Damn you La Nina and your deep powder snow!

I dream about skiing like teenage boys dream about girls. I've lost countless days of my life surfing bottomless powder in my mind. By October I'm stupid giddy with excitement to be skiing. By January my skiing spirit is usually crushed by thin snow and unstable avalanche conditions in the eastern Rockies. At this point I turn my energy to running and I try to look forward to summer activities.

Not this year. The snow just keeps falling and I'm forced to blow off another weekend of long runs to be in the mountains. Bummer! This past weekend it was Marmot Basin with pcf and cmg. Light flurries turned to full-on snow Friday night as we drove the 4.5 hours from Edmonton to Jasper. By Saturday morning 16cm of fresh snow had fallen at mid-mountain. It was going to be a great weekend.

Marmot rarely feels crowded, even when it's busy, and this weekend was no exception. Still, fresh snow is not the same when you put a few tracks through it and I was eager to ski some untracked powder. Normally I think hiking at a ski area is ridiculous. Why would I walk up a mountain when I paid $70 to be carried up? I'm glad I ignored myself. Hiking Marmot Peak with Awesome Bob.

Not only was the skiing amazing, the views were spectacular. Looking down the hiking ridge - Peak Run is the bowl on the left; Suzie's disappears to the right. The top of Knob Chair where the hike begins is in the bottom-right of the picture.The ridge across the valley is the backside of the Skyline Trail.

The Icefields Parkway from Marmot Peak.

Mt Robson, the highest point in the Canadian Rockies, is the distant pointy peak in the centre of the picture.

Tonquin Valley from Marmot Peak.

By the end of the weekend I'd hiked Peak twice and Cornice once. It's not running but it was a helluva workout.

mmmmmountains

Had a great weekend in the mountains on our 2nd annual office ski trip. I completely forgot to grab my camera on too many occasions but trust me the weather was great and snow conditions were excellent.

We stayed at Castle Mountain hostel. The place is clean, comfortable, and halfway between Lake Louise and Sunshine. It's also next door to Castle Mountain Chalets for those that want a bit more luxury or that need to bring their dogs.

The forecast was for sun and warmth, which was to be a real treat compared to freeze we'd been stuck in for the past several weeks. Saturday morning did not disappoint. We headed to Lake Louise to enjoy the slopes and trails. The snow on the hill was thin where LL is always thin but once we got away from the high traffic areas there was plenty of untracked snow - hiking for turns with cmg.

Grinning in anticipation of the fresh tracks that are moments away.

Saturday night was potluck. There was a good mix of food and beverages to go around. Day 2 at Sunshine was also excellent. The forecast for a few inches of fresh snow was grossly underestimated and we enjoyed lift-served powder under variable skies. Weekends are far too short...

I am an Ultra Runner!

reposted from here

snowmageddon

I'm often asked what Edmonton winters are like. "Cold. But it doesn't snow very much", is my usual response, which is usually the case. Not this year. It's still cold enough to freeze your eyelids shut but now we have all this snow to trip over, too. We've more than doubled the monthly average and the month is barely half over. This has added an extra challenge to running.

Much of this month's snow fell during one night two weekends ago. My intent was to formally kick off this year's training with a long Sunday run in the river valley. I wasn't expecting 25 cm of fresh snow and a wind chill warning but sometimes the unexpected can be a positive, right? I tend to disregard the voice of reason (i.e., my wife) when it comes to such things but I wasn't about to let some snow and colder temperatures change my running plans. I like to think of myself as adventurous and persistent, which I see as admirable qualities, but I'm probably in the minority here.

After 3.5 hours I was dead tired and very cold. The new snow and poor footing required much more effort than I anticipated. A hard workout is always a good thing but perspiring that heavily in -30C was not anticipated. Thanks to some poor clothing choices, I literally froze my butt - my coat vented all the moisture out the bottom and a solid block of ice formed on my backside where my jacket met my pants. Ouch! Chalk that up as a learning experience.

Burrows Trail, Camel's Hump, VT

I've climbed Camel's Hump at least once during every visit to Vermont. It's on my 'must do' list that includes a visit to Johnson Woolen Mill, the Outdoor Gear Exchange, and attempting to sample as many micro brews as possible.

Today's plan was to run up to the summit of Camel's Hump and back via the Burrows Trail. The skies were breaking over the farm and I was hopeful that there would be some good views from the top. There were several cars in the parking lot when I arrived. People were fiddling with their equipment and digging in their packs. I was eager to have some solitude so I grabbed my bag and booked it up the trail ahead of the crowds.  

It didn't take long  for me to realize my plan was totally unrealistic. I haven't run seriously since my last race in September. I also haven't run up a mountain since the Death Race in August. Yes, Camel's Hump is a small mountain but it's twice the elevation of my home town and New Englanders don't bother with switchbacks. Finally, I haven't run up a snowy mountain ever. I slowed to a speedy hike and enjoyed the beautiful winter scenery.

I started to feel the elevation around the time the hardwoods changed to softwoods. Steeper sections of the trail had me gasping for air. I was surprised at how much I was having to work, and more than a little disappointed, too. Where did all the hard work from this past summer go?

I was out of the trees in a little over an hour.

Unfortunately, I was never out of the clouds. The howling wind has encased the krumholtz in ice.

Summit pose. I'm trying to keep my contact lenses from being blown off my eyeballs. Yes, it was as cold as it looks.

The trip down was quick and uneventful, taking only 30 minutes. Total round-trip time was 1:42. Until next time Camel's Hump...

to the woods

My wife grew up on a dairy farm not too far from Burlington, Vermont. Every few years we visit her family and stay with her mother who still lives in the family farmhouse. I always enjoy my time in Vermont. It's one of the prettiest states I've ever been to. There's also plenty to do within an easy drive of wherever you are.

The weather has been unsettled since we arrived - snow then rain followed by more snow. It keeps things interesting. This morning we woke to 20cm of fresh in the yard. It was beautiful. I had to get off my pie-scarfing, beer-swilling butt and go for a run.

I grabbed the dog and headed for the trails in the woods adjacent to the farm. Getting there involved running a very short piece of road.

Still, it was far enough to remind me of what I didn't like about running in Vermont. Narrow roads, blind corners, and no shoulders. Drivers, if you're pulling over to be nice please pull all the way into the far lane. Straddling lanes just sprays me with snud.

In contrast to the road-stress, the woods were silent. Other than a blue jay and a barred owl, the only signs of life were a few deer and coyote tracks. It was bliss.

I only had a vague sense of where I was at any given time. I came across my own tracks on a couple of occasions, which took me by surprise. There are a lot of trails in those woods and I haven't spent nearly enough time figuring out what goes where, particularly in the winter. Still, you'd have to be way out of your element to get truly lost in there so we just kept running.

We eventually reached my intended destination, a lookout my brother-in-law refers to as Indian point.You can see the Winooski River in the foreground and the shoulder of Camel's Hump blending with the skyline. We hung out in the stillness for as long as the dog could bear it, which wasn't very long, before heading back into the woods and back to the farm. I missed you Vermont.

I'm dreaming of a really white christmas

This was in my email, subject 'woot woot' . Here's hoping...

source: biglines.com