Easter brunch

Selden and I went out with Alison to New Vida Preserve; great food and great views.

On a different note, heading to Killington tomorrow for my annual meet up with college buddies. This week went reasonably well; I logged just under 15 hours, on 126k (87k bike, 26k run, 13k ski), and 4200' vertical. Additionally, I spent a morning alpine skiing, managed one strength session, three PT stretch sessions, and my second MTB of the "spring."

Chamonix Trail Running Guide

Selden and I are going to Chamonix in the fall for our 40th anniversary, so I will get a chance to do a few of the easy runs.

https://alpsinsight.com/stories/chamonix-trail-running-guide/

Messner’s deceased brother’s boot found on Nanga Parbat

https://explorersweb.com/gunther-messners-second-boot-returns-to-reinhold/

Pretty amazing day trip skiing Chimney Couloir



 https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=xG4zAPpcpchhdcO7&v=gB7L97axQYE&feature=youtu.be

Sunny, 52°, and set tracks

It won't last too much longer, but this was hard to beat!

Nice morning at Whiteface

Unfortunately, warming trend will quickly dispatch the recent foot of new snow. As a matter of fact, at 6am this morning it was 41 degrees.

From the shelf of Hock’s Alpine Library

TRAINING FOR THE UPHILL ATHLETE has a terrific amount of useful information for trail runners, alpinists, and skimo racers.  Of course, it also has wonderful graphs, charts, and beautiful photographs. Perusing this the other day, made me realize - given recent PT experience - that I ought to read-read the sections on strength. 

Full moon setting over our farm

The return to winter brought another good training week. I logged just under 16 hours, on 124k (80k bike, 32k ski, 12k run), with 3750' vertical.  I also managed six PT stretching sessions, and two easy PT strength sessions for my shoulder. 

The return of winter

Well, it's 2 degrees this morning; with a big bright full moon, and despite the storm underperforming, it looks and feels like mid-winter. Yesterday, I did a morning and afternoon ski tour, starting from our front door, out on to the 1980 biathlon trails.

New issue of Skiing History

A great organization to belong too, with a superb digital archive, and a magazine you look forward to every other month. The cover art is from 1955, to advertise the recently opened Sugarloaf ski area in Maine. Among the interesting articles were the stories about Robert Redford and the Sundance ski area, a 100 year history of the FIS, and a look at an old advertisement about Wengen in the Swiss Alps.

https://www.skiinghistory.org/volume-35-number-4-july-august-2023

Watching World Cup Bobsled

I just did my PT and two sessions on the exercise bike before and after several hours watching these folks cruise down at 80+ mph. I had a great time with a college buddy and his wife.

BLAST FROM THE PAST … original jensen pack

This is an ad from Mountain #27 (May 1973); I still have two of these packs, the expedition model with beefy snap on side pockets, and the smaller model for several overnights. Still use them, although zippers have had to be replaced.

Super comfortable carrying loads.

Don’t Put Those Skis Away Yet!

In addition to the 3-4 inches we got in the past few days, more is coming.

Yesterday was the best ski of the season

Terrific conditions; hard pack base with two inches of powder on top … it was glorious. Today will be my 100th day on snow this season, and conditions should be just as good.

The end of ice climbing

https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/the-end-of-ice-climbing

A good training week

Last week I logged over 16 hours, and just under 4400' vertical, on 127k (91k bike, 20k ski, and 16k run). I also managed four PT stretch sessions, and two mornings of alpine skiing, but sadly no strength sessions.

And the second picture!

The next is from my hour-long workout on Sunday, at the Mount Van Hoevenberg World Cup competition trails, next door to our farm.

A tale of two pictures

The first is my 1.25k warmup on Sunday with Stash, around the perimeter of our farm's pasture.

Jessie Diggins wins final race of the season and the crystal globe

Fantastic 20k race, with a dominant performance going wire to wire!

The best Skimo boots in the world

https://runthealps.com/blog/best-ski-mountaineering-boots-pierre-gignoux

Yesterday was my 20th day riding lifts this season





It’s not trail running season yet, but it’s coming soon!

This video will help you get back into the swing of things after a long winter of skiing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=eSD3TleoK45EZ2Ec&v=RH-aglZeBaE&feature=youtu.be

Backcountry skiing is wonderful but it is dangerous

A backcountry skier died in a fall this week in Tuckermans Ravine, and then this death out west.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/us/oregon-avalanche-forecaster-killed.html

Beautiful day and plenty of snow

Ski tour on the Whiteface toll road.

Still snowing and blowing

Snow accumulation continues to underperform; although it certainly looks and feels like winter. With Mount Van Hoevenberg off limits due to the Junior Nationals, the Whiteface toll road looks to be the go to alternative.

On a related note, given that last week looked more like late April, rather than early March, I did manage a decent week of training. I logged just under 16 hours, on 138k (114k bike, 19k run, 5k ski), with 2800'. I also managed five PT stretch sessions, two mornings alpine skiing, and one strength session.

Well it looks like winter again

However, the storm has underperformed so far, hoping to pick up a few more inches tonight. 

I skied at Whiteface yesterday but …

I continue to add some transition activities into my training. Although I hope the potential winter storm this weekend out performs expectations, and prolongs our ski season.

Another book from Hock’s alpine library

A cultural history of the changing way humans have viewed mountain landscapes over the past 300+ years.  It was shortlisted for both the Boardman Tasker, and The Banff Mountain Literature awards. 

Hard to imagine …

It's early March and there are not even patches of snow in our cow pasture!

Glaciers continue to retreat and vanish

This of course has promoted new marketing opportunities in terms of "last chance tourism."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/03/travel/chamonix-france-glaciers-climate-change.html

First day back on my mountain bike

The ski season is not over, but the collegiate clubs are having their nordic ski championships at Mount Van Hoevenberg, and so exercise options were a bit limited.

More sad news for northeastern skiers

Yesterday's data point was about precipitation - basically rain - and todays data point is for warmer than normal temperatures. So, we are probably looking at a March without natural snow, and a March without snow making, as well as a March where accumulated snowpack is melting not growing. YUCK. 

Another grim data point for northeastern skiers

Yesterday was my 90th day on snow this season

My soft tissue, foot injury - from last week's race - is slowly getting better, and I was able to do a 50 minute ski session without ibuprofen, for the first time this week. 

On a related note, despite the injury I was able to do a good bit of pain free, low level training on the exercise bike. So, l logged 15.5 hours, on 174k (154k bike, 17k ski, 3k run), with 2000' vertical. I did four PT and one strength session.

Mountaineering Fiction

A short overview by George Pokorny found while perusing some old issues of the British Alpine Club Journal. (I have many of the volumes cited in this article in my collection.)

http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1980_files/AJ%201980%20121-129%20Pokorny%20Fiction.pdf#search=%22novels%22

The Valentine House … an excellent novel set in the French Alps

This is a multi-generational saga, starting with "Sir A" one of the founding members of the British Alpine Club; over the next 100 years, all the action takes place at the summer compound (Arete) overlooking the Hext valley, near Chamonix. Climbing and hiking are tangential; the central focus are the mountains and the relationships between the Upper class English (in the patois referred to as the "rostbifs"), and the peasant guides and house staff (the women are referred to as "the uglies").  Enclosed below is an excerpt from the book review in the 2017 edition of the Alpine Club (page 376).

The Valentine House

Emma Henderson

Sceptre, 2017, pp338, £18

This is a novel in love with place. From the lascivious descriptions of the French Alps in the startling open pages to the lingering evocations of the high farms and pastures of Haute Savoie, it is clear Henderson relishes these landscapes. It is in Arete, the Valentine mountain holiday retreat that a story spanning a century plays out.

More data northeastern skiers won’t be happy about

From my antique mountain postcard collection

A postcard from Chamonix, depicting guides and clients heading to the Col de Geant.
I am looking forward to my trip to Chamonix with Selden in October. I won't be leading her on a tour of that glacier, but she will get to see it from the Aiguille du Midi.