Adventures in Sunny Valley

MOD Squad

"Poppa said 'Son you're going to drive me to drinking if you don't stop driving that hotrod Lincoln."'



I rolled into Sun Valley for a little mix in the training scene. I had to visit my friend Max, who has just begun to call the Wood River Valley home. Heading into the drive I ran into Max and this sweet '63 Lincoln. The old school Continentals have always had a certain appeal. I couldn't resist getting behind the wheel of this 4,500 pound beauty of Detroit chrome, steel, suicide-door style and big block muscle.

Racing & Grinding

It might still feel like summer, but I'm already starting to dial in the little parts of the ski racing equasion. Mark Waechter of Ultra-Tune has been showing me the ropes in getting a better handle on my racing boards. Between the morning and afternoon sessions my coach Scott Johnston and I were cranking on my fleet of skis; first scraping, followed by flex testing, then finishing with waxing. At the next Ultra-Tune session I'll take this information and plan out a lil grinding plan with Mark to have both my old and new Rossignol's running better than my competitors. Watch out...



The past weekend made for an altogether different kind of grind - the 11.5mile Cutthroat Classic. It's a classic trail run that crosses from Rainy Pass on the Western side of the North Cascades, that then drops down from the high alpine setting into the sunny side of the state. With three miles of climbing remaining, I decided to set off solo and put about four minutes on the closest pursuer by the time we reached the valley on the other side, who came all the way from Track Town USA (Eugene, OR) to defend his Northwest trail running title. It felt good to race and be so in control, especially in longest running race of my life.

Getting Strong with the Methow Olympic Development Program

A Sunday afternoon with the MOD Squad

Trout Lake, Washington

Perhaps its not surprising some of the best skiing in America can be found beside a volcano stretching 12,276 into the sky. What might be surprising, though, is this underground mecca for ski training is used near exclusively in the summer months, and, even though one can see hundreds of acres of terrain on the upper reaches of Mt. Adams, all the skiing is done on paved logging roads put in years ago to haul out the resident Ponderosa, White Pine and Doug Firs. All it takes to put a smile on this skier's face in the summer months is smooth pavement that meanders through the Cascade foothill. To have all this in a sleepy town that sparingly shares the road with fossil fueled BMW R75's and mid-nineties Chevy Silverados makes it even better.



We saw the hottest days of the summer yet at this camp. Fortunately swimming holes abound around Trout Lake, making the plunge into the icy waters running off Mt. Adam's glaciers an easy detour before rolling back to camp and filling up on Taco Stand inspired food.



The kids were working hard all week. I don't think they were too used to putting in two tough workouts a day, but I never heard the young'ens complain. I was pretty impressed, especially when we finished the last two days of camp off with a time trial, a max strength session and a fast trek to the top of Mt. Adams. It was pretty sweet to see this long thin line of raucous skiers blowing by these slow moving, overburdened climbers, puffing away in their full GoreTex kits, headlamps and ice axes in tow.



$320,000 Kindergarten Teachers, worth the short read: here

Birthday Ski

Self-portrait from the top of Mount Bachey.

Waking up this morning, I thought I'd treat myself to a final morning on the slopes. So I - slowly - rolled out of bed, then loaded up my skis, a brand new pair of the beefy Sin 6's Rossignol sent me at season's end, skins, boots and headed twenty miles up to the base of Mt. Bachelor. A little over an hour of solid skinning and bootpacking later I was at the top looking down a chute for the final schussing of the season.


The climb to the sky's final steps.


The perspective from the top. Definitely worth it. And though this picture doesn't do it justice, the skiing just below in the cinder cone was top-notch, not too sun cupped at all and the new skis ripped.