Zermatt: day 4

Morning sunrise view from my deck … it's going to be another good one!

Zermatt: day 3

Well, it started as always, with a sumptuous breakfast in the ornate Zermatterhof dining room. Then a hike up to Zmutt - some apple tart - and then a hike over to Furi (picture with Zmutt in the background. The tiny hamlet of Zmutt is the oldest (almost a thousand years) in Canton Valais.

After Lenny hopped on a tram to Schwarzee, I headed off to skin some laps. Todays data: 164 min of exercise (hike, ski, and yoga) with 1850' of vertical ascent.

First Full Day In Zermatt

Spectacular bluebird day, starting with an over the top buffet breakfast. Hike up to Furi; gondola yo Riffelberg; and then a couple of skinning laps to Rotenboden . The data: 157 minutes, 2325' ascent, topping out at 9300' . A drink on the deck, followed by a sauna, and dinner.

Made it to Zermatt

A long travel day which went off without a hitch!

Heading to Zermatt today

Mid-March, it doesn’t get much better than this

Snowing all over the Northeast

Jon, Amanda, and our two grandchildren in Granby are enjoying a snow day.  Stash and I had first tracks on the 1980 biathlon loop; he insisted that I do all the trail breaking. It is going to continue to snow into tomorrow. 

Lucy is out exploring the Canyonlands with a college buddy

Yesterday they were off trail running in Arches National Park, with Devils Garden and Delicate Arch being the focal points. She has another 4-5 days of hiking with Steph, and then it will be a frantic week packing up, saying goodbyes, and driving cross country to a new job in Maine.

Back in the Adirondacks I had a good recovery week logging 15.5 hours, 154k (78k exercise bike and 76k ski), three yoga sessions, as well as a morning alpine skiing. My lower back still hurts from the skimo race, although ibuprofen continues to enable pain free skiing. Morale is good, as we have more snow coming, and Zermatt has gotten well over a meter of new snow … I leave on Thursday.

 

Historic first ever women’s Holmenkollen 50k ends with a lunge at the finish line

https://www.fis-ski.com/en/cross-country/cross-country-news-multimedia/news/2022-23/historic-haga-wins-first-women-s-50km-race-after-thriller-sprint-finish

A big day for nordic fans

The Crown Jewels of the nordic World Cup are the Holmenkollen 50k, where typically tens of thousands of spectators line the course, camp, and party in the woods. The course is probably the toughest on the circuit with over 6500' of climbing. Today the Norwegians men swept the podium, in fact they swept the top ten places! The top Americans were David Norris and Scott Patterson in 17th and 18th. All eyes will be on Diggins, Brennan, and the Swedish gals tomorrow to see if they can break the stranglehold of Norwegian dominance.

Back at home, in Lake Placid, the NCAA alpine and nordic championships which ran from March 8-11, concluded today. This morning the women's 20k classic was won by Novie McCabe (she also won Thursday's 5k skate). This afternoon, Remi Drolet of Harvard won the men's classic 20k, while local guy, Everett Sap, also from Harvard placed 34th.

Snow conditions continue to be excellent in the Adirondacks

I had a terrific classic ski on the 1980 biathlon trails, for well over 90 minutes, this morning. I was on my waxless backcountry skis, and the picture shows me slogging through our cow pastures, to get back home.

Yesterday was my 90th day on snow this season

Excellent 13 minute North Face video … A Skier’s Way

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=guOABkB1ook&t=608s

More about Herman (Jackrabbit) Johanssen

https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/1979/12/10/the-old-man-and-the-ski-herman-jackrabbit-smith-johannsen-began-skiing-102-years-ago-and-hes-still-going-strong

A high traverse in the North Cascades

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vsxpqsYqzX0&utm_campaign=Weekly+News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=249088902&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8miQRnIbxPih28LniuK9_zK5F5wsA6Z_oxEBJklEZ_0mjIE-yW5fa_NC84OqmSGcPOogBUVp2JJgICRM8UKDvXv3aZhA&utm_content=249088902&utm_source=hs_email

Finally put a bib on!

A good week, with trimmed down volume, to leave some metaphoric gas in the tank for the Lyndon Outing Club Uphill Bonanza. I logged just over 12 hours, just under 5500' vertical, and 109k (73k bike and 36k ski). I also managed two yoga sessions and a morning riding Whiteface lifts.

Lyndon Outing Club Uphill Bonanza

Well, it's a great event, but I had a somewhat disappointing performance. The hill has just over 400' vertical, and you get six hours to record as many laps as you can. I drove over on Friday evening to Lyndonville and slept in the Hockmobile, at the race site.

My fitness level was good; the uphill track was reasonable with two short steep sections; the downhill was fairly challenging, especially navigating over a foot of new, heavy, wet, ungroomed snow on skimo race skis.

I took a spill on the second lap and tweaked my lower back. As the day progressed, the pain increased (as did consumption of ibuprophen). At the end of my ninth lap - at the three hour mark - I threw in the towel, thinking that as fatigue set in I might take an additional fall or two, which could aggravate the lower back.

Still, it was a great workout, good people, and a well run event to fundraise for the community outdoor center.

Record breaking snowfall on the floor of Yosemite Valley



https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/us/yosemite-national-park-closed-snow.html?smid=em-share

Diggins crushes it at World Championships

https://fasterskier.com/2023/02/diggins-is-world-champion-tears-of-joy-as-u-s-star-takes-gold-in-womens-10-kilometer-individual-freestyle/

Vertical skimo races in the Alps for everyone … elite to newbies

https://runthealps.com/vertical-skimo-races-in-the-alps/

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Of course, the waffles with strawberries and whipped cream., are also drowned in real maple syrup from North Country School and CampTreetops. Last week was a bit of recovery week, but with fresh snow, who could complain! 

I logged just over 14 hours of training, with 131k (82k bike and 49k sk), and 4250' vertical ascent. I also managed a strength session, a bit of yoga, and two mornings skiing at Whiteface. 

Good looking ten days forecast

Jackrabbit: a quick biography of a skiing legend



Yesterday’s ski on the toll road … 80th day on snow

Getting excited to get back to Zermatt

Flying out March 16th.

DEC avalanche advisory

https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/dec-issues-avalanche-advisory-2?mc_cid=3a9e1c90c5&mc_eid=6f75c95eb0

Davo Karnicar the Slovenian who skied the impossible line on Everest

https://www.adventure-journal.com/2023/02/underappreciated-badass-davo-karnicar-skied-everests-impossible-line/

Nordic World Championships Start Tomorrow

Go to Ski and Snowboard live to watch the action.

https://skiandsnowboard.live/

David Hochschartner (Hock)

Good day on skis

I rode lifts all sunny morning long at Whiteface with a former NCS student and his family. After lunch and a nap, I did a 90 minute, hilly classical ski. The last 20 minutes of the workout was during an intense snow squall, with visibility down to about 30 feet!

Recent Val Martello Skimo World Cup

This is the 2026 Olympic format for the mixed relay. Skip to the 6:50 mark to get a quick explanation of the format before the race starts.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4DoRBemuDM&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Ftv.ismf-ski.org%2F&embeds_origin=https%3A%2F%2Ftv.ismf-ski.org&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Despite a warming trend this week, we had some good ski days

This week I logged 15+ hours, 5000' vertical, and 159k (105k exercise bike, 54k ski).  I also managed two short yoga and strength sessions, as well as four hours riding lifts (which I don't log). 

The history of summer and winter tourism in Zermatt

I worked on many trip plans for this winter - Colorado, Norway,  Canada - the crappy winter, unexpected injuries, and the unavoidable ebb and flow of life scuttled those ideas. However, planes are booked and I am heading to Zermatt with a college buddy in March. 

https://www.skiinghistory.org/online-magazine/resorts-then-and-now-zermatt-rising-above-it-all

Beautiful short video of Yosemite in black and white

https://vimeo.com/276817023

A beautiful day of spring skiing …

except it is mid-February! I certainly enjoyed the sunshine, soft snow, and just the shirt on my back, but what happened to winter?

Interesting interview with Ron Perla, snow scientist

https://www.wildsnow.com/33750/ron-perlas-snow-science-path/

Hahnenkamm the Super Bowl of downhill ski racing

BE SURE TO WATCH THE VIDEO … STEIF: one hell of a ride

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/12-facts-you-need-to-know-about-the-streif-ski-race

Beautiful morning skiiing at Whiteface

Yesterday was my 70th day on snow this season

I also had another good week of training having logged: 15.5 hours, almost 4500' vertical, two hours riding lifts, and 160k (106k exercise bike, 54k ski).  It looks like warm days are coming, which will whittle down our modest base even further. 

Excellent conditions at Mount Van Hoevenberg

A view from the live cam at 9am. Shortly after this screen capture,  I did an easy 16k classic cruise.

How to plan a big ski traverse



https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1196&v=3sBTOuWIOkE&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adventure-journal.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

Sherpa … the disposable man

From the OUTSIDE ARCHIVES …

https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/disposable-man-western-history-sherpas-everest/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=OOL%20-%20NL%20-%20Long%20Reads&utm_content=245399805&_hsmi=245399515&utm_source=hs_email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Bn5jRYjDfUL7yU8LXtXkZ1PIWC0_Ctd3cOeUQrnr3C4GENrkWeJef_mmwO8BlhFzoAbxt5XqMvNMu0iA-w3SM-Slhnw

THIS IS NOW ON MY BUCKET LIST … where vanlife meets ski bum

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/travel/vanlife-skiing-oregon.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Good afternoon doing Skimo laps at Pisgah



BLAST FROM THE PAST … brenva face of mont blanc

One of my Christmas presents from Selden this year, was a detailed large photograph with all the routes on this stupendous 5000' alpine wall. Of the many challenging routes - a triptych - which included the Sentinelle Rouge, Route Major, and the Pear Buttress are true classics. Graham Brown climbed all three routes between 1927 and 1933.

On my first Alpine climbing trip in 1978, starting from the Col de La Fourche, I simul-soloed the Sentinelle Rouge with Richard Wilmot a South African whom I had met in Chamonix, after I had backed off a solo attempt on a Les Courtes north face route.

Weekly totals

Well the Arctic Blast has passed; University Games are behind us; World Cup Ski Jumping is almost upon us, as is the Mountaineer's Mountainfest weekend; and we are a few weeks out from the SLU college carnival races.

I logged the following this week:
- 140k (87k on exercise bike and 53 on skis)
- 4050' vertical
- 8 hours skiing
- 5 hours riding exercise bike
- 3 hours riding ski lifts
- 1 hour (strength and yoga)

Some good Skimo practice

The Arctic Blast

Well, by the afternoon temperature may raise to zero and winds slacken a bit, so I should be able to ski forested trails out of the wind.

Bill Briggs Biography

https://www.wildsnow.com/33644/beyond-the-grand-bill-briggs-biography/

How strong are your QuickDraws?

A great video, passed along by Gary.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHDQNw9OfA

60th day on snow

Most of my skiing is on nordic gear, or skiing backcountry on Skimo gear. Given the $70 season pass for 70 year olds, today will be my tenth day riding lifts (two hours per visit).