It was the winter of ‘87-’88 and I was nine years old.  My father, his roommate from college and my grandfather and I set out on an adventure that was actually fairly typical for my family, but to some it seemed extraordinary.  We were living in Denver and the plan was to do a two-night/three-day ski tour from Vail Pass to Shrine Pass into Turkey Creek and down to the town of Redcliff, Colorado.  We would be camping two nights along the route and much of the trip would be above 11,000 feet of elevation.  While I had been camping and backpacking throughout Wyoming and Colorado, it had always been during the summer months and this would be my first overnight winter trip.

I have great memories of this trip because I was really treated like an adult (or at least I thought so) and it was an amazing ski tour.  My grandfather and I were tent mates and I can remember fantastic days in the mountains and, with nighttime temps around zero, the cold, sleepless nights.

I have been skiing and spending time in the snow as long as I can remember; at the age of 3 my parents fought and lost the battle of not allowing me to ski with my blankie.  With the blankie in tow, I began a winter tradition of Nordic and Alpine ski adventures.

Don’t get me wrong, when my friend Trevor Glavin, soon to be father and director of SkinFit U.S.A. Operations, posts some amazing photos of 80 degree riding in Southern California, I do get a bit jealous; but even after frostbitten fingers and toes, winter has “got me” and for some reason I love it.  Whether it is a big Randonee/ski mountaineering trip, a skate ski, or a stomp around the woods with my kids, I love it all.  Hopefully we are passing the torch of loving winter off to our kids.

Ironically, this year Boise has had an incredibly warm and dry winter.  With the weather being so mild, it has been great early season outdoor riding and running, but it has caused a dramatic decrease in the number of times I have been able to enjoy the snow.  Mac has been racing and training with the BBSEF ski team and at a minimum that has given me each Sunday on the snow, but it hasn’t been as much as I would like.

As we have done for many years, we purchased a side of beef from a family friend in Wyoming and the processing of the meat was complete and needed to be picked up (completely different subject, but for a number of years we have been buying local, free range and sustainably raised meat from family friends in Wyoming and it is the best meat you have ever had.  I will try to put together a post on the great beef, lamb and pork we stock up on each year).  This gave me the chance to head to Wyoming for some winter fun.

Our friends Aaron and Tamsen Pruzan (through their company Rendezvous River Sports) are triple crown sponsors of the Jackson Hole Ski Club and this weekend they would be holding their annual Moose Chase Nordic Ski race.  Tamsen convinced me to come over a day early to race in the 15K skate ski.  The race would be held at the Trail Creek Nordic Center, at the base of Teton Pass.  It is a fantastic community event and I recommend it to anyone trying to fit in a fun winter event.

I knew I was fit but I hadn’t had a lot of time on snow, so it would be interesting to see how the race would shake up.  It is an incredibly challenging course with a ton of up and down terrain that really never allows you to recover.  I certainly suffered and went as hard as I could; I was actually fairly pleased with a top ten finish given I am just a hack weekend warrior skate skier.  The big fun of the race day was the kids 1K Minniest Moose Chase (picture of Aaron and Tamsen’s kids; Noah, Nathan, and Nev).

It did snow on and off all day long and after the race I couldn’t resist a quick randonee ski tour up on Teton Pass.  With the new snow fall, I was really excited to get a bigger ski tour into Grand Teton National Park the next day.  I was lucky enough to connect with Tamsen’s Mother Cindy and her husband Bob (along with a couple of their ski friends).  Given the new snow and recent avalanche activity, we opted for the tree lined ridged named Mavericks.  It was just a fantastic trip filled with powder turns in that Wyoming Cold Smoke (video is from this trip).

Here is a video from what the GoPro saw over the past couple of weeks (I have been having some fun making these videos and I hope you guys are enjoying them as well).  My wife and the editor of the page says the videos are maybe a bit long.  Let me know on Facebook what you think and if you would like to see anything different.

Even if our family wins the lottery and we are able to have a warm weather get away, I don’t think I would ever give up the winter all together.  I don’t know what it is, but it is in me and I love it.

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