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Bob's Report...from the trails!
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A beautiful blue sky day dawned Saturday Feb. 16th. to greet the 40 to 50 determined Classic skiers who braved some rather stiff winds on their way from the SNRA to Galena Lodge. There was an inch or two of fresh new snow to make that perfect -6 Celcius wax work perfectly, however, the snow was drifting a little here and there and led to some tough ski conditions. But in spite of all the natural challenges, the hearty classic skiers all made it to Galena Lodge for a special lunch. This annual event is not a race, so there is no high anxiety prior to he start, in fact there is actually no start. Just a casual departure from the SNRA anytime between 9 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and arrival at Galena a couple of hours after the start, and occasionally a little more time than that, but all had fun. We would like once again to thank the amazing BCRD grooming staff for giving us a perfect trail, at least it was perfect before the wind gusts tried hard to blow the trail off to the East. Galena Lodge once again providing a warm welcoming to all the skiers, along with a few hundred other skiers who were also enjoying another great day at Galena. Whenever we slip the madness of downtown, and go to Galena Lodge, it is truly a special moment... always.
Thanks for a great day, and I will see you on the trails. Bob
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Cross Country Skiing
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One of the best kept secrets on the North Valley Trail System is Lake Creek, home of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Cross Country Ski Team. And once you ski these trails you quickly realize why the Sun Valley Ski Team members are so tough, the skiing is fantastic. Of course the fact that they also have the finest coaches available anywhere does have a strong influence on the athletes.
For all of us normal folks we get the benefit of absolutely superb skiing, groomed regularly with the BCRD Piston Bully which lives right there at Lake Creek, and touched up often with the Ski Foundation Snow Machine. Your North Valley Trail season pass covers this area, or a day pass can be purchased at any of the local XC stores, with The Elephant's Perch being located in the center of Ketchum, the process is easy.
I skied yesterday 1/5/08 at Lake Creek, skating on perfect snow, finally with a little time to try and resume some form of training for the World Masters in McCall coming up at the end of this month. A series of intervals at Lake Creek is a work out that you will not soon forget.
See you on the trails, Bob
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Wells Fargo Boulder Mountain Tour 2008
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Wow, The Wells Fargo Boulder Mountain was awesome! Perhaps one of the toughest Elite groups ever, and the weather gods worked in our favor to give us the perfect race day. A few might complain about the cold slow snow, and we did have a few totally hammered participants at the finish line, but then that is a day of racing. Being so deep into the organizational aspects of this event I often miss the little things, and certainly we appreciate the occasional comments of thanks from the racers. We also get a fair number of "constructive" complaints, some of which are valuable, and all of which are important to constantly tweaking the event each and every year.
My biggest vote of thanks goes to the over 300 volunteers who poured their physical labor and emotional support to this 33rd. running of the Tour, without you all it would never happen!
See you on the trails. Bob Rosso
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Backcountry Skiing on Durrance
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Monday Feb 4th. Nappy and I decided to take a hike up Durrance and burn off the Boulder Tour volunteer exhaustion blues. It was a blue sky morning, and the mountain was ours, just over 2500 veritcal feet of climbing put us at the gateway of fabulous powder options. With the current Avalanche Conditions rated as Considerable we selected the first bowl for safety and plenty of fun. A little stiff at the top due to some high wind, we quickly descended into velvety powder for the remainder of the run. Of course we had to cycle one more climb about half way up the ridge and take a little secret powder stash along the trees on the east facing slopes. Good friends, great powder.....what a way to recover from the Boulder Tour organizational responsibilities.
Please remember, always pay attention to the Sawtooth Avalanche Center reports, ski safely and make good choices on routes.
See you out there. Bob Rosso
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