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.

THE BACKCOUNTRY YEARS ...

Almost finished with this delightful and entertaining collection of essays. He certainly can turn a phrase and deliver one-liners. A few examples enclosed below:

- Body Fascists: These guys/gals are fresh off a rando racing season and often sport boots that weigh less than the sandwhich in my pack.

- I'd much rather have two hundred turns on a thirty-degree slope, than fifty butt puckering turns at forty-five degrees.

- I live at 9,700 feet above sea level. Summers up here are as short as Paris Hilton's reading list.

- In talking about the perils of flu season during the ski season BIFF had this to say ... I'm currently taking echinacea, goldenseal, yellow dock root, skullcap flowers, and fo-ti root. They all seem to help, as long as I wash them down with Crown Royal and NyQuil.

Spectacular day skinning up Cannon Mountain

Halfway to Colby College to see my daughter's nordic races, I stopped to stretch my legs with some uphilling with my good buddy Dick. The PDG demo skis were a true delight skiing uphill ... great traction with the Dynafit skins and the lightweight was greatly appreciated. They skied better than expected for a narrow, 161cm ski on the way down.

Sunny, temperatures in the 20s, and spectacular views of the Franconia Range.

Thinking of expanding my ski mo quiver

I love my Mustah Ata (right) set up. It works pretty well on both piste and off piste, and is lighter than many other ski mountaineering set ups. Moreover, my TLT5 boots work quite well for ice climbing.

However, if there is rolling terrain on the approach to your peak or ice climb (say skiing into the Cilley-Barber route on Katahdin), they feel quite heavy, and your full length skins are certainly overkill. Or, if you happen to want to dabble in some rando races, that setup is not going to be competitive. Or, if you top out on the North Face of Tour Ronde in Chamonix, you wouldn't want to carry the Mustaha Ata skis up the route, just so you could ski the Vallée Blanche when you are done.

Thanks to Brian at High Peaks Cyclery I am spending the next few days skiing possible solutions. Both the Voile (middle ski) and the Dynafit PDG (left) are lighter than the Mustah Ata skis, the PDG setup being quite a bit lighter. So, maybe you do carry the PDG skis up the Tour Ronde or closer to home, the Trap Dike so you can enjoy a classic ski out. The Voile skis are fatter and will do better in powder or a day on the piste. However, the Voile skis have fish scales, and so the rolling terrain does not require the full skin, you keep those in your pack until after you reach Marcy Dam, and are heading for the summit. I am told you will also be thankful for those fish scales on the long stretches of rolling terrain on the Grand Traverse race from Crested Butte to Aspen.

I will let you know how my various test drives go.

January 28 ... 67th day on snow

Did a couple of laps to the pass on the north side of Pitchoff. The ice looked nice and fat, but despite moderate temperatures nobody climbing.

UVM College Carnival ...

The carnival was combined with the high level domestic Super Tour series, and an Eastern junior National qualifier.  Functionally what this means, is that most of the best racers in America (not currently racing in Europe) were out at Craftsbury for classic sprints on Friday and an interval start distance skate on Saturday. 

Lucy had two excellent races, just missing the heats on Friday by half a second. Although given the expanded national caliber field (several Olympians) many strong collegians did not make the quarterfinals. For instance, Lucy who finished 31st edged out Middlebury's Sophia Laukli ( Saturday's winner) in the sprint. 

On Saturday's 5k skate,  Lucy was in the top 15, and was 11 seconds closer to the winner than the previous week.  Keeping our fingers crossed, but Lucy is still on track to make the 16 women Eastern squad that will compete in the NCAA Championships in March.  Another interesting note, is that the SLU women finished fourth overall today ... and their season goal is to make it on to the podium this year ...for the first time ever?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK ... from the backcountry years

Quite humorous. Quite irreverent. Quite relevant. Quite inexpensive. 

BIFF (aka Jeffrey Bergeron) is self effacing, and has a seemingly never ending supply of interesting buddies, like Slick, his lawyer friend.  "Slick is a hot tele skier.  But raising three kids and running a law office has left him with little time to get out, and he's been skiing on Tuas and Superloops -  both cared for as well as Lindsay Lohan's liver."

Speaking of which, I am heading out to ski the Whiteface Toll Road on the same setup. 

Is mountain running bleeding into mountaineering?

Interesting article from ROCK AND ICE.

https://rockandice.com/features/speed-will-the-future-of-alpinism-belong-to-runners/?fbclid=IwAR1J8FryQnkLEdoQVNhp1Tz28dDMVpuuayiyoK60s063hkbkbp28p-6vEF8&cn-reloaded=1

Twilight Ski Tour

I spent the morning volunteering to help out with a high school nordic race. As always, I went out skiing on the Olympic Trails late in the day with my dog, knowing that any paw prints get groomed out tomorrow morning. It was a wonderful day ... bright, clear, and cold ... a fantastic day to ski.

First college carnival races

I was up skiing and cheering for my daughter at Craftsbury Vermont. The Harvard college carnival races were relocated because of insufficient snow. Conditions at Craftsbury were awesome, and I had a blast skiing for 2.5 days.

Lucy had two good races, but not quite meeting her high expectations. On Friday she skied a 5k skate race, and grabbed NCAA points for 14th place. It was an interval start so she rarely saw anyone on the twisty course; but the results show racers were tightly bunched, and Lucy was just four seconds off a top ten. Yesterday, she skied a 15k mass start classic race and finished in the top twenty, getting NCAA points for 18th. It was perhaps her best classic race ever.