The alarm goes off at 4:30am. I hear Tommy talking in his sleep... or maybe he was awake... I couldn't tell since I still had my earplugs in. I jump out of bed, rip my ear plugs out and shut off the phone before I wake up both of my Killington roomates.
Getting up early is not my specialty unless there is something that I'm super excited about. Last week I bought a new tele setup and this weekend I decided to test out my new gear by skinning up Killington with Zion. My goal was to get to the Bear Mountain parking lot ASAP and start skinning at 5am.
It was pitch black out as I drove to the mountain, and I was tired but twitching with excitement. My plan was to skin up the blue trails located to the right of Outer Limits, but as I rolled into the parking lot I could see the snow cats grooming the same trails that I wanted to be on. I hadn't planned on that. Not really wanting anyone to know I was there or for Zion to get too close to a huge motorized vehicle, I came up with plan B which was to skin up the green trails to the left of Devils Fiddle. Moving a little slower than I had planned, I was on the snow at 5:21am heading up the trail.
Luckily this weekend was so much warmer than last. It was 30 degrees at 5am which is very warm for this early in the morning. I had my headlamp on, underlayers, MontBell micropuffy, arc'teryx shell, and light gloves. I didn't bother with a backpack since I knew that I would be inbounds. I thought about bringing warmer gloves, but since I wasn't bringing a pack to stuff them in I reluctantly left them in the car. I stuck a bottle of nuun water in my jacket and a couple of gels for fuel, and called it good. After only 10 or 15 minutes I had to de-layer and take off my micropuffy. I was happy I had it with me though. Even though I was inbounds, I was also by myself and wanted to make sure I had an extra layer of warmth if I needed it.
The hike began and the terrain was very easy to hike. The beginning felt like rolling hills even though it was an incline up the green trails. It was definitely dark out. I couldn't see Zion unless I called his name and he came back to check in with me. It felt like he was taking liberties and travelling a little too far ahead of me. No one was around, so I wasn't afraid for his safety but I also wanted to make sure he checked in with me often, mostly for my own benefit to ease any stray feelings of being alone in the pitch black.
We trucked along and it was mostly silent and dark. I was feeling a ton of power and energy until I saw a light coming over the hill and a loud motor. I called Zion over to me and couldn't quite grab him in time to feel completely comfortable. When I saw that it was a snowmobiler, I felt a little better than if it was a snowcat. Zion was interested in him but let him pass without getting in his way too much. It was still closer than I would want him to go to a motorized vehicle, which made me realize that I needed to be a little quicker to grab his collar. I thought the snowmobiler would stop to ask me why I was there, but he kept going.
This little diversion woke me up a little and made me a bit nervous, so I stopped to pop a gel. I had a chocolate one with caffeine which is one of my favorite flavors but noted that gels taste much better when they aren't so dense from the cold. My goal was to climb for 2 hours or until we got to the top so I had some moving to do. The mountain opened at 8am and I wanted to make sure we were off the hill well before the resort opened. Being on the slopes with a dog during business hours would certainly be grounds for getting yelled at by a patroller.
We moved on. I came to a crossroads and decided to take the route that offered a steeper climb. The greens were fine, but a little boring. The incline felt great and I was very pleased with how easy it was to flip up my climbing wires. Compared to rotating the back of a dynafit binding, this was an easy adjustment. Part way up this slope I noticed that Zion was starting to traverse the slope. This turned out to be a warming of a fairly steep climb with moguls. Skins work best when they have full traction under foot. As it got steeper I could feel that I was loosing some traction and starting to slip backwards. I had to side step to get past certain sections and moguls. I must have been very well rested though because the motion felt great. I could feel the effort in the sides of my legs but nothing hurt. We got past the toughest part and came into a clearing which allowed the wind to pick up. Despite it being relatively warm, wind is never fun.
After a fair effort to get up the steeper mogul section, I trudged along mostly looking down at the spot of light that my headlamp created in the snow. When I looked up to check in with Zion, I saw not too far ahead of me an animal that looked to be the size of a cow. It was interacting with a smaller animal, which I pinned to be Zion. I looked at the animal to decipher what it was. It couldn't be a moose because I didn't see any antlers. It could almost be a bear. I thought of Zion and yelled, Zion come! The animal turned quickly and started coming at me. I thought this must be a coyote given the speed at which it was moving. I considered when we were in Crested Butte and Zion took off running with a pack of coyotes. It came at me quickly and I put both of my poles up in a spear like fasion to protect myself. The animal came into range of my headlamp and reared back when it saw my poles. At that very moment, I realized it was Zion. Boom, boom, boom my heart was beating loudly. Wow, that gave me a jolt.
I stopped to evaluate my situation. Why did I just have that real of a delusion. Was I OK, yes. Was I safe, yes. Were there any animals around me, no. Was I overexerted, no. Was I too cold, no. Ok, I could keep going.
Almost right after that optical allusion the sky started to lighten up. There was no sun, just a light tint of white over the grey wind. I looked at the time and I still had a good 30 minutes to keep treking to reach my goal. Still frazzled from the animal delusion, I skinned up to the trees and took shelter out of the wind to put my micropuffy back on. I knew that being this much higher on the mountain and with my nerves talking to me, I would need a little more warmth to finish the hike. I also knew that when I got to the top it might be even windier and I'd have to put on my jacket anyway to ski down. I figured that I'd get it out of the way and do it now. Being out of the wind and in the shelter of the snow covered trees was comforting. Zion sunk into the powder and expored the trees while I adjusted myself.
Feeling better now we struck out to finish the mission. It didn't take long until we neared the top. We passed a lift to our left, skinned up a cat track that I recognized, and came to a spot that I knew would be the last wind protected section that we'd see. It was 7:12 and I still had a few minutes to complete my 2 hour goal, but I decided this would be a good place that was out of the wind to take off my skins and get ready to ski down. It was also all of a sudden plenty bright outside and I wanted to get off the mountain before anyone saw us.
New to my tele setup, I tried taking a couple of dips with my legs. I could immediately feel the difference in the binding setting. Before my climb I had adjusted the setting so that it would be easier to climb. The difference when skiing is that there is less tension and therefore less holding your back leg in place. My ski felt pretty wobbly. I didn't really get the hang of it, my hands were pretty cold and my body was stiff from the hike. I just took it easy and glided down not worrying about making nice turns. Plus, I didn't really know where I was going so I was trying to pay attention to following the green circles.
Zion and I got on a roll. I was skiing along and Zion was expressing his full gate sprinting down the hill next to me. Usually, I'm standing still when Zion flies past me on a trail. I only ever get to experience a flash of lightening as he blows past me. Watching him now when I could feel the speed at which he ran and see him working next to me was absolutely incredible. It was like we were on the same team for once. We were out there together, side by side, feeling the wind blow past our faces and in the wild together. I felt at that moment a complete happiness, like we were in the same pack. It was such an amazing experience that I would love to have again.
We turned the corner and I could see a snowmobiler riding up the hill towards us. He had his lights on still and he rode right up in front of me. I thought, oh crap, he's caught me. Yet at the same time, I had already accomplished what I wanted which was to skin up the hill. All I could do now was ski down. He said, be careful, there are still lots of cats out there grooming. I was shocked, and just said thank you. At this point, I was done. I wanted to get off the hill before causing any trouble.
We skiied down a bit further and I could see that we weren't in the right place. I was looking around hoping that I was close enough to still ski over to Bear Mountain. As I looked around, I saw a little chipmunk crossing the wide open slope. It wasn't moving very fast and it still had a long way to get to where there would be trees for cover. In the same instant, I looked up at Zion who was already springing off his feet towards the little thing. It scrambled across the slope but was much too slow. Three bounds and Zion had caught it. They ended up just below a knoll and I couldn't see them.
I called Zion back, and of course he didn't come. Oh crap. I slid over the hill towards Zion, being careful to stay on top of it and not dropping too low. Yep, he had killed it. It was laying still right in the middle of the slope. I called Zion, come! I really didn't think he was going to walk away from his kill. So I gave it a lot of emphasis, and he looked up at me. Another time, and he motioned to walk away from it, but looked back at the dead animal. I called him again, hoping I could wrentch him away. Finally after a lot of hesiation, he actually walked away from it...always looking back and motioning that he wanted to return to it. I'm sure that the only reason he actually walked away was because he was already tired from the hike.
We skiied down to the right and it was clear that I ended up at K1 rather than bear. So I put Zion's leash on and rolled down to the lodge. The early birds were getting ready to take to the slopes and everyone looked up in admiration at Zion. Seeing a husky in the snow, and Zion in particular, makes most people smile.
At this point I was freezing and rambled into the lodge hoping no one would kick me out. Luckily, my roomates answered the phone and agreed to come pick me up. Thank god for them.
As Zion and I hung out waiting for them, I checked out a trail map. Although I had no idea where I was at the time, Zion and I were only 10 minutes away from the peak of the mountain. I was estatic. I had reached my goals of getting up early and climbing for two hours to reach the top, which I estimated to be about a 2000ft of vertical. I called my mom and dad to share the story with them and how amazing Zion looked while he was running.
All morning I was bursting with happiness. By the time I got back to the house everyone was awake and I got to share the story with everyone. I drank ten cups of coffee and was exhausted but awake with caffeine. Finally in the afternoon I layed down to take a nap. I realized then how much the effort took out of me. Both Zion and I were very tired. But, it was all worth it.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
CMSC
Holy god, does my body ache. Between my shoulder blades is a constant tension and deep down hurt. It's a very strange sore that you get from swimming. Unlike running which produces an isolated soreness in your legs, swimming produces this deep tissue full body screaming ache. All day I ate with a vengeance to recover and I knew that no matter how much caffeeine I ingested it wouldn't help me wake up. So, I stopped after two cups of home brew and ate my way to recovery and back to my bed, where I'm laying now with a heat pad on my back.
Somehow yesterday I found some inspiration and searched the internet for masters classes around the Boston area. I zero'd in on the Cambridge Swim Masters Club (CSMC) which looked like a pretty serious group with lots of classes. The pool is on the Harvard University campus and is touted to have cost 4 million to build. Upon arriving, I could see that this was probably true. The lanes are setup in 25 meter lanes and the length of the pool is 50 meters. I never realized how big this really was. It was absolutely huge. Thank god I don't reguarly look down a 2.4 mile lane and think about swimming that distance.
I showed up for the 7:30pm class and immediately met one of the team members on the way in. He showed me where to go and I felt more comfortable right away. Amazingly, I was early, which never happens, so I had plenty of time to look around and make sure I was in the right place. With plenty of time before the class started, I introduced myself to the coach Lauren, who was very friendly. She assured me that if I needed to sit out a set or leave early that I could and that class is very flexible. This worked out in my benefit when I got a cramp in my foot just after the warm up.
The warm up was 400, 4x100, 2x50. 4x50 kick. 2 x the following set: 2x25 sprint, 2x50 desc 1-4 (which I'm still not sure exactly what that means, except that I'm supposed to build in speed), 2x100 on base (maintain your fastest sustainable pace), 2x200 on base, 50 chill, all on 5-10 seconds rest. I got through about 2000m all together. My foot was cramping, which I think was due to wearing high heels and walking a fair distance in them to get to practice.
The swim felt great. It's amazing to me how fast the hour flies by when you're in class versus when you swim alone. The pool temperature was much cooler than the BSC, which I think is a good thing since it will prepare me for even cooler temps when I race. Also, people seemed to be very friendly. Overall, I'm so hapy that I went to class. It served as a huge wake up call to get in the damn pool and workout.
In summary, I'm so psyched I went and I realize that I need to continue to swim with a group, and probably run and bike with a group too. Luckily, it's still only January and heavy training doesn't start until March.
Somehow yesterday I found some inspiration and searched the internet for masters classes around the Boston area. I zero'd in on the Cambridge Swim Masters Club (CSMC) which looked like a pretty serious group with lots of classes. The pool is on the Harvard University campus and is touted to have cost 4 million to build. Upon arriving, I could see that this was probably true. The lanes are setup in 25 meter lanes and the length of the pool is 50 meters. I never realized how big this really was. It was absolutely huge. Thank god I don't reguarly look down a 2.4 mile lane and think about swimming that distance.
I showed up for the 7:30pm class and immediately met one of the team members on the way in. He showed me where to go and I felt more comfortable right away. Amazingly, I was early, which never happens, so I had plenty of time to look around and make sure I was in the right place. With plenty of time before the class started, I introduced myself to the coach Lauren, who was very friendly. She assured me that if I needed to sit out a set or leave early that I could and that class is very flexible. This worked out in my benefit when I got a cramp in my foot just after the warm up.
The warm up was 400, 4x100, 2x50. 4x50 kick. 2 x the following set: 2x25 sprint, 2x50 desc 1-4 (which I'm still not sure exactly what that means, except that I'm supposed to build in speed), 2x100 on base (maintain your fastest sustainable pace), 2x200 on base, 50 chill, all on 5-10 seconds rest. I got through about 2000m all together. My foot was cramping, which I think was due to wearing high heels and walking a fair distance in them to get to practice.
The swim felt great. It's amazing to me how fast the hour flies by when you're in class versus when you swim alone. The pool temperature was much cooler than the BSC, which I think is a good thing since it will prepare me for even cooler temps when I race. Also, people seemed to be very friendly. Overall, I'm so hapy that I went to class. It served as a huge wake up call to get in the damn pool and workout.
In summary, I'm so psyched I went and I realize that I need to continue to swim with a group, and probably run and bike with a group too. Luckily, it's still only January and heavy training doesn't start until March.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Sunday River, Telemark Skiing, & The Grizzly!
Let's start from the beginning. I took a break from Killington this weekend to spend some time with family in Sunday River. Apparently, my cousin is known as Tony Hawk at the Grizzly, currently known as Matterhorn Ski Bar. He has a stool with his name engraved in it, and I have a mug with my name on it. Party started...
Saturday, I take Zion for a snowshoe expedition. We went out for a couple of hours in the frigid cold. I hadn't even brought my skiis up with me because I'm so sick of skiing out here on packed ice. Zion and I wrap it up by noon and with nothing to do but putz, we found our way to a specialty tele store. This is where the story begins...
I find myself in a little Mainard store with a true Mainard owner. We shoot the shit for a long time... he's been tele'ing for 18 years yata yata and eventually I give way and buy a tele setup. Atomic Khailas skiis 163, Scarpa T2 W's Eco boots, W's Hammerhead Bombshell bindings - hot pink. I walk out of there f'ing pumped!
Intermission from skiing, hot tub, the Grizzly...
Jamie and I arrive at the Grizzly promptly after the kids were in bed. I'm at the bar with a shit eating grin on my face enjoying my new mug, #413, and one of Jamie's buddies comes up and snaps a photo of him. Stardom. JK. I'm 100% sober, still recovering from my Killington week. I run into one of my best buddies from high school - shoot the hizzy, hang out with the crew, roll to the Phoenix and dance the night away.
Sunday morning, alarm goes off... I hear screaming kids. I don't care because I have a new tele setup!
We head to the mountain to hit up kids ski school by 9am. We forget Connor's helmet, back to house, back to mountain... get Abby's ticket... finally on the mountain. Jamie, Kim and I head to Dreammaker. This is when the fun hits...
Holy crap I had SO much fun tele-ing! I do not remember when the last time was that I had fun skiing on a green. And, I can remember the exact run that I had in the back bowls of Vail when I last enjoyed a groomer, and that was about 5 or 6 years ago. It's like a new joy for skiing flushed through my body.
This is particularly joyful for me because in the last couple of years I was starting to lose some of my enjoyment for Alpine, which has baffled me. I couldn't pinpoint why that was. My theory is that I'm so used to skiing alpine that I need a powder day to feel the joy of it. When I got back here to the East Coast and started skiing on sheets of ice and groomers (if I was lucky), I realized that I really needed to do something else. On the contrary, I spent some weekends doing nothing and I also realized that doing nothing wasn't an option either. I had been batting around the idea of tele for a while and was only held back knowing that a new setup would cost some bucks. So, hats off to the Mainard who convinced me to go for it :-)
About the gear -
The skiis were great and I really liked how they held an edge. They were last year's model so the skiis cost $325, which I thought was a good deal. The bindings are the hot pink bombshell hammerheads. I found that they were very stiff when bending down and I can't even squatt on the ground to put the bindings on like I've seen other people do because they don't allow me to get that low. I'm wondering how hard it's going to be to climb in them but the guy pitched me on their versatility. He also showed me how there are different settings on them and he said if I move it up a notch then it will make it easier to climb. I'll find out on Saturuday... but as far as I can tell, moving the notch just puts pressure on the cable differently. It doesn't seem to give you more cable movement. I LOVE the boots! OMG... it was cold out this weekend, between 10-18 degrees, and my feet didn't get too cold! This could also be a result of me working harder on the runs which may have kept me warmer, but in general they are very comfortable. I am REALLY hoping that my skins fit on these skiis. My Kharhu Jills are 165s and these skiis are 163s.
On Sunday, Jamie, Kim and I skiied for about an hour on the greens, which was awesome. We took a break and when I went out again I headed to the blues. I was skiing American Express which they had blown a ton of snow on overnight, so it was soft and awesome. I was having SO much fun! I can't remember the last time when my body felt that happy from skiing! It was funny because I was riding the lifts by myself and I was chatting with everyone going up the lifts and telling them how it was my second day out ever on Teles. The banter, and love, and joy was spilling out of me.
In total I rode for about two hours, and that was enough. The guy at the shop told me to tuck my back knee into the front knee, so I don't think I was really bending that low. Mostly my right calf was feeling strained by the end of the day. I also found that I have a better transition when turning right to left rather than the other side. After a couple of hours I had to be like - ok, ready... set... turn! Haha, because I was getting tired. I can't believe how fun greens can be to ski!
I guess I just needed to change things up! I'm actually excited about going again this weekend.
Saturday Expedition: Back to Killington. Make sure existing skins fit new skiis. Arrive at Bear Mtn at 5am (hardest part). Climb as much vert as possible by 7am, or 2000 ft to the peak. Enjoy sunrise, if there is one... or grey, cold, windy mountain. Remove skins and ski down! Zion will of course be there.
Saturday, I take Zion for a snowshoe expedition. We went out for a couple of hours in the frigid cold. I hadn't even brought my skiis up with me because I'm so sick of skiing out here on packed ice. Zion and I wrap it up by noon and with nothing to do but putz, we found our way to a specialty tele store. This is where the story begins...
I find myself in a little Mainard store with a true Mainard owner. We shoot the shit for a long time... he's been tele'ing for 18 years yata yata and eventually I give way and buy a tele setup. Atomic Khailas skiis 163, Scarpa T2 W's Eco boots, W's Hammerhead Bombshell bindings - hot pink. I walk out of there f'ing pumped!
Intermission from skiing, hot tub, the Grizzly...
Jamie and I arrive at the Grizzly promptly after the kids were in bed. I'm at the bar with a shit eating grin on my face enjoying my new mug, #413, and one of Jamie's buddies comes up and snaps a photo of him. Stardom. JK. I'm 100% sober, still recovering from my Killington week. I run into one of my best buddies from high school - shoot the hizzy, hang out with the crew, roll to the Phoenix and dance the night away.
Sunday morning, alarm goes off... I hear screaming kids. I don't care because I have a new tele setup!
We head to the mountain to hit up kids ski school by 9am. We forget Connor's helmet, back to house, back to mountain... get Abby's ticket... finally on the mountain. Jamie, Kim and I head to Dreammaker. This is when the fun hits...
Holy crap I had SO much fun tele-ing! I do not remember when the last time was that I had fun skiing on a green. And, I can remember the exact run that I had in the back bowls of Vail when I last enjoyed a groomer, and that was about 5 or 6 years ago. It's like a new joy for skiing flushed through my body.
This is particularly joyful for me because in the last couple of years I was starting to lose some of my enjoyment for Alpine, which has baffled me. I couldn't pinpoint why that was. My theory is that I'm so used to skiing alpine that I need a powder day to feel the joy of it. When I got back here to the East Coast and started skiing on sheets of ice and groomers (if I was lucky), I realized that I really needed to do something else. On the contrary, I spent some weekends doing nothing and I also realized that doing nothing wasn't an option either. I had been batting around the idea of tele for a while and was only held back knowing that a new setup would cost some bucks. So, hats off to the Mainard who convinced me to go for it :-)
About the gear -
The skiis were great and I really liked how they held an edge. They were last year's model so the skiis cost $325, which I thought was a good deal. The bindings are the hot pink bombshell hammerheads. I found that they were very stiff when bending down and I can't even squatt on the ground to put the bindings on like I've seen other people do because they don't allow me to get that low. I'm wondering how hard it's going to be to climb in them but the guy pitched me on their versatility. He also showed me how there are different settings on them and he said if I move it up a notch then it will make it easier to climb. I'll find out on Saturuday... but as far as I can tell, moving the notch just puts pressure on the cable differently. It doesn't seem to give you more cable movement. I LOVE the boots! OMG... it was cold out this weekend, between 10-18 degrees, and my feet didn't get too cold! This could also be a result of me working harder on the runs which may have kept me warmer, but in general they are very comfortable. I am REALLY hoping that my skins fit on these skiis. My Kharhu Jills are 165s and these skiis are 163s.
On Sunday, Jamie, Kim and I skiied for about an hour on the greens, which was awesome. We took a break and when I went out again I headed to the blues. I was skiing American Express which they had blown a ton of snow on overnight, so it was soft and awesome. I was having SO much fun! I can't remember the last time when my body felt that happy from skiing! It was funny because I was riding the lifts by myself and I was chatting with everyone going up the lifts and telling them how it was my second day out ever on Teles. The banter, and love, and joy was spilling out of me.
In total I rode for about two hours, and that was enough. The guy at the shop told me to tuck my back knee into the front knee, so I don't think I was really bending that low. Mostly my right calf was feeling strained by the end of the day. I also found that I have a better transition when turning right to left rather than the other side. After a couple of hours I had to be like - ok, ready... set... turn! Haha, because I was getting tired. I can't believe how fun greens can be to ski!
I guess I just needed to change things up! I'm actually excited about going again this weekend.
Saturday Expedition: Back to Killington. Make sure existing skins fit new skiis. Arrive at Bear Mtn at 5am (hardest part). Climb as much vert as possible by 7am, or 2000 ft to the peak. Enjoy sunrise, if there is one... or grey, cold, windy mountain. Remove skins and ski down! Zion will of course be there.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Killington Report
After a full week of holiday partying at Killington, I am pleased to report that I actually went for a run and a swim tonight. When I got home I was still in my ski gear so it was easy to run outside and play with Zion for a minute. The frolicking in the snow got my blood pumping so I changed my shoes and took him for a spin around the lake. It was funny to me to be running with my ski pants on but my temperature was perfect. Zion was hilarious too. The sidewalk was bootpacked snow bordered with snow banks, so I ran on the sidewalk and gave Zion the nudge to run in the snow bank. As we ran along he was taking huge bounding leaps in the snow next to me. I wish I had a camera to film him. He's so happy in the snow.
When I got back, Dad started talking about swimming and what his recent accomplishments of swimming 5 laps in a row without stopping. I felt so good from the run that I decided to head to the BSC for a swim. I counted off my 20 laps and logged 1000m with no stops. Right around 350 meters I felt a little sluggish, but as soon as I finished my 10th lap, or 500 meters, I felt awesome. After a full week of partying, I can't believe my body responded as well as it did. The run was almost like a trail run since my foot slipped back with each step in the snow and the swim felt like someone was scratching my back after a full day in ski clothes.
On my drive home from the pool I decided that I would start eating vegetarian again, and that would be my New Years resolution. With that, I stopped at Whole Foods and picked up a bunch of fruit, veggies, and fish. Of course I was starving by the time I got home, as I always seem to be after an evening swim, so I devoured the meal. But, right now I have a high and happy feeling for making the healthy choice.
On to the snow report. Killington was fun this week but very cold and very icey. It finally warmed up by Saturday, and boy that made all the difference. The trails that were open to the public were a sheet of ice with soft mogul piles clumped on the trail and everything that was closed was beautiful. On Saturday, we ducked the rope on Devil's Fiddle and my face lit up. It was like a whole new world. The snow was soft, there was no ice and there were large moguls, not like the little icey moguls that everyone loves here. These were the kind that you can ski big mountain style on. Despite there being a few uncovered rocks, which luckily I didn't hit, it felt like I was skiing the Hobacks in JH.
Otherwise, the method of skiing on the icey trails was to skid sideways down the ice to the next pile of powder, then hit the mogul to slow down, and skid to the next mogul, and repeat. It was not fun at all. I'm realizing how much I knew about the mountains out west which I had been skiing for years. Here, I get screwed because I don't know how to access the woods or the trails with better snow because I've never explored. I have to really put in some time to learn my way around, otherwise every weekend up here is going to be a disapointment.
Snow Report
Tuesday - Killington - insanely cold, negative degrees with the windshield, icey, frostbiten toe after 3 runs.
Wednesday - Pico - very cold, icey, skiied with Dary and Allie.
Saturday - Killington - warm at 24 degrees, best ski day yet, rivalled out west.
Sunday - Killington - very cold again, windy, sheets of ice. Even Bobsled Rich and Big Frank said the skiing sucked.
New Years Resolution
Eat vegetarian.
Workout
Horn Pond - 30 min run with Zion in the snow.
BSC Lexington - 1000 m swim (constant) and warm down.
When I got back, Dad started talking about swimming and what his recent accomplishments of swimming 5 laps in a row without stopping. I felt so good from the run that I decided to head to the BSC for a swim. I counted off my 20 laps and logged 1000m with no stops. Right around 350 meters I felt a little sluggish, but as soon as I finished my 10th lap, or 500 meters, I felt awesome. After a full week of partying, I can't believe my body responded as well as it did. The run was almost like a trail run since my foot slipped back with each step in the snow and the swim felt like someone was scratching my back after a full day in ski clothes.
On my drive home from the pool I decided that I would start eating vegetarian again, and that would be my New Years resolution. With that, I stopped at Whole Foods and picked up a bunch of fruit, veggies, and fish. Of course I was starving by the time I got home, as I always seem to be after an evening swim, so I devoured the meal. But, right now I have a high and happy feeling for making the healthy choice.
On to the snow report. Killington was fun this week but very cold and very icey. It finally warmed up by Saturday, and boy that made all the difference. The trails that were open to the public were a sheet of ice with soft mogul piles clumped on the trail and everything that was closed was beautiful. On Saturday, we ducked the rope on Devil's Fiddle and my face lit up. It was like a whole new world. The snow was soft, there was no ice and there were large moguls, not like the little icey moguls that everyone loves here. These were the kind that you can ski big mountain style on. Despite there being a few uncovered rocks, which luckily I didn't hit, it felt like I was skiing the Hobacks in JH.
Otherwise, the method of skiing on the icey trails was to skid sideways down the ice to the next pile of powder, then hit the mogul to slow down, and skid to the next mogul, and repeat. It was not fun at all. I'm realizing how much I knew about the mountains out west which I had been skiing for years. Here, I get screwed because I don't know how to access the woods or the trails with better snow because I've never explored. I have to really put in some time to learn my way around, otherwise every weekend up here is going to be a disapointment.
Snow Report
Tuesday - Killington - insanely cold, negative degrees with the windshield, icey, frostbiten toe after 3 runs.
Wednesday - Pico - very cold, icey, skiied with Dary and Allie.
Saturday - Killington - warm at 24 degrees, best ski day yet, rivalled out west.
Sunday - Killington - very cold again, windy, sheets of ice. Even Bobsled Rich and Big Frank said the skiing sucked.
New Years Resolution
Eat vegetarian.
Workout
Horn Pond - 30 min run with Zion in the snow.
BSC Lexington - 1000 m swim (constant) and warm down.
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