Between Ironman training (running marathons & 2 hour lap swimming), work, church & family (acclimating to life with Ash, Tom & pets), have experienced a mighty full 2014. What’s missing? Need to get outside & enjoy our Colorado winter!
Bought tickets (via Groupon) to Ice Castles – an elaborate castle carved from ice, open from late December to February in Breckinridge (CO), Utah & New Hampshire. Cool, huh?
Wait, wait, it gets better.
Timed my trip to Breck on the same weekend as the International Snow Sculpture Championships. Teams from the US, Europe & Mongolia worked for a week on their masterpiece(s) – judging scheduled for Saturday. Excellent luck!
Left Boulder County in 50 degrees & sunshine. Arrived in Breckinridge, overcast & 20 degrees. Same state yet divided by the mighty Rocky Mountains = very different weather.
Busy ski day on Breck but secured parking & walked a short mile to Riverwalk Center & the International Snow Sculpture Championships. What a find! FAVES: Italy’s simple entry ‘Looking Up’ & both bold sculptures crafted by Mongolia. DISLIKE: France’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ – seriously, kinda creepy.
Devoured a package of elk jerky & entered Ice Castles. SPECTACULAR! Inspired to climb – but probably not the right setting 🙂 Anything better? How ‘bout returning at 6pm & walking thru the Castle under lights. WOW, WOW, WOW!
Crazy cold return walk under the most stunning, illuminated sky (ok, 2nd best – hard to beat October’s outdoor soak in Steamboat).
Have enjoyed touring the US during my 50 state marathon challenge but Colorado – man, this is home.
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- International Snow Sculpture Championships — with Ashton Haga and Tom Wilpiszeski
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- Winner: Breckinridge
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- 2nd Place: Germany
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- 3rd Place: Wisconsin
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- Russia
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- France
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- Mongolia
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- Mongolia (small country, 2 entries)
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- Colorado
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- Italy under lights – simple but probably my favourite
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- Welcome to Ice Castles!
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- LOVED this place! AMAZING!
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- today’s WOW shot! (pic credit Tom)
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- mighty tight tunnel – claustrophobics beware!
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- tasty snack
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- Ice Castles under lights
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- toss up whether green or purple were my fave
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- Goodnite Breckinridge – super fun day!
LOVE showing off my adopted home state. Ashton & Tom flew in from Jersey, Stephen from New Hampshire. What better way to kick off Memorial Day weekend than whitewater rafting in Colorado? Yahoo!
Woke early on Friday to drop Ro at Camp Bow Wow and squeeze in a mile-half glacier hike at St. Mary’s near Idaho Springs. Talk about troopers, my East Coast bunch faced snow & 10,300 ft elevation less than 24 hours after leaving their (almost) sea level homes. Up, down in an hour-half…then back on the road – destination: rafting company, Liquid Descent on Clear Creek.
Signed us up for an advanced ½ day rafting trip (Class 4 rapids) so asked my visitors not to share actual skill levels until we got on the boat. No regrets. Go big or go home, right? 🙂
Forward, backward – no worries. It was the multiple commands where we struggled – left back, right forward. Think I’m reaching an age where I need 5-10 seconds reaction processing time.
No more than 15 minutes into the trip, Alan (our guide) shouted ‘High side left’. Ash went left (correct), I went right (wrong) & suddenly 3 of us were out of the raft floating in the rapids reaching for hands. Ash got trapped under the boat but came up quickly & subsequently pulled in by Alan. All back in the boat & catching our breath, Alan asks Ash to let him up so he can steer our raft — yeah, we’re still floating down Clear Creek.
Gotta say the 4 of us now actively listened to Alan’s commands much more closely.
For the record, (1) the water was crazy cold (created by snow melt) & (2) Stephen was today’s only non-‘swimmer’ (often razzed for swimming during a raft trip a few years ago on Lake George, NY – guess that will have to stop :)).
On the bus ride back to Idaho Springs (shared ride with 2 other raft groups), Ash was crowned ‘swimmer’. Why Ash? Near the end of our day, Ash took a 2nd dip & this time not successfully pulled back into the boat. She did all the right things, laid on her back with feet pointing downstream, kicking boulders to protect her head as she personally rode the rapids. Another boat guide ahead of us rescued Ash, and kept her shoreside ‘til we caught up. Bruised tail bone & some arm bruises (from being pulled out of the water) but no cuts or broken bones. Yeah she’s tough as nails. Super impressed.
Awesome way to kick off a 4-day holiday weekend. Sign me up again!
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- Ash, Tom, Stephen & Alan (our guide)
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- forward 2, digging in
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- SPLASH!
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- High-side LEFT!
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- CAPSIZED!
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- 2 1/2 – do the body count
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- pic of the day – Tom’s hand reaching UP for help!
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- one person short – Ash still trapped under our raft
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- Super Heroes!
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- Alan to Ash: Please get off of me (so he could steer the raft)
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- approaching rapids
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- steady, steady….
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- tough as nails – check out Ash’s eyes
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- uber intense face: Tom
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- uber intense face: Ash & K*
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- LEAN IN!
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- uber intense face: Stephen
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- boulder navigation
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- 5 oars in – that’s how we roll!
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- GREAT TEAM – all focused & working together!
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- another all-outdoor Colorado day
2 ski weekends, 2 race weekends – no couch potato-ing for me in 2013. HA!
Dropped Ro off for another play-date with pal Molly, then hit the open road – destination: Winter Park, Colorado.
Had already banged out my January race 2 weeks earlier but this adventure race was calling my name. Similar to a Tough Mudder, SnowDash Xtreme is an obstacle riddled 5K – but in knee-deep snow. Not a lotta mud here in January.
The music & participants lining up at today’s Start were an estimated 10 years younger than me (& I’m not super old). Physically no worries, I’m strong…but felt like I was crashing a post-grad, twenty-something only event.
Just feet from the Start, we cleared our first obstacle – jumped a concrete barrier into a pit of fresh powder. Next obstacle: the altitude. Guess I haven’t hiked high in 2 months so found myself short of breath running at 10,000 ft.
Ladder obstacle, a hill climb, then…the log challenge. Argh, this one was tough. Selected a log and started up the hill, happy to return my oblong obstacle after completing the required loop. Two more mini-mountain obstacles, another ladder, then belly crawled under a rope trap before running the final half mile.
The music was back & a guy asked if I was ready before giving my plastic sled runner a push down the icy snow bank – sliding across the FINISH line. SUPER AWESOME FINISH!
Enjoyed a limeade sports drink (no beer for me) & warmed up by a fire pit with other Finishers.
3 weeks until my February challenge – the Snowman Stampede, a 10 miler in Littleton. Consider today’s race cross-training 🙂
SnowDash Xtreme (bib pick-up clip)
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- Welcome to Winter Park, Colorado!
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- race beanies ROCK (who needs another t-shirt?)
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- mishmash of layers – 3 shirts, jacket, pants, long johns, 2 pair of socks & boots
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- warming up before the Dash
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- ladder obstacle
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- log challenge
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- last half mile all flat (sorta kinda)
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- bloody knuckles – but a FINISHER!
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- warming up after the race
