Ice is forming in the ravines

I wouldn't be surprised if somebody scratches up one of the gullies this weekend.

Finally starting to feel like Winter is coming

Fantastic Ski Video ... NORTH COUNTRY ... the oldest ski shop in America

https://mountaingazette.com/blogs/mountain-notes/watch-north-country?utm_campaign=Soul%20of%20Skiing%20%28UTKLYV%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Be%20The%20First%20To%20Learn&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJkYXZlaG9jazUyQGdtYWlsLmNvbSIsICJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogIldRZ0E5QyJ9

The WURL ... get psyched for ski mountaineering

This classic ultra-run/scramble gets its first winter ascent.

http://tv.salomon.com/story/the-wurl

Make your plan to vote

Join the record numbers who have voted early. And as the tag sewn into my new Patagonia stand-up shorts says ... vote the assholes out!

Wish I were in Bozeman ...

My daughter, and the Crosscut Team are logging on-snow kilometers.

Post mortem on big effort

On a day with really challenging conditions above 2700' Charlie got all the Saranac Sixers. I bagged the two longest and hardest peaks with him, then brutal knee pain - despite big gulps of Tylenol and ibuprofen - caused me to pull the plug. I started up the next two peaks but in each case, after a couple of kilometers, I threw in the towel.

Despite the disappointment, it was my biggest day, since the ultra last November. It certainly was a worthwhile training day, as I look forward to the Canadian ski marathon and the Grand Traverse, later in the winter. (Given trail conditions, and the fact that I might not have been completely recovered from the recent virtual half marathon; it was probably overly ambitious.) It does confirm what I had surmised eleven months ago though ... that 50k under ideal conditions was the absolute maximum I could expect to accomplish in a trail run.

The totals for Friday's big effort include: 20+ miles, 4500' gain, and just under 9 hours on the trail.

OFELAS ... Pathfinder a movie from 1987

Get ready for ski season, with some authentic skiing from Lapland, and a recreation of various nomadic legends, in this movie which was nominated for an academy award for Best Foreign Film.

The film was written and directed by Nils Gaup, who based the story on a Sami legend with variants in a number of Scandinavian folklores.  Gaup said he heard the story from his grandfather, who was in turn told the story by a traditional storyteller.^[3] Gaup wove the story around the core of the legend, and introduced details such as shamanic initiation rite and a romantic element with the character Sahve. The film was set in the pre-Christian era in the region depicting the worldview of the Sami people.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CZuWDiyddMQ

Not a great prediction for skiing or ice climbing

Just like the mugs says ... ALPINE STARTS

Heading to the Ampersand trailhead at 3:30am.

Greenlight for the Saranac Sixers

Tomorrow morning at 3 am, I'll be sipping my earl grey tea, and getting ready for a long day ... 33 miles and 8500'

World War I on the Italian-Austrian border

http://www.skintrack.com/general-news-articles/gran-zebru-forgotten-military-hut/?fbclid=IwAR0eaMZOImWAlUNMu7RZceFPjps2_imapqMa_32pXbk_VmUg9vqD_jk5nCU

Skiing the Presidential Range

Starting to make my plans for skiing next spring in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ... keeping fingers crossed that we will not have to see another Covid closure.  Hoping also, to take advantage of the new guidebook and ski some less popular, out of the way gems. 

https://www.wildsnow.com/28462/beyond-tuckerman-presidential-skiing-qa/#more-28462

Mummery’s book: My Climbs In The Alps And Caucasus



So far I have finished the first two chapters of this classic ... available for free on Google Books.

First day on snow in Bozeman

Lucy and the Crosscut Team were out on their rock skis today.

Rusty Piton ... finally found a bottle

The corn whiskey is pretty raw, but it's a great bottle to keep my bourbon and single malt in.

Beautiful day for a run ...

But, I expected some snow, and had rock skis ready to go for the Toll Road. Weather patterns shifted, and Vermont got the snow.

The pandemic and the mountain town

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/17/opinion/covid-19-winter.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Contributors

Thoughtful, philosophical, and well written, take a minute to read this op-ed.

With ski season approaching ... ain’t this the truth!

Three excellent time trials

Last week was a big volume week, with the elite teams from Sun Valley Ski Foundation, Bridger Ski Foundation, and Crosscut Mountain all doing training camps at Soldier Hollow, the site of the 2002 Olympics. They were often joined in their workouts by skiers from the D-1 University of Utah program. 

Lucy was the only athlete to ski in three of four time trials, as she did a straight cross country race, as well as two biathlon time trials. All three races were excellent, with her finishing second in both biathlon races, behind 2018 Olympian Joanna Reid. She was also the only biathlete - male or female - to clean all of her targets in one of the races. 

Her training seems on track, even though she is juggling a demanding job with the Montana Democratic Party, during this critically important election cycle. 

Kitty Calhoun and Thalay Sagar

https://www.patagonia.com/stories/paths-through-the-uncertainty/story-92056.html?utm_campaign=f20_content&utm_content=through_uncertainty&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram

So, when will my first day on snow be this Fall 2020?

This is my post from last year ...

Scouting for mountain bike terrain

Some great gravel roads around Ripton and Breadloaf. I also hiked up Middlebury Snow Bowl.

Climbing in the Canyonlands and a video poem

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9LtmSaG5K8I

Hard new route on Mount Robson

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web20f/newswire-running-in-shadows-fa-mt-robson

Extract from the soon to be released ... The Ski Guide Manual


https://www.wildsnow.com/28355/developing-a-terrain-use-mindset-say-what/#more-28355

Running my first virtual race

Actually I just did this 21k race for the T-shirt, as a momento of the "Covid pandemic and the year without races." Nevertheless, it was a good workout. I ran it at my 50k race pace, and threw in 4x1k intervals much faster on the long uphills. 

A Bit Of History ...

This pass on the backside of Pitchoff saw slaves fleeing north on the Underground Railroad, rum-runners heading south during prohibition, and in the winter these days, backcountry skiers or ice climbers, plying their trade.

Adirondack Sunset

Upcoming virtual outdoor adventure film festivals

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web20f/newswire-virtual-online-film-fests-october-2020

An extract from Bernadette McDonald’s Winter 8000

http://footlesscrow.blogspot.com/2020/07/bernadette-mcdonalds-winter-8000extract.html

Another foliage jog

On the new and old Olympic nordic trails ...

https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOdB1kJD4q

Logging some good vertical

Strava says since January 1st, that I have logged 171,300'.

Olympic nordic and biathlon upgrades

The work on trails, range, roller ski loop, lodge, and snow making are proceeding at a fast pace.

Another in the AAC Legacy Series: allen steck

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qTTGBq04csg

BLAST FROM THE PAST ... and a great new multimedia project in the Times

Click on the link below for a great article-photo-video display of the Grand Traverse in the Tetons, done by Jimmy Chin, Conrad Anker, Savannah Cummins, and Manoah Ainu. This wonderful piece brought back many Teton memories of my frequent climbing trips in the 1970s-80s which I did with Stegs, Murph, Mark, Franklin, TTW, and a South African Richard Wilmott who I met in Chamonix.

I have climbed Teewinot, Mount Owen, and the Grand Teton, as well as Middle and South Teton numerous times. But never in one go, linking them, as they do in this project. Of the dozen (or more) times I have climbed the Grand, the classic North Ridge (sketched in below) is my favorite. (Other favorites, on lesser Teton peaks, were Irene's Arete, Guides Wall, and the Durrance Ridge.) 

The New York Times article is well worth a look.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/23/magazine/jimmy-chin-grand-teton.html

Great mountain bike loop near Jay Mountain

https://www.relive.cc/view/vKv2RVNyZ4v

The White Mountains Triple Crown

Jordan Fields becomes the first person to hold the fastest known time on the "White Mountains Triple Crown" ... AMC hut traverse, Pemigewasset Loop, and the Presidential Range traverse. The times are amazing.

Check out his interview on Run The Whites podcast.



Garmin watch badges ... who knew?

Just a few of the many badges I have been awarded while exercising! Yesterday, I perused the seemingly infinite list of badges I can still aspire to! It's clear I am never going to get the badge for doing an underwater dive with trimix. Nor, will I get a virtual climber badge for the stair stepping machine. But, I am hoping to get the 50k badge this fall, when the knee heals.

History Of Mountain Gazette

https://mountaingazette.com/pages/the-down-and-dirty-history-of-mountain-gazette

American Alpine Club Legacy Series: John Gill

I have only climbed in the Needles of South Dakota only once, about 35 years ago. During my 3-4 day stay, my focus was bouldering, and in particular John Gill problems.  Most of them were mind numbing - I did manage two or three easier ones - and of course, I did boulder the first dozen feet of the Thimble before bailing (like everybody else). 

A short, and worthwhile video ... a guy way ahead of his time!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p9yaGXFkC8M

Another hard frost ...

Yesterday morning it was 28 degrees, and so I had to bundle up for my morning run. It was casual and my knee is getting better. However, it was the start of another spectacular Adirondack day.

Knees are feeling better

An early morning shakeout on the ergometer, was followed by a 70 minute - bundled up - run in a brilliant, but chilly, 35 degree morning. In the afternoon I mountain biked for 45 minutes, and my day finished with the sadness about RBG.

The autumnal equinox is a week away ...

But the trees are starting to turn colors. Fall is here in the Adirondacks, as we have already had two hard frosts. 

A different type of Sky Race ...

Over a typical Sky Race, three-day weekend, after the short and brutally steep Vertical Kilometer, there are usually 1-2 longer races.  The 32k Ring Of Steall in Scotland is one such example. As you can see in the short video, these are highly technical running races. (I have not done either long run in the Whiteface Sky Race weekend, but I had planned to do the long run in the June race at Squaw Valley, which of course was cancelled.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W0k9J4USB88

Reading NET OF FIREFLIES: an anthology of 130 haiku

Enjoying a glass of Pinot Grigio at the Fossil Cabin while perusing an old favorite, as my dogs frolic in the pasture.

First training injury in over a year

Early in the week I tweaked my knee, as it seemed to momentarily lock up for no particular reason. I backed off focusing on yoga, ergometer, and mountain bike. I also added two strength sessions back into the mix, as dropping them the past three weeks probably wasn't a good idea.

The past two days I have re-introduced an easy trail run each day which has - mostly - gone pretty well. I suspect I will continue to keep running mileage down in the coming
week, and continue using the ergometer and mountain bike more frequently.

Sky running ... the VK



Once Covid is behind us there will be a return to the sky running circuit. These most technical and challenging of mountain trail runs come in three flavors ... the first is a Vertical Kilometer.  I have run the VK on Whiteface twice, and it's a gut buster. 

Take a few minutes to look at this VK example from Fully Switzerland.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VrR5AP32OZ8

Adirondack 46er Fastest Known Time

https://trailrunnermag.com/people/two-women-tackle-the-adirondack-46-high-peaks.html