Grand Traverse Ski

All last fall I was thinking about doing the Grand Traverse Ski race even though I have not skied in 20 plus years but never could find a partner to do it with, yes they require you to have a partner for this race.  Everyone I knew that was into backcountry skiing either already had a partner or did not want to drop the cash, could not blame them.  About 5 weeks before the race Rebecca called me and asked me if I would do it with her since she lost her partner, game on.  The very next day I went out and spent a crap ton of cash on the setup and was on the hill skiing for the first time in 20 plus years that weekend.  I put in a lot of time in those 5 weeks trying to get to a point to where I could at least finish this race.  Needless to say my running suffered which you will see in my post for Boston later.

The Grand Traverse is a 40 mile backcountry ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen over the mountains and I was hooked!  We had a blast even though I think it turned into a sufferfest for both of us. 

Special thanks to Debra who supported us and basically made it much easier by driving my truck the 4 hours from Crested Butte to Aspen for me.  Below is a photo blog of the race.  Good times were had by all!  I see more ski mountaineering races in my future.