Gooney Riders

Tuesday Morning Commute

Last summer, I was always insanely jealous of Chris' commute into the resort for work.  3 miles of beautiful singletrack, he could leave at 8:15 and happily be at work by 9.  Of course, Chris being Chris, would leave at 4 in the morning, ride for nearly 5 hours and end up having to race down the resort to make it to work on time.

His winter commute is essentially the same distance.  Unfortunately, skis are slower than bikes, and he has to be at work at 7:45 instead of 9.  So we set the alarm for 4:45 for alpine start Numero Uno for the year.

It was a balmy 0F when we walked out the front door.  I, as usual, over dressed and was dumping core heat 15 minute into the skin.  After a harsh reminder not to sweat the day before, I walked the thin line between comfort and a freezing bath of...well, freezing sweat.

 

I've never skinned on freshly groomed ski runs before.  It's fast.  Well, faster than breaking trail.  I've never noticed the views from here before.  You can see forever!

Everything was frosty by the top.  It couldn't have been warmer than -5 F near the top and keeping the fingers warm started to get challenging.  Someday I'll figure out body temperature regulation where I'm not employing every finger warming technique I know while simultaneously trying to air the sweat off my back.

Sunrise on Chris' LoveChild2 mountain. 

 We topped at SunSpot out 2 hours after we started skinning.  The sun still hadn't cleared the Divide as we cruised the 1,700 feet down to the valley floor.
  

Sure, it's not extreme by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun.

  
 We arrived happily at the base area at 7:45 with just enough time for Chris to change into work clothes, share a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee with me, and head off to the lifts.

I hopped on the bus and headed back.  The bus driver thought I was nuts when I explained that yes, I'd already been skiing, and now I had to go work.

let it Snow

Deep trail breaking

 

It was deep.  Too deep to make turns if the slope did not have enough angle.  A few rocks, but things are finally looking like December.

 

Rime on the rocks

Then it snowed more. 

Skied the resort til it got tracked out, then ventured to the quiet side of the mountain

Calf to knee deep. Had to wiggle down the hill with my feet together

    
 Eszter had trouble sliding down hill today, she needed some wax. As I flipped them over to melt some wax, I was impressed by the battered bases. The bases of her skis tell a story of a good life of a ski.  Turns out her skis get worn out just like her bikes. 

cheers,

chris 
 

 

Ski Commute Video

Ski Commute from chris miller on Vimeo.

Skied in the past 3 mornings, in the cold.  I have to be out the door before 6am and don't get home til about 530 p.m. Crushed.  Bags under the eyes.  Working outside in the cold all day really zaps me.  

Took some footage the past two mornings.  Wanted to create a morning routine, but not a normal routine.  Dream, wake up groggy, hygiene , coffee, and... put skis on!  Routine is what keeps a lot of us sane.  Always worth it to mix it up though.  Ride your bike to work every once in a while if not all the time, or eat a different box of cereal.  Inspired by the intro to 'Dexter' .  The intro filming is brilliant, they take something as simple as morning routine and get under your skin.  The attention to detail is incredible.  

cheers, I am headin to bed.

chris

19 below.

 
 
-10 at the condo this morning.  -19 at summit.  Frosty commute. 

 

So storm total for Wolf Creek- 58 inches.  Crested Butte- 30 inches.  Us- 2 inches.  Yep we got shafted by storm.  Just cold temps and wind.  I ski everyday, so I can't complain.  El Nino I think will favor Southern Mountains heavily.  For us, dry, sketchy snowpack.  

Yesterday skied from condo, to Winter Park summit, plunge 1600 feet to base in 2 hours.  Never experienced untouched corduroy, kinda like new tarmac on a road bike. You can go REAL fast.  

 Today the descent was nice untracked snow, but the pinky fingers went numb immediately.  Not quite the same solitude skinning up a  resort mountain as wilderness, but early in the morning it is a ghost town.  Feel free to make GS turns all the way to the bottom.

There is something about getting out on a really cold morning.  So calm, so still. 

stay warm,

chris

 

When NOAA lies

Everyone has their own favorite weather forecasting website.  Ours happens to be NOAA, so when they called for a massive influx of snow for Winter Park, Vee, J1, and I all headed for the hills.

Due to sketchy snow up high, the promise of a storm, and no base in the trees on the Pass, the boys hatched a plan of touring into the resort before the lifts opened and hitting up some fresh snow on a solid base before the crowds got to them.  When they set the alarm for 5, I opted out, citing work.

When the alarm went off a 5, Chris bolted out of bed and I snuggled down, wondering how long I should wait before I invited the dogs up to snuggle.  Then Chris came back it - 'It didn't snow!' I'm sure I mumbled something before he went back out.  I thought about mentioning to him that it might be a good idea not to wake Vee and J1 up pre-dawn for a very un-powder day.  He didn't...he started doing the dishes instead before coming back to bed.

We had a nice little conversation:

C: It didn't snow.

E: Bummer.  That sucks.

Pause.

C: Where do you think we should get married?

E: Chris! It's 5:30 in the morning!

Radio silence.

After a big breakfast, the boys went touring, I worked, then toured into the resort to meet Chris and mutually decide that the lack of snow and weekend crowds weren't to our liking and beer and lunch sounded better.  So we went home.

Lucky for us, it snowed on Sunday night.  Like, a whopping half and inch.  If that. 

We left the car parked and went for sheer vertical.

It's always fun to go ski on mountain bike trails.

I'm still not completely sure of the legality of doing this...figure you could argue it either way.  Until someone tells me not to, I'm going to call it legit.

Riding lifts sure makes you appreciate the warmth of backcountry skiing.  I feel like I don't get a chance to let skinning sweat evaporate before sitting down and the first ride up is always a bit frigid. 

 

For someone who was very anti-resort for the past several years, I'm digging teleing on groomers.  I've discovered the beauty of AT for backcountry, but lap after lap of leg burning tele-turns on half-way decent snow makes my day.  Last Monday, I lasted 40 minutes before my legs called mercy, today, a wholel 2.5 hours.  Getting the tele-legs back, turn by turn.

 Yes, Mom, I know I need to wash that jacket.

Headed back to B-town 12 hours early listening to yet another dire NOAA forecast.  Watched the temperature drop and I decended elevation.

WP (9200 ft) - 21 degrees

Empire (8500 ft) - 19 degrees

Idaho Springs (7500 ft) 12 degrees

Golden (5600 ft) - 8 degrees

Boulder (5200 ft) - 5 degrees.

I wore two down jackets and my Everest gloves for the 5 minute ride to yoga.  I was sweating before I even got there.

Walk in the Clouds

J1 on his way up

 

Isaac exiting 2nd creek

 

Hunkering down for the tundra

 

Entering the abandoned Vasquez Ridge of the ski area.  

 

Peering into zero creek

 

Unnamed peak in Vasquez wilderness that holds some pretty neat ski terrain.  

 Snowpack is pretty crap.  Had plenty of cracking/collapsing.  Gnarly slabs building ontop of facets.  We skied into the ski area took the plunge to the valley.  

 

Fun tour guys.  Pretty funny getting pummeled by the elements then entering a resort area.  We got some funny looks.  

cheers,

chris
 
 
 
 
 

 

Sun up, Sun Down

After whimping out on skiing to work, I decided to ski home under moonlight knowing the temperature would rise with the day.  

James Peak from my bus stop early in the morning...

 

I froze for most of the day, but I started sweating while hoofing it up from the base area after close.

 

At about mid-mountain I can gain a ridge and drop into the drainage that leads to my neighborhood.  I took two 30 second exposers w/o a tripod.  Really hard to set up this long of an exposer w/o a solid tripod but I actually really like the soft look

 

This one looks like a watercolor

 

It's a gentle cruise home from the ridge with minimal uphill.  Great tour for the old tele's.  Yea Pinner!!

 

cheers,

chris
 
 
 
 
 

A bit Nippy

Got up early with pseudo-intentions of skiing to work.  Think the 15 min walk to the bus is enough exposure this morning.  It's gonna feel downright balmy when it hits 0F!

Had so many layers on yesterday it felt downright silly.  It was about -11F on the shady side of the mountain yesterday.  

Peaks look good, but still dry, need snow.

on a side note, think Mason's painting is almost done.  Never can get a good photo of it because those oils are too damn shinny.  

 

cheers,

chris

   

A picture worth 1000 explanations

Nothing quite like skiing at a resort on a Monday...

Even if there are only two runs open and the snow is...sub par.  Novelty, dear friends, novelty.

I'm getting used to watching the sun rise over the Divide.  I could get used to this...I really could.

Watching the moonrise isn't half bad either. 

 

Wednesday morn ski commute.  Felt a little sad taking the bus on Tuesday, so I decided to ski to work! Out the door skis on feet @ 6am, Locker rooms @ Winter Park base at 740am.

 

Made good time on the ski commute with the Dynofit's.  I actually think the Dynofit set-up is quicker than my 3 pin touring set up, and you can carve FRESHIES!

 

Cheers-

C&E 
 
 

Stealth Training

Part of being on the Waltworks Dream Team was a requirement that you don't actually train.  When word got out that I'd been spotted doing intervals on Flagstaff, Walt kicked me off the team.  That, and I'd shown up to too many races with a functional bike.  Okay, I made that last part up.

Still, I'd like to share my November training with the world.  I hope you find it beneficial.

Eszter's Top 5 Training Tips for November

1.  Eat lots of food.  Nutella, Candy Corn, cookies, cupcakes, chocolate, more chocolate, pie, cheese, apples covered in almond butter, bananas covered in almond butter, bread covered in almond butter, almond butter by the spoonful, etc.  November is the month to indulge...unless you're racing cyclocross...but racing cross sounds like a personal problem.  Just kidding...I like cross too, it just makes me want to vomit.  Then, at the end of the month, step on the scale, gasp at the damage done, and use that as motivation to drag your heavy carcass up a hill.

2.  Cover your bike in mud and ride it up a hill.  Bonus points if your drive train is also gritty enough to reduce the efficiency by at least 50%. 

3.  Find a group where every single person is a faster descender than you.  Then go ride in mountain lion territory.  You don't have to be faster than a mountain lion, you just have to be faster than the slowest person.  Fight like hell to try to keep up and use up at least a weeks worth of adrenaline reserves while trying not to die.

4.  Ride bikes with people who outweigh you by 60 pounds and could probably quadruple your peak power output.  Sit in their draft and almost start to believe that the wind isn't blowing.  Then, at their request, ride up really steep hill for giggles.

5.  Smile lots.  Use red wine as your daily source of anti-oxidants, and learn how to do something new on a bike...like ride on the track.  I can't wait to hit the velodrome corners on the Winter Park downhill trails next summer....basic physics is awesome. 

December's skill: Putting a jacket on while pedaling.