3,000 feet for breakfast

I work a full time job. I have aspirations as an athlete... an endurance athlete. The combination of these two facts frequently affect my sleeping patterns. At 4am this morning my alarm went off. Ugh. Snoqualmie hadn't gotten snow since Sunday, and it's been warm all week - perfect. My sole purpose was to get some vertical climbing under my belt on my new race skis, skins, and boots in preparation for ski mountaineering races this winter. I tried to regain the feeling of excitement I had the night before as I cut my skins, got my gear ready and practiced using my new Dynafit bindings, but it was a futile effort. The important thing is I got up anyway. I was skinning up Summit West by 5:50am in the dark and loving it. My race skis are sooo light! They're a pair of Piuma Trab 170cm, sidecut of 100-70-90 (yeah I know, but they're race skis!)... and my Gramont Mega Ride G-Fit boots feel like slippers they are so comfy.

My first two runs were in complete darkness.. add a little fog and you get a scary scene. I could only see about 4 feet in front of me as my headlamp just reflected back off the fog that enveloped the entire ski hill. I say hill because it's just over 747 feet of climbing from the bottom to the very top. However darkness and spotty snow coverage made it somewhat challenging. As the sun came up the fog burned off and it became a whole lot more enjoyable... well, as enjoyable as skinning up Summit West can be. I got in 3,000 feet of climbing this morning and made it to work on time - booyaa.

"Either you ran/biked/kayaked/skied today or you didn't."

AMGA and a victory for DART in Explore CA 24-Hour

AMGA: Because I have this dream of racing all summer and ski guiding all winter I applied to the American Mountain Guide Association's (AMGA) Ski Guiding Course. The course is 8 days long and there are many requirements; including 5+ years backcountry skiing experience, being comfortable skiing 50 degree slopes (are you ever comfy on a 50 degree slope?), completion of Avy II course, were a few. The courses are usually taken by ski professionals; ski patrol, PSIA Instructors, ski guides, etc... so I was not so sure I would be accepted, but I applied anyway. Friday I got confirmation I was accepted into the class! So I'm very excited, and a little bit nervous. The class is Jan 6-19 in Jackson, WY. I wonder how long I can live in the Westy with a down sleeping bag during the bitter cold of Jan before I break down and get a hotel room? Jackson is supposed to have some of the best snow on this planet - we'll see.
"The work of the guide implies abnegation. The guide does not go where he wants to go,but must go to the summit of which his client has dreamed. The guide does not climb for himself but primarily for the pleasure of the companion he is leading." -Gaston Rebuffat 1965

DART wins Explore CA 24-Hour Adventure Race - Gold Country!: Since RVG, Jen Segger and I just competed in the USARA Nationals we sent Cyril, JVG and Glenn to CA to compete in the last 24-Hour race of the Explore CA Series. We are currently winning this seires, I raced in the Catalina race and we've managed to send some kind of team to each one of the first 5 races. The series ends with the Baja Travesia expedition race in Mexico. Congrats to the DART team for bringing home a win! Apparently they battled early with Wellsport but then ended up winning the race by more than 5 hours! Sweet.

Skiing this weekend: This weekend I got on my skis at Snoqualmie. RVG and I skinned up Hyak, headed to the power tower and then skied down summit Central (ski acres). The skiing wasn't good but it was fun to get out there for a few hours. We ended up meeting up with Steven Wort and a cast of others from the local adventure racing community.. it was nice to get a good social day out and get on the snow. I am still getting over being sick, this cough just won't go away, so this was just my speed.
I have been talking to Steve who does many "beginners training" sessions. I am going to make an effort to help him out. It's of vital importance that we get out and get involved in promoting the sport locally.

Tidbit: "The average American will watch the equivalent of two months of television each year". - Don't be average.