Scheming

Since my visit to Crested Butte, I have come to an understanding about myself and steep skiing. The experience at the Butte was life changing. I want more.

Powder, steep trees, and most of all, 45+ degree skiing. This is an important moment in my introduction to skiing above tree-line at high altitudes. Now I'm fantasizing about what I need to do to make my way back up that high again, so I can hop-turn my way down. In addition to increasing my lung capacity and cardio-vascular threshold, I need to travel with a few friends with avi-gear... beacon, shovel, probe. Some folks who are stoked to go up to the gnarly lines, but are willing to chill out on 26 degree slopes until the snowpack stabilizes.

I am especially stoked to travel with some chicks. With gear. With experience. With transportation.

Maybe a ski movie? A pink glove holding an ice axe? We are in training for a humanitarian mission, American Gypsies studying nomadism in Mongolia? I need a cinematographer who can keep up with our band while lugging his or her own photo equipment. Plus a photo-assistant? to help lug?

I imagine the possibilities for this project and how everyone I meet lately has some great energy to contribute. We could learn about how nomadic cultures might teach Americans how to reduce their footprint, the impact of petrolium products on migrational traditions. America was once land of the horse. Mongolia, with it's horsmanship ways, may help us understand something about our own cultural values about travel, the iron horse and sustainable mobility.

(Potential Title)

Mobility of the Spirit: Horsemanship, Nomadism, and Stories of Sacred Place.

For a photo-shoot, there are several locations around Nederland that would make a great scene depicting American Wild-West Ski Culture. A cabin with a beautiful, old wood burning stove. An automotive garage of corrugated metal. The mining apparatus at the corner of old bridge street and new bridge street. Deep snow. Fit, young skiers and snowboarders in their swankiest gear. I'd like to have members of the American training team present for the shoot.

We are planning a few hut trips, opportunities to test out our winter camping skills, and get some fresh turns. Everyone has powder fever since the current storm gave us a few inches of snow. I'm feeling desperate for a stable snow pack.

This is a multi-disciplineary project: scholarly research, meets buzz marketing ski culture, meets Eastern spirituality, meets humanitarianism, meets hardcore ski mountaineering.

Yes, I am scheming ideas... lassoing up as many ideas as possible and defining the boundaries and expectations for the Mongolia Project. May 2010 to November 2010, seven months traveling across Mongolia by horse, old Russian truck, dirt-bike, kayak, camel, and skis. Learning to set up a yurt and live traditional nomadic ways.

Assisting park rangers and climbing guides as they build a safe, sustainable adventure tourism industry.

Recording glacial data for scientists watching climate change.

Supporting tourism industry growth by providing route information and better access to local service providers for mountaineers and tourists.

Providing ethnographic recordings of prayers to the mountains.

Chasing the White Reindeer

Check out this link:

http://vimeo.com/9082378

Not Out Skiing - The Other Kind of Preparation

Today I passed up a day of skiing so I could work on the other kind of preparation I need to do for the Mongolia Project. I am building a strategy... How do I plan an expedition to Mongolia?

I have always been a bit obsessive about gear. I love it. I hate not having it. I've begun to list every piece of gear that I have which could be useful in Mongolia, and a list of dream items that give me goosebumps.

I'll be applying for a Fulbright Fellowship to pay for transportation to and from Mongolia, plus in-country support. The Fulbright ties into my goals for this expedition to have a humanitarian mission. This is not just about climbing a few peaks, nor is it a fancy vacation. It is an opportunity for inter-cultural exchange, to promote education, and to learn something new about how we interact with our environment.

It's also a way to connect people from all over the world. I am eager to meet people who have visited Mongolia, or climbed glaciated peaks, or have created their own meaningful project. I feel an amazing energy driving the Mongolia Project into reality.

Skills Development

How to build an emergency evacuation transport toboggan out of skis (quickly).

Crevasse rescue.

Avalanche beacon search.

Snow-cave building.

Belays and anchors.

Gear repair.

Navigation.

Terrain selection.

Self-arrest

I have lots to learn. Nothing beats real life experience, but time spent practicing skills in a hypothetical setting can be a valuable frame of reference if ever the proverbial "shit hits the fan." If anyone out there wants to join me in some study sessions, give me a shout.

Changing Anaerobic Threshold

I'm trying to be honest with myself about the training I need. To be physically ready for the challenges that I'll meet in Mongolia, I'll need to improve my endurance and ability to breath while moving up mountains. Luckily, I live at roughly 8,233 feet above sea level and ski at about 12,000 f. elevation. Elevation affects how well I breath, and in Mongolia, over 14,000 f., I will need to breath easily. I will also need speed.

There are several ways of measuring fitness. Speed and endurance are two types of fitness I am working to increase. Crossfit, a training system I've started practising, has a philosophy I like. The exercises help you find your weaknesses, then change them.

For aerobic exercise, I'm skate skiing three days a week at the Eldora Nordic Center (Wed., Sat. and Sun.). After two months of practise, I'm finally moving more efficiently and needing fewer breaks on the uphill.

At least once a week, I also put on tele/randonée ski boots and "earn my turns." For me, this is a muscle work out, and a chance to feel good. There is nothing that burns my tushy muscles more. (Ok, this is not all physiological science, tushy being an approximation of "glutes.") I have skins (grippy fabric attached to the base of the skis) that make my skis like giant snowshoes. With every stride I concentrate on pushing my hips forward, to maintain grip on the slippery snow, especially pushing up the steeper inclines.

Working at the Eldora Nordic Center has given me access to some great Nordic ski instructors. I see the many styles of skiing: Telemark, classic touring, skate, and alpine, start to overlap as the technique in each movement is refined. Each style is a graceful, efficient... gliding on snow. Sometimes I'm resisting gravity, other times I'm being carried by it.

But it's not all skiing. More on the pull-ups, squats, and push-ups later. Tonight, a bath in epsom salts. Tomorrow, my first day as an Eldora Alpine Ski Instructor.

Pizza and fries?