The mountains call, and I must go.

Action Movie Tuesday at Eldora, racing and less.

2°, grey and windy with snow flurries. Got my new Yerba Matte loose tea pot, and am enjoying a few cups to start the morning. I don't drink coffee, but the matte provides a nice, smooth start me up. And apparently it's pretty good for you too. Yes, clearly I've been living in Nederland too long!

I've been doing these Wednesday night "Night Hawks" races for the past three weeks. It's a very short, hard and fun effort that loops around the Eldora base area. I've been doing fairly well, and I'll admit I'm kind of pleased with that. I've done all the races on classic skis, basically in an effort to enhance that skill and try and keep up with the skaters as best I can - sort of similar to lining up in the expert category on a single speed and trying to hang (single speed category racing is DUMB). On steep uphills I think the classics are actually faster - I'm always at or close to the hole shot at the starts and I'm not generally a fast starter in any race format. I think they are a little slower on uphills when the temperature is cold, a lot slower when it is warm, and generally slower on the flats. The difference gets greater the warmer it gets. Where I'm getting slaughtered by the skaters is on the transitions. They quickly shift from V1 to V2 and blast away, and I'm just simple not able to generate as much power with my double pole. But I'll keep trying, and having fun doing so.

The past couple "training" group skis have been interesting. Tuesday AM was without a doubt the most heinous conditions I've ever seen at Eldora. It was also 2° this morning, but the wind was vicious - around 50 mph - and the trees were not doing much to block it. It was painful yet fun in a novel, climbing the face of Cho Oyu 27,000-feet above sea level in December sort of fun. My face hurt until 2 pm that afternoon, and I think we worked on something, although I'm not sure what.

Yesterday in the morning we worked on transitions...flats to steeps, steeps to downhills, etc. Sort of interval type work. I have to say, I blew up on one transition, while trying to keep up with our coach who is definitely faster than me, about as hard as I've blown up in a long, long time. It was kind of cool to kept honest like that. I'm definitely a little fatigued from all the skiing, but I'm loving it too.

No skiing today, as we will be waxing (we being the team) for the upcoming Devils Thumb classic race. Mmmm...a classic race at Devils Thumb. That's about perfect in my book.

Ah, clarity. Skiing provides that. It's so cut and dry and it's such a good thing when times are tough. I think that's what I'll write about, and bore you all to death!

Nordic log:
January 28 - skate ski Eldora - 5 km
January 29 - classic ski Eldora - 10 km (heinous, heinous windy conditions!)
January 30 - classic training ski at Eldora, ski with ski team relay race, Night Hawks - 20 km
Season to date: 782 km

Radio Silence

I have not been blogging much. I don't know why I keep apologizing for that, other than I guess I feel a certain obligation to keep this page fresh for you the reader. Truth be told, my head hasn't been into it. There has been a shit ton of skiing going on, nordic nearly every day, but my mind has been elsewhere. Without getting into heavy details, a good friend of mine has been going through a very rough spell. Been doing everything I can to help out, and I've been trying to balance this out while maintaining the rest of my life. I do as Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins's fame says:

"I'll lay roses at your feet
Till' you decide there is something great
In you"

Somethings got to go, and this blog has been the victim. Until the situation settles to an acceptable level, there won't be too much writing going on here. Some things in life matter more than others, and sometimes the energy invested into one makes the other one seem a bit pointless.

I will say this. Skiing can save lives. Being outside, creating endorphins, absorbing the power of the woods...it can make all the difference in the world. I believe this now more than ever. So I say ski, love and live like it's the last.

Nordic Log (why not)
January 27 - 38 km classic and skate - Eldora
January 26 - 17 km classic and skate - Leadville
January 24 - 7 km classic Tennesee Mtn Cabin - Eldora
January 23 - 15 km skate (night hawks) - Eldora
January 22 - 15 km classic - Eldora
January 21 - 5 km classic - Eldora
Season to date total: 747 km

Heartland

January Fun

9°, clear and calm.

Saw one of my SMBA co-coaches today. She asked me how my winter was going. Gave it a little thought, and replied, simply, "fun." Skiing lots, great nordic sessions, a nice month-and-a-half stretch here with almost zero warm-up. Can't ask for too much more than that. Spent some time in the backcountry, some good days up at the rock too. Did a Nighthawks Race last Wednesday, duking it out on classic skis with the skate skiers. Did well, despite (or maybe because of) a maniacal start that had me in 3rd place wondering what the hell I was doing up there. Feeling good...best shape of my life? Thinking about some summer adventures, including a WFR class in early June, a big bike ride of some sort, lots of time above timberline, some way to get on some snow this summer for a week or so (Eagle Glacier Ned Nordic Camp?) and quite possibly pulling the trigger on that NOLS instructor course (and of course, building that fence!). I've kind of determined the outdoors is where I belong...sentiment without action leads to ruin. Nearer term goals include having the team kick some ass at state championships and then personally racing the Leadville Loppet, the Big Shooter Bonk, that 90 km up by the Wyoming border and maybe a handful of others. And man, did Gooney Rider's photos of Teton Pass look epic! I don't know...just getting outside in the mountains and pushing it a bit.

Nothing overly eloquent, just an update. Don't worry (I'm delinquent on emails too) - I'm alive and well!

Nordic Log:
January 20 - Eldora - 16 km classic
January 19 - Eldora - 17 km classic and skate
January 18 - Aspen Highlands - 3 km skinning
January 16 - Eldora - 24 km skate, classic, Nighthawks race
January 15 - Eldora - 17 km skate
January 14 - Eldora - 10 km
January 13 - Eldora - 12 km skate
January 12 - Eldora - 15 km classic
January 11 - West Mag - 5 km classic
Total 2007 - 2008: 650 km

Stupid, Lycra-clad, wanker, Nordic NAZI skiers

uh huh...

In defense of nordic skiing

I've read the barbs and felt the venom. The stereotypes of nordic skiing spewed on other blogs. Enough is enough.

No offense to anyone, but show me someone slogging on a Pugsley at 2 mph who can do this...

or have a look of HAVING FUN like this...

Your views of nordic skiing are not indicative of reality. Yes, we do have fun, we do smile (A LOT!) and we don't need to spend $1,500 to do it! A kicker, a pair of beater rock NORDIC SKINNY skis and a willingness to toss you inhibitions aside is all that is needed. And we're not that slow: I challenge anyone to a race up Woodcutter...you ride, I'll ski, and we'll see who comes out on top.

Perhaps the hatred comes from the fact that you can't do it!

Flame away!

Live Now

So I got an email the other day from this guy Leo. Leo is none other than Leonard Ponce, the first ever contributor to the Off Camber archives way back in 1998. Leo used to be a regular attendee at the Caribou Mine Mountain Bike Race series, a Wednesday evening little shindig I used to host up there. Anyway, Leo's post (I seem to have lost it, otherwise I'd link it from here) captured the essence of these races: raw, high (10,000 feet), and little bit dangerous. Actually, a lot bit dangerous; I'm not even sure we had insurance or an evacuation plan at most of those events. I was just a kid, throwing races and having fun.

I still feel like a kid, and I think a large part of that is because I've never stopped moving, refused to allow much to compromise my outdoor time. I bring this up because Leo emailed me and expressed how his life is constrained by family and work, and how he has to live vicariously through my adventures. I get a lot of emails like this. It's funny, because I struggle with this battle everyday. Just how much am I giving away, how much am I compromising my health and happiness for a "career."

Some thoughts. I have no doubts that having a family is exceptionally rewarding. I spend all day working with kids, and I'm sure there is something about having someone to tromp around with, to mold and to help along is fulfilling beyond imagination. Family first, no arguments there. That said, I have trouble with the concept of giving it all up ("it all" meaning outdoor time) for work. Work is work. We're always going to be working, we're always going to have things to pay for, responsibilities to take into count. But for me, I can not, I refuse to to let go of my activities, my outdoor time for the sake of work (Leo, if you are reading, I'm truly not singling you out...I'm sure you are tromping around the hills more than you let on).

I'm pretty convinced that without my woods time, my mountain time, I would die. Not figuratively, literally. I think I would lose it, lost in a world of my own mind, external clutter, chit-chat, depression, stress and, ultimately, death.

On the flip side the outdoor time, be it riding my mountain bike on a damp singletrack through a vibrant forest in May, an elevation lifting hike to the top of a slightly frosted, alpenglow hue entrenched mountain pass in early October, or an isolated gliding ski through a still world of deep snow in late-January, heals me. It heals me after a hard day of work where I can feel the stress rising. 99% of the time, it vaporizes problems and brings pure joy.

Today was no exception. It was a hard day at work. I went in, all fire and brimstone, and could slowly feel my energy sapping. First the mind slows down, then the body. My mouth feels tense, a dull ache in the back of the head. Almost enough to say fuck it to skiing a few kilometers this afternoon; better to go home and sleep instead. Alas though, I am a coach, and this is not an option. So I drag my ass up there with the team, staying quiet at first, trying to breathe and allow a relaxed calm to come over me. And then, like a flash of lightning, it hits. The bus arrives at the nordic center. A hubbub of activity. A shot of refreshing cold strikes the skin, awakens the senses. All of the sudden it's like settling into a cocoon, a contentedness, a goodness. And it gets better.

Today was a simple ski. Showing the kids the race course that they will use in a few weeks to hopefully put the hurt on the competition. I ran sweep, and I skied slow. Opened it up a few times on the steeper hills, but for the most part it was very mellow. But the sensations stick. Up the steeps, blood flowing, then back down, sharp left, wind in face, feet feeling the snow, gliding, smooth. It's cool when the body just works the way it should: by doing so you honor the mountains and the trees and the snow and the wind and the sky.

Near the end, we set up a little play course on Ho Hum. And an event happened, that's happened to me a thousand times before and never gets the least bit old. The sky turned from a dull gray to a blood red streak. And with it, I smiled, as I also have done a thousand times before. Being outside, soaking in the power of the color, getting stronger, recharged, alive and moving. The stresses of the day, of the manmade world, gone.

There is a time for rest. Death ensures that we'll all have that opportunity soon enough but my God, when we have the opportunity to do something about it, when we can CHOOSE to get up and go outside and live, why oh why would you ever sit indoors, to have someone tell you what to do and let your soul get ripped from your body? To not fight back and live the life you could, to make yourself and ultimately everything better. This I can not understand, this I refuse to do.

We need to change our priorities, from a world where indoor time and people telling each other what to do, of control, rules and power plays determine who gets what to a world where soul, mountains, woods and protecting said things is put at the top of the list. Problems would evaporate, lives would be happier, folks would smile more. I say, work to change that first, and if change is impossible, hop left or right and pick a new path forward. Do it today: six-feet under might be as close as tomorrow.

The point

The year of 2008 started with a hiatus from writing. Not because there was nothing to say, but because I wasn't sure I wanted to say it in public. Because there was some questioning of whether or not it really mattered. And truthfully, some of what has been written lately doesn't. But then, I realized the point of this blog. To inspire a love of the planet, to make people's lives better, because being out in the world, dressing up in snow gear and just lying out there in the snow is the first step to becoming a complete, healthy person. Without the outdoors, I'd be broken. With it, I'm strong. Now, it's time to experience that, and then share it. And hopefully, do it better than ever, a 365 day rampage of words and experiences that change the world.

Nordic Log

21°, snowing, windy

Delinquent on the blog. Not on living though.

More soon, including a photo album of the past week or so, but before I lose track...

Nordic Log:
December 30 - Eldora - 8 km classic
January 1 - Eldora and Guinn Mtn - 20 km
January 2- Eldora - 9 km classic
January 2 - Continental Divide Cabin - 14 km classic
January 3 - Continental Divide Cabin - 7 km classic
January 5 - Eldora - 12 km classic
January 6 - Eldora - 15 km classic
January 7 - Eldora - 13 km skate
January 8 - Eldora - 8 km skate
January 9 - Eldora - 10 km skate
January 10 - Gold Run - 7 km skate
Season total: 531 km