Friends Came Out Tonight

We have not seen these elk as much this winter. They came out tonight though! The South Hills Herd.

Below West Ridge

It dumped non-stop today at the Bowl. The whole town was up there for some Sunday afternoon skiing. Took a quick clip of the West Ridge area. What life's all about.

First Marathon for 2009 in the Books

It was 3.04.47, but it's in the books. Was aiming for under 3. 42,195 meters. The hill intervals on Thursday were still lingering a bit. Was hoping for a half a day at the bowl today, but it's raining and I can't walk.

Addendum - 2009 Better Efforts Log:

21,097 meters 4/15/09 1.23.10.8
10,000 meters 5/22/09 38.37.6
2,000 meters 5/29/09 7.16.4

Early Bird!

My first spring bloomer!

Appalling!

Exclusive Report: "The final days of Montana's finest singletrack (your trails could be next)." Thus states the May 2009 cover of Bike (the below is posted with permission from the editor of Bike magazine, Dana Point, CA) which arrived today:

As the Wilderness debate intensifies in Montana, hundreds of miles of singletrack could be closed to bikes. But that's just the beginning. New Forest Service policies-er philosophies-could soon spread across the country, jeopardizing access to thousands of miles of America's best trails. pp. 77.

...The effects of this philosophy (read the article-buy the hard copy) first rippled through Montana three years ago, when the Beaverhead Deer Lodge National Forest released its travel-management plan, a document that dictates how the forest service manages recreational uses. The Beaverhead Deerlodge includes 16 recommended Wilderness Areas, and the new plan offered a similar recommendation for them all: ban mountain bikes, a move that closed 350 miles of singletrack in the forest to riders... Before mountain bikers could recover from that unexpected blow, the Gallatin National Forest released its travel-management plan with a similar ban. pp 79.

Lawyers are everywhere. Men with close-cut hair in blue suits, gray suits and even a few brown suits loiter in the anteroom of the District Court in Missoula, Montana. These men and women have gathered to decide the fate of our trails. There are lawyers representing the Wilderness Society, the Wilderness Association, the Forest Service, the Blue Ribbon Coalition of motorized users and Citizens for balanced Use, an off highway vehicle group. pp 80

...Elsewhere, trotting hooves have left swampy depressions and pools of mud mixed with grassy manure. While mountain bikers might soon be banned from these trails, equestrians would still be allowed to ride here. The irony of this is too much for Owen (a Big Sky store owner). 'The horses are killing these trails,' he says. 'They can do more damage in a weekend than a whole summer of mountain biking.' pp. 82

In late October, Judge Jeremiah Lynch recommended to uphold the Gallatin travel plan. Those recommendations were handed to U.S. District Court Judge Donald Malloy, who has indicated he would follow them. The decision would ban mountain bikes from the Gallatin Crest high country and the remote trails in the Lionhead, as well as along the stretch of Continental Divide Trail running through the forest - more than 100 miles of trail in all. pp. 111.

More importantly, the move establishes a legal precedent that bikes are no longer welcome in Recommended Wilderness Areas. It justifies the Forest Service's philosophy to create a de facto Wilderness when true Wilderness is out of the question. pp 111.

Ironic this is occurring in Missoula, where we have not heard a word about it in our local press (at least not that I've recently read). Here is a Bozeman Chronicle article on the issue. Here is a New West New West article on the issue. Time to return to one of my first posts! Visit WildernessBicycling.org. It is also time to write our elected leaders:

Senator Baucus.
Senator Tester.
President Obama.

Sunday Ride

Jake and I went for a quick ride up the Lolo drainage today. Still a lot of skiers and some snowmobile action on the pass. It was wind, flurries and mostly rain along the way. Fingers got cold coming down and feet were plenty wet too. Should have taken a rod!

Not Taken For Granted

We are lucky to live here. Every direction we turn we see something beautiful in the state of Montana. Yesterday was the first day of spring and I spent the afternoon skiing in the sixty degree sunshine and mashed potatoes at the Bowl. A lot of folks hit the Last Run early as the soft snow was hard on the legs.

A friend e-mailed me he's going crazy with the rainbows on the Missouri in the Helena area right now. I've noticed a lot of folks fishing the Bitterroot lately too. Ski, fish and bike. Wonder if we can do a triple header today?

The Lunch Hour Erg

One day a local Personal Trainer was talking with one of her clients (a relative of mine) in front of me about their routine. I asked her (the PT) why she did not incorporate the erg into the routine for cardio, legs and core strength? She had a curt and abrupt reply that the "erg is for upper body strength." I mumbled something to myself and let it go.

I never rowed in college, though I spent a very brief stint as a cosxwain in high school at C.M.A. Anyone who really knows the erg understands that it is about more than the core (though that's why I like it). To excel at erging, one needs legs for the Drive to get the Watts up and the times down. Body mass is an advantage. The serious rowers (competitive heavyweights) are probably rowing at 400 or more watts. That's incomprehensible to me.

My legs have been slow to come around this winter, but I'm slowly starting to catch up on the bike and trainer when I can. Like all of us, family and work first. Today's goal was simply to do 10,000 meters below 39 minutes without bothering my lower back:

Meters: 10,000
Time: 38.47
Watts: 222
SPM: 37
T/500M: 1.56.4
Damper: 8
HR Max: 176
HR Ave: 164
WT: 66.7 Kg

In one of the posts on this rowing forum the vets said to simply get in the meters (base, like 40,000 per week) in the winter and eventually times will come down. Sounds a bit like cycling, which is what it took more of for me to maintain higher erg watts. The erg for me is simply about something to do when it is snowing for cardio, but rowing is also about legs. Concept has a pretty cool stats page. The back is feeling better! Got in some miles afterwards too. Tomorrow afternoon the Bowl and a beer with friends - finally!

Slowly but Surely!

Starting to get a little excited about the season! A little Spring snow to greet us on St. Patrick's Day!

Big Sky

It was a beautiful day in Big Sky, Montana, today. I took a few shots for the final episode of skiing away from home port, Snowbowl, this year. This is mainly going to be photos.

I went up the tram numerous times and skied down part of the face and along some of the bowls on the back. Some of Moonlight's lifts were not running as they are in reorg. I wanted to go down the dog leg on the front, but too much is required now to make that happen beyond a transceiver (guide, probe...).

Lone Peak (top photo) was my second mountain bike race ever (2006). I did not make the mtb race there in 2008. It is a cross country race that involves a lot of climbing. Skiing over here is always interesting. Rode up with folks from Canada, California, Florida and so on. This is considered a world class hill. The skiing is pretty decent (and spendy). I broke a boot buckle and tore my coat pocket descending the spine between the trees and the rocks along the right (going up) of the Challenger Lift below. Was moving along and my sluff covered up a few shrubs which my right ski did not like. Had to hike up for a bit to recover both skis. Going to go have to see the boys for a few weld repairs too. Edges survived though. Lots of rocks. Pretty steep there, though the photo does not quite do it justice.

I see the daffies are starting to come up in my back yard. Time to go find some dirt and start training for the season!

Learning to Erg

After a little cycling, LR rowed his first 2000 meter rip. My legs are still killing me from last weekend!

Bridger's Cold Smoke

I did not quite make first chair on Schlasman's Lift yesterday; however, I did make the third one. It was about 10.00 and I loaded up with Eddie, a Bridger patroller who gave me the rundown on the Ridge as we were going up. It was a blue bird day and I was pretty excited to learn what folks have been raging about with this new lift. The Bridger Ridge has been a favorite bit of terrain for those willing to hike up from the Bridger or Pierre's Knob lifts. This was my second time skiing at Bridger Bowl and I had never skied on the Ridge.Eddie explained to me after I asked why the chairs were spaced so far apart on Schlasman's that there was not much room when getting off the chair at the top, so they spaced them out to allow people to clear. The rules are pretty simple. Have a transceiver. A shovel and partner are highly recommended along with some avalanche awareness. The wind was howling. I spent most of the morning hiking over to the Saddle Peak area (south from the upper lift) and dropped into some nice steep terrain. It did get a bit narrow in a few hiking sections. The snow was just a touch heavy Saturday. There were some pretty serious cliffs at the base of this section which can be clearly seen coming up the new lift. The below shot is off of the back which no one was skiing (including me).I did some runs through the Fingers section as well which became my exit from the Ridge. It took a bit of cautiously poking around but the Finger section resulted in a drop into the South Bowl and then the Pierre lift area. I could not seem to get over the fun of the Saddle area though and stuck primarily with that descent. Being on this ridge reminded me a bit of Europe - you're on you own up there. I'm going to have to read Stepping Up which I noticed is being sold in the Jim Bridger lodge below.

I tinkered in the Mundy's Bowl area as well, which is still in bounds. Bridger has definitely made the hill more fun for skiers who were prior unwilling to hike. The new lift closed at 2.30 and if there is a visibility issue, Schlasman's will probably not be running. Speaking of visibility, today may have been the best snow of the year for this hill.

We went from sunburns and a blue bird day on Saturday, to a full snow dump today. It was pretty funny, the snow report said they got 4 inches. It started snowing at about 4.00 am today and never stopped. The locals were amazed that the morning lift lines were pretty much nada (it was Sunday) and said it was because of the report of four inches. I had to stop at one point to get the cold smoke out of my lungs. The powder was as light as it gets and there was no one up there until after lunch!

I would guess there was almost a couple of feet of new snow. Schlasman's was not open and visibility was low. Guys were hiking up the Fingers section to access the good stuff as the Ridge was open. Another fellow who has patrolled up there for 20 years told me they were going to maybe put in a triple chair next year going to where the Bridger lift ends, replacing the Deer Park and Bridger lifts. I know one thing, I am definitely going to be spending more time at Bridger. Awesome!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

The LRs get the gates and I get the Ridge. He's thinking red for Saturday. Bridger Time!

5 Climbs

I did five climbs tonight on a local hill. All of the stress of the week seemed to disappear with each one. I love mountain biking!

Rick's Going to Oregon

Rick (in front above during a ride with Dan and Tom last year) high fived me yesterday when I visited the Bicycle Hanger and said he is doing the Cascade Cream Puff this year. Sounds like they are also going to put together another team for Moab as well. Funny what "retirement" does to a guy! It is now Peter's show at the Hanger. Cool beans!

An Educational Link on Frostbite

Alaska Endurance Racer suffers frostbite. Worth the read to keep in mind the seriousness of the outdoors.