It’s the beginning of another work week, and the mountains finally have some fresh new snow. Do you feel a sick day coming on?
Snow totals in the western part of the state over the weekend range from a whopping 81 inches at Silverton Mountain (pictured) to 48 at Wolf Creek and 34 at Telluride. Resorts closer to Colorado Springs can celebrate, too – Monarch got more than 17 inches; Breck, 8; Keystone, 5; Vail, 19; Ski Cooper, 9; Copper, 6; Loveland and Winter Park, 7; and Arapahoe Basin, 5.
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If you try to keep your gear purchases green, check out some of the Colorado gear companies given the Green Steps designation at the Outdoor Retailer show going on now in Salt Lake City. Participants in the show, sponsored by Outdoor Industry Association, are recognized as Green Steps companies for their ecologically sound practices in products, policies and business tactics.
The list is filled with Colorado companies. Among them:
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Sand Creek Sports along with Carmichael Training Systems is once again putting on several local bike races this summer. They’ll include races both on and off road. One of them will be very important for national level mountain bikers.
The Sand Creek Series this year is being called the Ascent Cycling Series which will have 4 races held in Palmer Park and Bear Creek Park. The Carmichael Training Systems International Classic will be even bigger this year as a 3 day UCI C2 stage race all at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. There are also plans for a mountain bike race and the Colorado Road Championships at the AFA with a final mountain bike race in Victor.
Schedule and more details about the races are below.
The Sand Creek Series was long a great way to get started in mountain bike racing or for racers to get some great local training. After a few year hiatus, it’s been back the last couple summers.
Official approval was announced today to make the CTS International Classic a 3 day UCI Category 2 stage race July 9 – 11. There will be a $10,000 cash prize list and nearly half of the UCI ranking points available at US mountain bike races this year. All 3 races will be at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
It is the UCI/USA Cycling Pro XCT Series final, a World Championship Selection race, a 2012 Olympic Team qualification race and Final National Championship qualification race. If that doesn’t bring the top mountain bike Pros to town, I don’t know what will.
Tenative Schedule is
Plans are to use the same cross country course as last year. I don’t yet know what the courses will be for the other 2 races but the start/finish is planned to be basically the same for all 3 races. This means the Time Trial and Short Track will be on the lower part of the park and should be easily accessible to spectators.
The Rocky Mountain Games of the West will be held on the Falcon Trail at the Air Force Acacemy on Sunday, August 1. Along with this race, there will be an option for endurance racers to do 100km. That works out to 4 laps of the trail
The Colorado Senior Road Championships are planned to held at the Air Force Academy on Sunday, August 15. They are waiting on final approval from the Air Force Academy.
The Tour of Victor is a planned 50 mile mountain bike race on Saturday, September, 18 in Victor. At this point it seems pretty tentative but the race is late in the year so there’s plenty of time for it to get finalized.
– UltraRob
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Most three-year-olds can put on their shoes, throw a ball overhead, hop on one foot, walk on tiptoes, pedal a tricycle and walk on a line.
Now, with new programs at Monarch and Winter Park, your three-year-old can add “ski” to that list.
Monarch Mountain is offering group skiing lessons for three- and four-year-olds. The program is called Caterpillars, and the resort says it’s designed to have lots of play time.
Winter Park also has a program for three-year-olds. Just Because I’m Three is a full-day program that starts on a tiny indoor hill and ends on the snow.
That indoor concept is smart.
I watched a snowboarding class for four-year-olds at Copper Mountain a while back. It, too, included play time, but a huge chunk of time was devoted to keeping mittens, goggles and hats in place.
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Mountain lion tracks (and smells) in the snow in my back yard have gotten my beagle, Hunter Thompson, excited. As for me? I’m a little less excited.
I love living in the mountains, partly because of the wildlife. I’ve photographed countless deer, elk and red foxes in my yard, and seen raccoons and a bobcat along the trails of our neighborhood park. But mountain lions are different. Sure, I’d love to capture one on film, but on my own terms, and that’s not how these animals operate.
Last week, two mountain lions attacked and killed a small dog while its owners watched in Green Mountain Falls, and a mountain lion killed a family’s cat in Durango. Earlier this month, a mountain lion lurking near a Boulder elementary school was tranquilized by wildlife officials and moved to a remote area 50 miles away. Residents of Green Mountain Falls have also seen lions near school bus stops.
It’s been estimated there are between 3,000 and 7,000 mountain lions in Colorado. They usually avoid people, but they are opportunistic hunters that will munch on family pets.
The best approach if you encounter a mountain lion? The Colorado Division of Wildlife suggests you make yourself big and loud by holding your arms or your jacket over your head and yelling. Don’t run. If you have a child with you, pick him up and keep him quiet – a child’s voice might resemble prey to the lion. If you can pick up sticks or rocks without crouching down, do it and throw them at the lion. At home, don’t unwittingly bait the lion by letting your dogs and cats run loose, even in your yard, especially during the lions’ prime hunting time from dusk to dawn.
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I had posted on twitter when the first RadioShack jersey was modeled by Lance Armstrong that it looked old and outdated just like RadioShack. Since then the Team RadioShack jerseys have been refined.
Although they’ve kept the same general look to the jerseys, I think they have look much better than the original one. They don’t have such a cold, industrial look from the past.
2010 seems to be the year of the ugly cycling jerseys. Although I’ll now give the Team RadioShack jerseys a passing grade, there’s no way I’ll give the Footon-Servetto-Fuji team jerseys a passing grade.
– UltraRob
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If you’ve been a reader for a while, you’ll have read about me road riding, mountain biking, skiing, snowshoeing and hiking. I haven’t written much about running. Nearly 15 years ago I did run the Pikes Peak Ascent after some friends convinced me running uphill was just like riding a bike.
10 miles into the Pikes Peak Ascent I was around 80th place out of 1,800 runners. That’s when my legs painfully informed me that even running uphill wasn’t exactly like riding a bike. By the time I got to mile 12, I would walk a 100 yards and then stop and stretch.
The last mile I watched dozens of runners go by me. I still managed to finish 171st in a time of 3:24:18. I have friends that would be happy with that but it was a very painful experience.
I tried to get into running several times over the years. I’ve never gotten to the point of really enjoying it like I do biking. There are a few reasons why I wish I could enjoy running.
If you’ve ever flown with a bike, you know how expensive that was even before the latest luggage fees the airlines have imposed. Not only do you have to get your bike to your destination or rent one, you have cycling clothes, helmet, shoes and tools. Even when driving, you need a bike rack or a big space inside the vehicle for a bike. Runners on the other hand just need their shoes, shorts and a t-shirt that they could also use for just hanging out.
Even runners that have the latest in shoe technology, wicking shirts and jackets, can get geared up for a few hundred dollars. That amount won’t even cover a good bike, let alone even more clothing, tools and a repair stand.
Other than putting some anti-odor powder in their shoes and maybe replacing the laces, runners really don’t have any upkeep. Cyclist on the other hand have chains to lube, flats to change, shifters to adjust, wheels to keep true, etc. Bike wrenching takes time away from riding.
During the winter runners also have the advantage of staying warmer. Since they don’t move as fast, windchill isn’t as much of an issue. When I’ve been mountain biking in the winter, I’ve been known to get off and run with the bike for a little bit to warm back up. That method works particularly well with the feet since it gets them moving more and increases the blood flow.
Loss of bone density can be a problem particularly for road cyclists. At least one study has shown that it may not be as big of an issue for mountain bikers although there still are concerns. Although the the problem isn’t yet well understood, the recommendation is to do weight bearing cross-training such as running.
Running clearly has several advantages over cycling. So why don’t I make the switch or at least run more? It’s because riding a bike is so much more fun and you can go so much farther in the same amount of time.
– UltraRob
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Newspapers in New Zealand have reported that country has adopted a new common-sense outdoor safety code with tourists in mind. The code was written after many reports of poor trip planning, “such as attempting to hike in rugged terrain wearing jandals.”
My question is this: What are jandals?
After extensive research (OK, I Googled), I’ve learned that jandals are flip-flops. It seems like hapless tourists hiking in flip-flops aren’t just a problem in Colorado.
According to the New Zealand Herald newspaper, in the past year, 245 search and rescue efforts in New Zealand – about 12 percent – involved tourists.
The Herald reports a police spokesman said, “We hear stories of visitors attempting the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in jandals while others don’t carry supplies because they assume there’s a shop on the Heaphy [Track]. Rather than be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, we want to help ensure that all visitors don’t get into trouble in the first place.”
Among the code’s messages, designed for NZ trampers (that’s hikers), are tips for planning trips, leaving word of destination and return times, knowing about impending weather, knowing physical limits and taking sufficient supplies.
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The New York Times has compiled a list of “31 Places To Go In 2010.” These aren’t weekend jaunts. Instead, they are adventures in far-flung places: Sri Lanka, Seoul, Mysore (India), Koh Kood (Thailand), Damascus, Antarctica.
And there, on the list between South Africa and Montenegro is No. 23: Breckenridge.
The Times writer chose Breck partly because of its recent passage of an ordinance to decriminalize possessions of small amounts of marijuana, calling Breck “the party capital of the Colorado Rockies” and saying the town was striving to be Amsterdam. It also points world travelers to Breck for the BreckConnect Gondola and the improvements to Peak 7 and Peak 8.
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My wife and I were dreaming of somewhere warmer for New Years like Big Bend National Park. Without much time off work, that would have meant as much time driving to get there as playing. So instead we went to South Fork, CO near Wolf Creek Pass to do some playing in the snow.
We took the kids to the top of Wolf Creek Pass to do some snowshoeing on the Lobo Overlook Trail which is 1.5 miles. Not surprisingly our 5 year old didn’t make it very far so my wife went back to the car with her.
I was having trouble keeping up with our athletic 6 year old. She starting wearing a blister on her foot so we turned around. I think if we would have gotten a little farther we would have gotten some great views of the mountains.
Later in the day, I went snowshoeing on the road along West Willow Creek at the edge of Creede. When I was a kid, we used to do rock collecting in the old mine tailings. I’m sure we were trespassing but we found some great agates and crystals.
It starts out in a deep canyon that I always enjoy. There wasn’t a lot of snow which was good in some ways since I didn’t worry about avalanche danger. I didn’t have a lot of time so I didn’t get up as far as I would have liked but had fun.
On the way down my dog ran up by a mine and went across the bridge you can see in the photo. He must have slipped while looking to see if he get get down to me and fell off the raised area on the left (here’s a photo with arrow). He had to have fallen at least 15 feet. I looked just in time to see him land.
My first thought was that I didn’t how I was going to be able to carry him out. I was surprised when he stood up and came over to me. Blood was coming out of his mouth. A quick check showed he had cut his lip. He also had a cut under his chin.
He ran around like normal the half mile we had left. A couple hours later he started limping but otherwise seemed fine.
We took him in to the vet on Monday to have his paw and leg checked since he was still limping. He had some swelling but the vet was pretty sure it was just sprained. He gave him some anti-inflamatories and he’s been walking normal since. He’s still banned from hiking until next. We’re just thankful he’s OK.
You can see a few more pictures from our snowshoeing in my Snowshoeing South Fork, CO Area photo album.
– UltraRob
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