Since the inception of CB3P, I’ve always thought to myself, “I should really do that race someday.” But, it always happens at a time when I’d rather just be backckountry skiing. And, I was also pretty terrified of the “paddle” portion as I have little river experience. But, after I was finally assured that the river section was indeed not too hard, especially if using a duckie, I decided that this year was the year I needed to do it. I even put it in writing, stating I wanted to do it on my 2019 Bucket List. See, that’s the thing. Sometimes just putting a goal in writing makes me want to achieve it even more.

So, there I found myself at the CB3P pre-race meeting at the Brick Oven on Saturday April 27th, with a crowd of people huddled around Tiffany Simpson, the race coordinator. Imagine putting together a race that involves skiing at the ski area, biking on a public road, and boating down a public river – the permits and red tape involved in all of this must be horrific. But, she’s got it down to a tee. She informed us of the rules and about some small course changes.

But she saved the warning that was to be most heeded for last. “The Gunnison River is running at the highest CFS that we’ve ever had in this race before…. Be careful. No one will be stationed to help you until the whitewater park.” And she continued, “The feature in the whitewater park is especially tricky right now. People are going to swim (laughing). I’ve sent scouts down and they tell me that you have to paddle extra hard to get through it. Now, if you swim, we’ll have people there to help. Listen to what they say.” And then I found myself wondering if doing this race was a good idea. I had been assured that the river portion was easy. But, this did not sound easy. I went to bed anxious, dreaming of whitewater. I hoped that my years of growing up sailing and swimming, and my overall intuition about water, would just get me through this segment.

In the morning, my heart dropped as I took my first gaze out the window. A rain/snow mix was falling from the sky and temperatures were hovering at 36. Skiing in that weather would be more or less okay. But, biking or boating in it sounded like sheer misery. I packed a few more extra clothes and gloves in my transition bags and dressed for the ski segment with an extra layer. I was still fighting a terrible cold, and needed to make sure to stay warm.

I was expecting more people to stay home. Yet, I found myself amazed at all the people who gathered around the starting line of the CB3P in this horrible weather, many even in costume – Crested Buttians don’t need much reason to wear a costume. Oh yeah, that’s right, I’d almost forgot – We mountain people can be downright hard core. And here I was surrounded by the hardest most core of them all.

We placed our skis on the snow and gathered back on the pavement for the Le Mans start.

I mustered a smile. Yes, I was about to skin and ski in a bike helmet. But, a helmet was required on all three sections of the race. Saving time at transitions was key. So, I, along with most other solo racers, decided to start and finish with my bike helmet, eliminating the need to change headgear.

The buzzer sounded at 10 am sharp and we were off.

And the skinning commenced. People passed me on the skin. For all the backcountry skiing I do, I am not a fast skinner. I can just go forever without stopping. I was hoping some of this would work out for me in the end. I held my own, though I certainly got passed. But, I was far from last, and for that I was thankful.

The event photographer snapped this shot of me a good chunk of the way up.

And not much later, I saw her – Stevie Kremer. I call her the fastest woman on earth – because she pretty much is. There she was, pushing and pulling and skiing her way down the slope as fast as she could, ahead of all the boys and everyone else, very much in first place.

And then the down train kept coming, but I was still going up. We skinned until the patrol shack just below High Lift. There, I pulled my skins and threw my jacket on. The “down” is supposed to be the easy part of the race. But the new wet snow made it otherwise. The surface was sticky, wanting to rip my legs apart, and made it difficult to glide when it should have been easy.

When I arrived at the base of the ski area, I was relieved. Even though it was pouring rain, I was looking more forward to biking in that crap weather than skiing in all that slop. I barely changed clothes. I was mostly warm and mostly dry. A change of socks, a shirt, and gloves and I was on my way for the biking section.

As they say, the bike to Gunnison is “downhill”. Well, yeah, true. But, you get your share of winds which make it not-so-downhill. But, I was feeling strong, which surprised me since I had only ridden my bike twice since November. And the 36-degree rain was making me cold. So, I pedaled hard, trying to stay warm, and passed at least 5 riders – none of whom I could even see when I first started out on my bike. My lower back started to ache, so I got up out of the saddle, and pedaled even harder. It wasn’t going to go away until I was done riding. So, I might as well just ride faster.

Frank waved as he passed me on the road in the car. He was moving ahead to grab some photos and greet me at the next transition. He got this photo of our friend Daniel dressed in costume.

And not too much longer he got these of me.

By the time I saw Frank again a few miles down the road, I passed two more riders. Coming in hot into the North Bridge put in for the Gunnison River.

I changed shoes, downed some Honey Stinger Chews, grabbed my borrowed duckie, and into the river I went. Emma and Emma (a team, as opposed to individual competitors like myself) were right behind. Emma had been the only one to pass me on the bike portion, flying by me in her hot pink tights.

I got in the duckie without hesitation, and somehow made it look like I knew what I was doing, even though I’d never even taken a duckie down a stretch of river before.

The river was swelling. The current was fast, and constant paddling was needed to keep the boat on the correct course. I looked behind and smiled at Daniel. He was now cruising by me on a kayak. “I have no idea what I’m doing here,” I yelled, cracking up. “Well, you seem to be doing just fine.” And off he went. I didn’t see him until the finish line.

I looked behind and Emma and Emma were still there. I rested my paddle for a bit to fiddle with something and that was a mistake. The next thing I knew, my paddle was floating just up the river from me. No, no, no! I thought to myself. I can’t do anything without a paddle. So, I frantically splashed around with my hands and arms to slow the boat to let the paddle catch up with me. Success.

But wait, what’s this? A weird current had me, and it was trying to swoop me into a sharp turn in the river on my port side. Paddle harder, paddle harder. The river tried to swoop me to my left, right into a low hanging tree. But, I narrowly escaped. I looked behind, and saw Emma and Emma paddling hard too. They were getting sucked into the same left bank. A turn in the river blocked my view. And then the were gone. I kept looking back. I never saw them again until the end of the race. But, indeed, they did end up getting stuck on that low hanging tree.

The rest of the river was lonely. Except for a few random people on shore, I didn’t see anyone – at least, not until the very end. I was told I’d know when I was coming up on the whitewater park. And that sometime shortly after the first feature I’d have to exit the river to the right and cross the finish line on shore. But, I heard it before I saw it – the roar of the whitewater. And I thought to myself, “Hey, it doesn’t look as bad as I thought.”

Meanwhile, Frank had been there waiting for me, watching scores of people flip their boats on this very same feature. Like this paddle boarder…. about to eat it….

And our friend Alex…. Notice her, her boat, and her paddle, and the kayaker trying to help her….

Frank pretty much thought I was doomed. And I did too – Until I saw the feature that is. Then, I knew I had it…. Ready, set, go!

I didn’t swim. And it was a lot longer paddle than I thought to get to the exit for the finish line. But, I crossed it, still all in one piece, wet as a rat, and still smiling – greeted by a proud husband on the other side.

Somehow, I managed to do alright, despite never having done this race before or having had taken a duckie down a river, or even paddled this section of river before. In fact, I did well enough to earn the top podium spot for the Women’s Solo “Fun” category.

What’s more, I finished 8th out of 13 solo women, and 19th out of 37 total solo competitors – smack in middle, with a respectful time of 3 hours, 27 minute, and 27 seconds.

Would I do the CB3P again? Heck yeah. But, hopefully in better weather Then again, what else would I be doing on a rainy/snowy cold day in April? I Might as well join a bunch of other crazy people for a crazy race!

The post Crested Butte Pole Pedal Paddle Race (28 April 2019) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

So, here’s my plan. The meaning of words can evolve over time, and I want “bucket list” to be redefined as a list of goals can that can imply a shorter amount of time as well as a lifetime. So, I have created my 2019 Bucket List – a list of things I wish to accomplish during 2019. Some of the goals are things I have done in the past, but want to continue doing. Some are completely new. Some I’m already kind of doing. Others, I just have been wanting to do, but making a list like this public will hold me accountable.

As I put these goals into writing, no one is aware of their existence – not even my own husband. They are solely mine. Of course, Frank is usually game for most of the adventures I come up with. I’m lucky to have a husband like that.

After some careful thinking and soul-digging, here’s my 2019 Bucket List, in no particular order of importance.

1) Ski 135 days or more
While living in the Boulder area, my ski days hovered in the 80 to 90 range. Since moving to Crested Butte in 2008, my average ski days are in the high 120’s, pushing into the 130’s a few times. During the 2013-14 season, I reached my highest number of ski days ever at 134. In 2015-16, I was on track to finish at 135, but then a knee injury took me down for the remainder of the season, and all of the following season too. Last season, I came back strong, but the lackluster snowfall and other personal life events took a toll on my ski days, reaching only 108 for the season. I’ve been trying to cross over the 135-day mark for years now, and this year I’m more determined than ever to make it happen

What does a ski day look like? This can mean different things to different people. At a New Year’s Eve party someone asked me if I counted my cross-country skiing as ski days. The answer is no. A ski day counts when I make some legitimate turns, whether they are made with the help of a lift, snowmobile, or purely human-powered. Sometimes this means that I skin up Crested Butte Mountain resort and then ski back down – as a working person, sometimes that’s all I can do. Most agree that this “counts”. Frank, however, is adamant that it should not count. I disagree

2) Stay a night in a hut and ski before working the next day

Have you heard of “microadventures“? I was first introduced to this idea a handful of years ago through a podcast that interviewed Alistair Humphreys. In his words, and overnight adventure “that is short, simple, local, cheap – yet still fun, exciting, challenging, refreshing and rewarding.” I was drawn to this concept because the word “adventure” usually implies going big, or traveling far. But, here we have Mr. Humphreys redefining the word “adventure”. Adventures can happen anywhere doing just about anything.

I’ve always liked going to huts and Crested Butte has a handful of good ones surrounding our area. But, I’m ashamed to admit that I have yet to partake in hut adventures in my own backyard. This year, I want to change that. And how exhilarating will that be to ski from a hut and go to work? Sounds like the perfect microadventure to me!

3) Ski at least one new peak in five different mountain ranges in Colorado

I’m an explorer. I thrive on experiencing the unknown. While I love skiing the Crested Butte backcountry, it’s also fun to explore other areas. Colorado is full of some great mountain ranges that offer heaps of fantastic backcountry skiing. We’ve explored some things previously unknown to us in these ranges during our 14er-skiing and guidebook research. But, there are thousands more peaks to explore. This year, I hope continue exploring other mountain ranges through this goal.

4) Ski either the Skillet on Mt. Moran (Wyoming) or Mt. Jefferson in Oregon.

To some of you, this may seem like a random goal. But, I know many backcountry skiers understand how a certain peak or line can fester in your brain, so much that you can sometimes be obsessed with them. I’ve had a few of these in my past – Pyramid Peak, Capitol Peak, and Shasta were among them. Mount Rainer, which I skied last May, was also another. But the Skillet is something I have drooled on before I even had my eyes on any of the aforementioned peaks. Unfortunately, Frank ended up skiing it while I was sidelined with my ACL injury in 2008. And Mount Jefferson is a peak I fell in love with during my first trip to Bend in 2013 and was turned around part way up the mountain last May. We will see if timing between work, life, and all my other adventures permits me to ski either one of these peaks!

5) Ski in a foreign country, in a place where I haven’t skied before

Our original 14er-skiing goals and then our guidebook research made traveling to ski outside of Colorado difficult for us, let alone international adventures. An international ski vacation has been on our list for quite some time and this year, we’ve set our minds to get it done. While we are still waiting to see how winter shapes up through the world, we have our eyes set on Europe. Skiing the Dolomites or La Grave would be on the top of my list!

6) Complete a pole, pedal, paddle event
Pole, pedal, paddle events have been evolving over the last decade to attract tourism to mountain towns during “off-season” – mainly spring. In these events, competitors skin up something and then ski down, bike somewhere, and kayak (or some other form of water transport, but in CO it’s typically kayak). Competitors often do all three, or depending on the event, can enter as a team to split up the activities. I would like to complete one of these events. The CB3P would be the most obvious one for me to do, considering it held right here in Crested Butte and Gunnison. On April 28th, this race will take people for a 4 mile ski up and down Crested Butte Mountain Resort, then on a 27 mile road ride to Gunnison, followed by a 4.5 mile paddle down the Taylor River. If for some reason this date doesn’t work for me, I can also do the 3P Salida in mid-April.

7) Bike-hike five new peaks

Bike-hike? What does that mean? It means I want to take my bike as high as I can go on a mountain and then ride down it. Some peaks like Mount Elbert, are rideable from the summit. Others, like Mount Antero and Lenawee, require a hike for the final summit push, but most of the descent can be done on a bike. The goal will be to find a handful of these peaks worth the bike-hike, likely within Colorado.

8) Complete the last 100 km of the Camino de Santiago

There are certain walks that must be done. Hiking for days through the Andes to reach Machu Picchu on the solstice was an unbelievable experience. The Camino de Santiago, in Spain, is another one of those walks whose journey is more than just the destination. We are planning to hike from Sarria to Santiago del Compostela this October on a family and friend trip with my dad.

9) Educate people about our public lands, their importance, and why maintaining our access to them is essential
I’m an advocate for preserving our public lands. But, I’m also an advocate for maintaining our access to them. In fact, I helped start a non-profit based on this concept, called Share the Slate, of which I am now President. I also participate on the board of Backcountry United, which has a similar agenda. My countless hours of volunteer work dedicated to these organizations on behalf of preserving access to our public lands will help to achieve this goal.

10) Inspire someone new to live an outdoor lifestyle
Our public lands are essential to our world, our health, and our life. However, the importance of preserving them is not realized if you don’t have a connection to them. The best way to connect with our public lands is to experience them through outdoor adventures. That’s one of the reasons why I think living an outdoor lifestyle is essential to our future and I want to inspire others to do that too. How this will take form is yet to be determined. But, I would love to take someone with limited outdoor experience on their first hike, mountain bike ride, or ski!

So, there’s my 2019 Bucket List. Admittedly, it will be hard to check all ten of these items off the list in just a year. But, it’s a challenge I’m going to try to rise to the top of.

The post My 2019 Bucket List appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

I’ve been biking in Fruita for over two decades, yet there are a few classic rides I have not checked off the list. The Zion Curtain finally got it’s check mark last fall. This ride is a little less technical than some others near the Colorado River. But, that doesn’t detract from the fun. Not to mention, a good chunk of his ride is actually located in Utah. Unlike the Interstate though, you won’t be finding signs at the border.

I ended up riding this loop with my friend Larry.

The trail was very cross-country, but still had it’s own flow with a fun descent.

We liked this move.

Me.

The ride was rewarded with a Cold Snack of the Montucky sort. I mean, who doesn’t love that can!

Overall opinion? Zion Curtain was fun and I’d do it again. But the trails out of Loma are generally more fun. And the queen of Rabbit Valley is the Western Rim Trail. Still, Zion Curtain should be a trail on your list to check out in the Fruita area.

Want to do this ride yourself?

Here’s a map! We did the Zion Curtain loop in a clockwise direction. We took some wrong turns a few different times, which is pretty obvious on the map. The loop is about 19 miles without wrong turns.

The post TBT: Zion Curtain – Rabbit Valley (24 Oct 2017) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

As many of you know, Brittany and I were riding a lot of random trails this summer as part of Trailquest, a contest to ride all of the singletrack in the Crested Butte and Gunnison areas (which apparently also includes Paonia and Crawford). While we probably won’t return to some of these trails, others might be worth a return a trip and Sink Creek and Throughline certainly fall into that category. Unfortunately, both of these trails have to be ridden as out and backs, since the legal riding ends at the West Elk Wilderness boundary. If it wasn’t for that, you could make a great loop with these trails around the humorously named “Tater Heap” mountain.

In any case, we started off on throughline, which is a well-used trail unlike some of the others in this area. This area felt perhaps like the African savanna (take note of Needle Rock in the distance, the distinctive rock formation outside of Crawford):

We made short work of Throughline and started down the dry, dusty, but fun trail (Tater Heap in the background):

Mendicant Ridge, which proved to be the hardest day of the Trailquest challenge, is in the bakcground:

Once we were back at the Throughline/ Sink Creek intersection, we headed up Sink Creek. This trail wasn’t as popular, but it was still in good shape while being a bit overgrown in spots with ferns. That’s just kind of fun, though.

We had a great time on these trails, and I’d certainly mountain bike them again. If you’re looking for something different, head out towards Crawford and give Throughline and Sink Creek a shot. Things went so well, in fact, that we had more time and decided to head towards another trail called East Flatiron. East Flatiron is more of an ATV trail with a long approach road, but it did have some great views. Mount Gunnison (one of these days we’ll ski this amazing massive peak):

Looking back towards Crested Butte. Marcellina is on the left, Owen and the Ruby Range is in the middle, and West Beckwith is on the right:

An unnamed canyon:

As with Mount Gunnison, we really need to ski West Beckwith:

That’s it for this post. If you love riding in new places, keep Sink Creek and Throughline in mind. We’re pretty sure you’ll have a great time.

The post TBT: Sink Creek and Throughline trails 9.1.18 appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

October is the magic time for the desert. Temperatures are usually perfect – 60’s or 70’s in the day, and not too cold at night. Living in Colorado, I feel incredibly lucky to have access to some of the nations highest peaks, yet only a few hours drive from some of the best desert around. The public lands around Fruita offers some fantastic mountain biking, and the Kokopelli Loops out of Loma are among my favorite.

Last year, my friend Natalie and I spent some time riding the majority of trails in the Kokopelli Loops area within a single day. We combined Horsethief, Mary’s Loop, Steve’s Loop, and Moore Fun and gathered a collection of photos along the way. After all, we were riding along the scenic canyon cut by the Colorado River…

Natalie.

Brittany.

The good news… even though ski season has begun, desert riding is far from over. So, get out to the desert and ride! And don’t forget the flip-flops

Wanna do this ride yourself?

Our 22 mile ride on the Kokopelli Loops involved Horsethief, Mary’s Loop, Steve’s Loop, and Moore Fun…

The post TBT: Loma Kokopelli Loops (10 Oct 2017) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

I love desert riding. But, admittedly, in the last decade, I haven’t given Moab a whole lot of love. A handful of years back, Frank and I rode the Whole Enchilada – a great ride for sure. But, everyone else thinks that too. There we were along for the ride with about 1000 other friends. Maybe it wasn’t that many…. but the constant stream of people was relentless. When we finished the ride, we spent hours looking for a campsite. We were over it, and retreated to Fruita for a bit more solace. Granted, it was a weekend… But that experience turned Frank and I off from adventuring in Moab for a long time.

Enter job flexibility. No longer having to only have “weekend” trips actually be on weekends means I can go to places during the week and skirt the crowds. I’m not going to say Moab still wasn’t crowded – it was. Most campsites were still full. But, the stream of people on the trails was much more manageable and definitely an improved experience.

I had actually never explored the Navajo Rocks area before. Natalie insisted we go there, and now I see why. The riding there is really fun – technical features, but not too technical. Pretty much everything is rideable. And, it’s incredibly scenic. I would happily ride there again!

We ended up riding the typical Chaco Loop. But, we actually did it as a figure 8 instead of a loop. We started at the middle parking lot, did a clockwise loop to the east and then a counter-clockwise loop to the west. It was a great way to connect these trails together!

And now, for the pics…

And one shot of me….

Navajo Rocks is a great area for intermediate riders and above. So, check it out if you haven’t. I certainly intend to go back!

Map of Navajo Rocks Figure 8

The post TBT: Moab – Navajo Rocks (7 Nov 2017) appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

As many of you know, last Saturday I completed the TrailQuest challenge, becoming the first person to ride over 750 miles of trails in the area surrounding Crested Butte, Gunnison, Paonia, and Crawford. It’s been a journey that’s taken me to some great destinations. But, as the saying goes, it’s about the journey, not the destination. And this journey has given me a reason to go places I would not have otherwise gone and motivated me to push beyond my comfort zone – often riding hard trails solo.

In my two-season TrailQuest journey, I wrecked 3 pairs of gloves, replaced 2 drive trains on my bike, replaced 7 tires, broke 2 helmets, tore up multiple pairs of shorts, ruined a few pairs of socks, wore out the soles of two pairs of shoes, spent roughly $2000 in parts and maintenance on my bike, endured too many saddle sores, broke my tailbone, and broke my little toe. I suffered on multiple long rides, occasionally breaking down to tears. But I also experienced so much joy in the beauty of the lands that surround us and in finding new trails that were new to me that made great rides.

I came out of this project with at least 20 new scars on my legs, a toe that is still broken, and the insight that goals motivate me do things that I would not otherwise do. My experience also left me with a wealth of knowledge about trails and landscapes in our local extended area as well as at least an additional half-dozen rides that will be on my annual to do list, followed up with some other rides that I would still love to do again.

We grow from the things that challenge us the most. Just like skiing the Colorado fourteeners push me to new limits with my skiing and ski mountaineering, Trail Quest pushed me to new limits with my mountain biking. Both goals have changed me forever. And I’ve come out a wiser, stronger person because of them.

Finishing a long term goal is ways weird for me. In some ways, I’m elated. I just completed a project that wanted to beat me up and spit me out I to a hundred pieces. But at the same time, I feel this emptiness – because I don’t have a goal I am striving to achieve, taking all my free time. It’s almost like I feel lost without something to look toward.

But times like this can allow for creativity. I will be consumed by another goal soon, it’s just a matter of what. And for now, I’ll be enjoying the space in between, eagerly waiting for the next challenge. Either way, I can’t wait to find out where the next goal takes me

Thank you!

I owe a huge thanks to so many people! I could not have completed this project without my two best TrailQuest biking partners – my husband Frank and my friend Heather Crossen. I also thank the GCBTA for developing this TrailQuest Challenge in the first place, including but not limited to Jon Norton, Laurel Runcie, and Daniel UpChurch-Kreykes. I also would like to give a big shout out to Derrick Nehrenberg for being the master mind behind the app development and for dealing with my constant pestering of “I’m not sure there’s enough miles”. And I’d like to thank Jon Norton a second time for being the inspiration behind TrailQuest, for writing about me weekly, for crowning me Queen, and for naming me The Formidable. Last, thanks to all my supporters who followed my fabulous journey along the way. I’ve met some incredible people because of this project!

The post First Finisher of TrailQuest! appeared first on 14erskiers.com.