Wholistic Fitness

Okay, after winning the nordic ski race earlier today (see PART I in this past week’s DL), i still have not had enough…you wanna go take some turns on the World Class Extreme Terrain of Telluride Ski Resort with the new Champion?

right on! let’s go!

okay, let’s share some turns on the ET (Extreme Terrain) run that was holding best snow after my race, a nifty little run called, Electra, on Chair 14.
elevation at the top of our run?

12,255′. This is Mt. Ballard overlooking the Bear Canyon drainage into the box canyon whereupon the town of Telluride is nestled rather humbly amid these giant peaks. Those of you recalling my DL’s about competing and training on Imogene Pass? Imogene is just north from Ballard a few miles as the crow…err, Hawk flies.
this is the backcountry that i grew up in.
what? looks cold?
go(o)d. enduring and becoming even minded in cold is required training for yogis.
why?
guess what the very first Bardo Realm is that will test our Consciousness Fibers?
yup.
INTENSE COLD.
precisely why my Teachers made me become a winter mountaineer early in my training.
had to deal with extreme cold to learn certain Practices and mind control techniques.
to this day, i still make it a point not to shy away from intense cold as part of my understanding and engaged Practice of HP Yoga.
anyway, even if you don’t buy into all my “Use Life As Training For The Bardo” encouragements, then, well, no worries mate, in Telluride, like the rest of the Southwest, it’s a DRY cold!
here we are, you and i, on top before dropping in. our ski tips are dangling in mid-air over the lip of the cornice…you ready to find your Yoga with me in THIS studio? Cool! let’s Go! push off and over and DOWN!!!! make sure you carve that first turn on an exhale and grip Mula Bandha baby, cuz one slip here could spin you like a bottletop straight down 1,475 vertical feet of cliffed out steeps faster than you can take that next inhale! YEAH BABY!!!!!!!

WHOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEE!!!!
OH HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
let’s stop here for a sec. i gotta catch my breath and re-gather my testicles for a moment. we are now mid-way down Electra after navigating her notorious upper cliff band above! i took the line on far skier’s left, jet-turning over the narrow section of rock. yup, the bottom of my skis were gouged and at the end of two days of skiing this ET, my metal edges were as dull as an molecular biology exam.

okay, let’s do a couple of quick rounds of Bhastrika Pranayams to re-center; you remember this vital Pranayam that i Taught you right? we use it in our Tradition whenever we feel Fear starting to tense our chi flow or when we get too high in our Minds during intense workouts. we gotta FLOW with the Sacred Mountain; never try to out muscle Her, okay? Release Into The Mountain’s Chi…you can do it!

long nasal inhale to the slow, syllabic count of the WF Sacred Mantra while passive drawing Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha;
OM MAH KNEE PAHD MAY HUUNG
good, now aggressive double nostril exhale while releasing Mula Bandha!
one more time…

okay, let’s look down now and see what the Divine Mountain has in store for us:

PIECE O’ CAKE! SWEEEEIIIITTT!
let’s launch baby; try to catch me! fast, plyometric mentality on this steep, deep mogul field with a bottleneck pinch; moguls as big as my old Geo Metro, baby! fast, fast, fast! settle the breath, calm the mind, release into your technique; FAST THROUGH YOUR FEET! good thing you have been cranking those Plyometrics and Hang Cleans in the gym baby! look at those other skiers standing around trying to catch their breath! AIN’T SO BAAAD! Let’s DANCE THIS STUFF!

NICE JOB, OH MIGHTY LUNG’D and LEGG’D WARRIOR OF WF!
we just threw down Electra like a cheese omelet at high noon,baby!
let’s go over and crank a couple of Double Diamonds on Prospect Bowl…
sweet!
you are doing GREAT!
what?
tired? oh, you are EXHAUSTED! oh my!
frazzled, you say?
yup, the CONCENTRATED MIND coupled with REPEATED ADRENALIN SPIKES
will turn even the worse insomniac into log-sawin’ lil ol’ lump o’ sleepin’ flesh.
hell,
people don’t need sleeping pills or therapists or whatever the hell they think they need to de-stress themselves;
just go SKIING, baby!
it’s all go(o)d!

okay, okay, we’ll stop.
no worries, let’s take a cruiser run home down Sundance.
check out that view, baby! ain’t life SWEET when you are skiing?
the weather down here is sunny and warm compared to up top, eh?

very cool, lemme buy you a brew at my favorite eatery in d’town T-Ride; The CornerHouse Grille.
no wait,

i won the NORDIC Ski Race earlier today and then guided your arse all over the good shit on the hill,
how ’bout you
buying
ME
a beer?

cool!

hey, seriously,
it’s been great ridin’ with you.

let’s not wait so long until we ride again, okay?

om so ti,
coach ilg
2007 Classic Champion; TopatenK – The World’s Highest Nordic Ski Race