter/?_hsmi=284879197&utm_term=ool&utm_campaign=long%20reads&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_vrWCOZ3uMLt2U2142O5M8zlSB4ZvW2UlbaYr1sPhNoP-XzyjjLwCFEtg75LU4Z6ZYBy49Xd4PVA0N-enJXDJFeiXHLw

Ian McNaught Davis

In the 70s and 80s he covered the British climbing scene with a deft pen and a large dollop of humor.  His pieces,  like this one, were often printed in Mountain magazine. This one dates back to issue #27 from 1973.

And while, back in those years, I often agreed - full stop - with his views, now I find myself at the other end of my climbing career.  So, I am glad that I saved some of the grand snow plods for my old age … because those are the only routes I might be able to get up! 

First morning riding lifts

Now that I got skis and boots back from my daughter, I used beefier Skimo gear instead of my race setup.

Another early season ski tour

Crusty as hell, but skiable; the toll road continues to enable maniacal types to get on snow.

Volume down, sniffles and a slight cough … but a terrific Thanksgiving

It was a quiet holiday, as we tried to be sure we stayed healthy for Selden's post Thanksgiving - six hour - infusion to combat her neuropathy.  I seemed to be battling a low level cold, and cut my training load to 13 hours, 125k (88k bike, 25k ski, and 12k run), as well as 4200' vertical.

Whiteface is open, it's snowing today, and so I look for more tours on the toll road, some downhill turns, and the eventual opening of the nordic center

Epic first weekend of nordic World Cup races

Great racing, with some very notable results from American men and women.   

https://fasterskier.com/2023/11/epic-day-in-ruka-diggins-second-brennan-third-in-20-k-freestyle/

Not sure why they didn’t groom and open the nordic center!

The past few days have provided excellent snowmaking conditions … what the heck are they waiting for?

Finishing my tour to a rising full moon

Well an inch or two of new snow makes all the difference

I had glorious early season turns on the toll road this morning.

Ice Coast Skiing

Well, my 12th ski tour of the season was good exercise but not much fun!

Interesting article from 2017 Alpine Journal

A detailed analysis of the clothing and gear used on the famous 1938 and 1966 Eiger climbs, and how they compare to what you would use today.

http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_2017_files/AJ%202017%20155-166%20Parsons%20Rose%20Eiger%20Direct.pdf

Great ski at Jay Peak golf course

Encouraging 10 day forecast

Looks like more inches of snow are coming.  I am heading over to the Jay Peak resort, as the word on Strava is that the golf course has skiable snow. 

A decent week of training, with three nice ski tours on the Whiteface toll road. I logged

13.5 hours, with 123k (79k bike, 26k ski, and 18k run), and 5200' vertical.  I also managed two yoga sessions, and one good strength workout.

Back to running on the nordic trails

Hope to be back on snow tomorrow or the next day.

On The Brink | Shrinking Glaciers in the Swiss Alps

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=zxaYJLZ4VOJMAEVS&v=ya_lPlXsUzQ&feature=youtu.be

An excellent, but alarming video.

Tai Chi For Skiers

This past Tuesday was the last of six, one hour sessions. It was an engaging class, with the $60 fee, donated to the local nordic combined program. The snapshot is a course summary; I particularly enjoyed working on my balance which is such a critically important piece for fossils alpinists, and seniors in general.

ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR … do you need to replace the big 3?

Beacon, shovel, probe are the non-negotiable items for backcountry ski touring.

https://skimo.co/avalanche-class-gear-list