Snowmobile Saturday

Snowmobiling...not much of a workout, right?  Wrong!  I found that out Saturday when I went snowmobiling with Telluride Snowmobile Adventures.  I went out with my guide Ben and his friend Andy on an intermediate snowmobile tour.  We covered over 15 miles through trees, twists, turns and incredible scenery.  My favorite spot on the tour was the Alta Ghost Town.

Alta Ghost Town

I also loves maneuvering through the trees.  Steering the snowmobile through turns, some uphill and some down, was a big upper body workout.  Got a little bit of core and leg work to since you do have to lean into the turns.  Ben used the phrase "Sneak a cheek" to describe how you should lean into the turn.  In other words....scoot half your booty off snowmobile in turns!

Back side of Gold Hill Chutes

I did start the day with a long dog walk down Main Street, past Town Park and in to another residential area of Telluride and enjoyed some beautiful moments of the sun rising over the mountains.

Mush, Mush

Yesterday I went dog sledding with Dog Sled Rides of Winter Park.  This was a different adventure from the first time I went dog sledding a little over a year ago.  I was hoping to drive my own sled but that's not what this outfitter does.  Instead my friends Catrina and Nancy and I were bundled up in sleeping bags and sled covers and sent off on an adventure with a musher and 7-8 dogs.  The musher drove the sled and we just sat back and soaked up scenery while enjoying the ride.  In this workout the dogs definitely were the workers.  We went on about a 45 minute ride and covered about 5 miles.  The dogs will do 1-3 runs a day depending on their abilities.  Some of the dogs have trained for the Iditarod.  These dogs are born to run and going dog sledding is a great chance to see that.

After the ride, we got a chance to play with dogs.  You can tell they are very happy.

Snowshoe Saturday

Saturday I did a first - snowshoe in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I went with some friends and did a shoot.  It was an absolute blast.  Mileage-wise we didn't go that far - about a mile and quarter to mile and a half.  But racing with kids across the frozen Bear Lake I got in a little extra.  We also did do a little running through the powder and snowshoeing uphill to get to Nymph Lake.  Snowshoeing burns 350-550 calories per hour.  I love the workout!

Skiing Breckenridge

Saturday I skied Breckenridge with my friend Hope and her 16 year old daughter Chrizney.  It was Chrizney's first time to ski.  She'd taken a lesson Friday.  But it took us awhile to get down our first run.  I certainly saw some big falls.  In the cold and wind, I became Coach Jen as we slowly got down her first run.

There's something to be said to watching someone try something for the first time.  The first day of skiing for Chrizney turned into a much better experience once we did some of the ski school runs.  Her last run of the day she made it all the way without a fall or even a wobble!