Thirty Kilometers On Skis!

He had puzzled over the thought of seeing how long of a ski he could do. Most of the time he would be skiing with friends who had other things to do, or would tire before he did, and the skiing would be truncated. There had been times in the past, most recently on 23 December 2013, where, as a solo skier, he had gone twenty kilometers. And it always seemed he was skiing alone when he would do the longer distances.

So he had been contemplating for several months going the distance. Could he do thirty kilometers? Then one morning his spouse suggested that he go skiing that day. Could he do it? The ski area wasn't open and the last grooming of the trails had been a couple days before.

He left home at about 8 a.m. and headed for the hill. Fog and slippery road surfaces caused doubts to enter his mind. He arrived at Anthony Lakes nordic area and started skiing just after 9, with cloudy, snowy conditions prevailing. He was skeptical, as is his wont. The groomed surface was broken by previous skiers, and had formed small, hard edges that could take a skier down if they weren't paying attention.

Nobody was around. He had the entire ski area to himself. Within twenty minutes of leaving the car the weather cleared, snow fall had stopped, and the sun was shinning brightly. The mountains were exalted and every little pile of misplaced snow was kept low. The conditions were fast, and the wax was blue.

Maybe he could do it.

The sun was almost above the shoulder of Gunsight Mountain as he skied the first few kilometers.

He skied all the main trails once, clocking the first ten kilometers at one hour and thirty minutes. Certainly not a racers time, but respectable for him, he of recreational skiing. After a short break where he downed some water and a banana, he committed to the second round doing all the trails in the opposite direction of his first loop, and it took him about one hour and forty minutes. He was wearing out. And this was the distance he had always stopped at, usually feeling tired and worn out.

He took a lunch break of a few minutes, just enough to down a bagel and a banana,and drink some water. And the third ten kilometers took almost two hours. But the thirty kilometers were under his belt and he felt a small sense of victory, or accomplishment in the knowledge that he could do it. He did do it. Thirty kilometers, and he did not feel too bad. In fact, on the drive home he started contemplating a forty kilometer day.

Map and elevation profile of the thirty kilometer ski at Anthony Lakes Nordic Center, 22 January 2014.