Snowy, snow, snow, snow...

...that's what I imagine goes through Niko's mind as he jumps and squeals by the front door when he knows we are about to go play in the snow.

We got pummeled with snow here in South Central this weekend. Great for skiing, not so great for training for a hundred mile race. But I am trying to find a way to train in all conditions. I suppose this is a scenario that could play out the day of the race.



I went out for a ride Saturday amidst the "Blizzard" and made it only four miles in my first hour. Niko had a blast bouncing around in the freshly fallen snow, and I pushed. I rode some, but fell a lot. I did get a chance to try out my new Neos over boots in the deep powder.



It still feels wrong to squash the snow with my monster tires. I feel like a big bully doing it. But I really don't have a choice right now. So I'm trying to balance putting in a lot of miles on the bike and enjoying the snow on my skis.

Sunday we showed proper respect to the snow and skied in it at Aleyska. The powder was glorious!



Check out this stud I found on the slopes!



This year I'm venturing out into new territory at Alyeska. I am at the point where I can pretty much ski the whole mountain. Well, except for something they call "The Knuckles" which requires a "sketchy traverse" over rocks where any mis-ski could turn into a tumble off of a cliff.

But I do ski the High Traverse or the "High T" as locals call it, which is a journey in itself just to get there. First you veer off the groomed run into a fast traverse on the side of steep slope and aim your skis towards a narrow gate. You fly between the gate around a blind corner hoping no one is stopped at the entrance, then you traverse and side step up, and traverse and side step and then glide a long distance over several bumps and around the bowl until you find what you are looking for.



Then before you drop in you look back at how far you have come...



It was a great day that ended at chair five with beers and wings. And I am happy to say that I only watched about five minutes of "the game".