Congratulations ... American women are third in the 4 x 5k relay

Skiing the Toll Road

I went up to check out the snow cover late on Saturday afternoon, and we are back in business! I skied uphill for 50 minutes and logged 1100'. Yahoo ... It feels like winter.

Another dawn patrol

Up at 4:30 am to watch the first World Cup in Gallivare, Sweden ... the women were awesome placing 3rd, 5th, 21st, and 32nd. Then I skinned up the Facelift chair, and have just put on a parka for the descent.

Amazing Mountain Landscape

THE NORDIC WORLD CUPS HAVE STARTED

Dawn Patrol

I headed over to Whiteface early this morning to skin up one of the alpine ski runs and work off some of those Thanksgiving pumpkin pies! The picture is a sunrise over the Green Montains of Vermont.

US WOMEN'S NORDIC TEAM ... 10k freestyle

In the Pre-World Cup Race in Muonio Finland, Liz Stephen finished second, Holly Brooks seventh, and Jessie Diggins ninth. CLICK HERE TO WATCH SOME OF THE RACE.

Pre-world cup, FIS Muonio Nordic races

Have a happy thanksgiving

This is Lucy last weekend, dropping into a telemark turn, on a pair of dad's hand me down skis, that were way too big for her. We are hoping to go back to Whiteface on this three day weekend, or maybe drive over to the Craftsbury Nordic Center and ski on their man-made loop.

Ski Touring In Kyrgyzstan

Jalpak Tash- A Kyrgyzstan Epic from b4apres media on Vimeo.

Save the date ... Mountainfest

The Fossil Cabin will be open for skiing and climbing during this three day weekend, and no doubt there will be great slide shows as usual at Mountainfest. (Of course, do not forget the Pre-Christmas Fossil Icefest at the cabin.)

Opening Day At Whiteface

Yesterday I took Lucy and Anabell to enjoy $25 lift tickets on opening day. They were on tele gear and I used my Dynafit AT setup ... TLT boots and Mustagh Ata skis. It was a superb day, warm and sunny, with decent snow conditions.

Antique Mountaineering Books

I own a large number of these titles, however, obviously none of them, are first editions ... Mine are either recent reprints or old freebies (before copyright laws) from Google Books. CLICK HERE TO READ THIS SHORT ARTICLE.

Chamonix ... a hard mixed classic

Beyond the Good and the Evil from Davaï Production on Vimeo.

Ueli Steck ... north face of the Droites

CLICK HERE to see Jon Griffith's 20 best alpine photos.

Ballunspitze on the webcam

The view yesterday just after sunset. Get psyched!

American Nordic and Biathlon Teams are now over in Europe

Holly Brooks and a team wax technician are putting travel wax on her quiver of skis. Can you imagine traveling with that many pairs of skis?

Strength training for Nordic skiing

Dasha2 - It Takes More from Twin Zebra on Vimeo.

Dasha Gaiazova a sprinter on the Canadian team modeling what it takes for us mere mortals.

Recent Whiteface Ski Area Workout

Cordillera Blanca ... hard new route

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ROUTE DESCRIPTION ON THE ALPINIST WEBSITE.

First ski up the toll road this season

Warm weather returns to the Adirondacks

The weekend has come, and I had hoped to ice climb (or ski) with Gary on Sunday. The Black Dike on Cannon (bottom picture) over in New Hampshire was climbed on Election Day. The top picture shows Pitchoff Right ready to go yesterday. It is 30 degrees now, and will be 50 degrees by mid-day and 55 degrees tomorrow. So, unfortunately I will probably ski up the Toll Road today, and tomorrow either go over to Killington (which is open) or hike up to where they made snow on Whiteface.

Review of Utah Avalanches in 2012

Ballunspitze ... another peak we could climb outside Galtur

Alpine Lessons In The Canadian Rockies

Josh Wharton's lessons learned while on the Emperor Face of Robson, Wild Thing of Chephren, and the Greenwood-Locke route on Temple. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE BLACK DIAMOND VIDEO.

Just enough snow ...

To shuffle around campus and parts of Mount Van Hoevenberg for a handful of early season ski workouts.

Kikkan ... her rise to the top, the crystal globe, and her impact on the ski community

CLICK HERE to read "The Kikkan Effect" on Faster Skier.com.

Janelle Smiley ... North American ski mountaineering champion

Read this interview with this all-round alpine babe. Along with ski-mo contests, some nordic events, and mountain trail racing, she and her husband are climbing all of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America ... They have just finished #40 ... Salathe Wall. CLICK HERE

Frozen Thunder ... cross country ski sprints

WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic from Twin Zebra on Vimeo.

South Face of Denali

So, if you have ever been sitting under, struggling on, or climbing up any of the routes on Denali's huge south face this will viscerally bring you back. Houseman and Bullock spend four days on the Slovak Direct, making the sixth ascent, and treating us to video images of the amazingly varied and technical climbing on the route. Are the fossils too old to go back? ClICK HERE.

Birthplace of skiing ... china?

CLICK HERE to read this short summary of skiing in the Altai mountains.

Looks like ice climbing season is about to start

I am guessing that next weekend I will be throwing some tools ... This weekend I will get out on Nordic rock skis.

Whiteface Toll Road

Just before it got dark, I ran/hiked 7k (1600') to a set of ski tracks heading up to the top. It was a great 60 minute uphill workout (took me as long coming down)and tomorrow I will go back with a pair of Nordic rock skis. Looks like the winter has started ... I believe they are making snow at the ski area. It has continued to snow off and on all evening.

FAST AND FEMALE: Interview with Liz Stephen

Elite octogenarian endurance athletes

CLICK HERE to read a summary of research in The Journal Of Applied Physiology.

Skiing and James Bond

CLICK HERE to read the article in the magazine SKIING HERITAGE (page 22).

Silvretta Range

We would start the traverse, with a day or two of lift skiing out of Ischgl ...

Lucy Turns 15

We had a nice celebration, with Lucy's favorite dinner - salmon, rice, peas, and cheesecake for dessert - her presents were a mix of teen clothing, Rick Riordan books, and Nordic racing stuff (skate poles, wax, and NYSEF soft shell).

The photo is of my birthday card to Lucy.

A fossil come-back story

El presidente has been pretty sedentary for the past 12-18 months. After a successful knee replacement, he is black and blue, and a bit low on muscle mass, but those who know him know that by next summer he will be kicking butt at Donner.

I am suggesting a summer rendezvous in the sierras.

Avalanche Awareness

The Hot Setup ... Dynafit gear review

Heading of for a ski mountaineering adventure? CLICK HERE to read what should be on your feet.

Adirondack aerial view

Guillaume took this picture on Friday when he was flying up from Rhode Island for the board meeting.

The name is Bond ... James Bond

With a new 007 movie about to hit theaters, on the 50th anniversary of the first movie, the media coverage has started to ramp up. Despite the many memorable skis scenes shot in the Alps, I believe there is no skiing in this story, although maybe some mountain scenery in Glencoe.

Skiing the Lyngen Alps

Andreas skiing some big lines in the Lyngen Alps of Norway ... Beautiful fjords as well.

FROZEN THUNDER ... USST Time trial

Earlier this week the Nordic team was training on a 1.8K snow loop (stockpiled from last year). Kris Freeman won the 9K race in 22:23 and Ida Sargent won the women's time trial in 26:09.

BLAST FROM THE PAST ... Tungurhua

Hock guiding a seven week climbing trip to Ecuador. Peru was the original destination, however in 1986 El Sendero Luminoso changed all that. Here I am with an NCS graduate on the summit of 16,480' Tungurhua. Since 2006 this has been one of the most active volcanoes on the planet.

Campus Trail Run

Starting to squeeze in an extra run per week, so for the past month I have been averaging four runs weekly or about 15-17 miles a week. Of course, I add some hiking, rowing machine, and yoga into the weekly mix as well. Today was a nice 5k jog with just about 450'.

Easy track workout

Lucy and a couple of her classmates ran some 100 meter intervals, with 300 meter recoveries, as well as some warmup jogging and stretching. It was my fourth run of the week, and the only one without substantial hills.

ALPINIST Issue #40 ... go out and buy it right now

Part I of the historical account of the Eiger is terrific.