you know today, after yesterday’s crazy 2 hour Club Ride?…

i REALLY coulda used the day to do A LOT of things around the house that really NEEDED to be done; wood to chop, black walnuts to gather, chicken coop to winterize, the girls need Daddy time, month’s end bookkeeping and office work is beyond timeable repair, the cars need waxing,  Bala needs new snow tires, my bikes need..

OR,

i could just crank over to Wolf Creek and nab some of the earliest First Nordic Track Skiing EVER!??!

plus, i would be able to test some Rossignol skate skis that i may shift to this season…hmmmm…

…ilg really prefers NOT being predictable, however…my choice…?

…hit the early morning road, Jack!  go SKIING!

“The next breath, or the next life, we never know what may come next,” i hear my Tibetan Teachers wise counsel ringing in my ears as i engage the WF 3×30 Eating Mindfully Assignment while eating my Durango Doughworks egg bagel…

ahh…’wise choice, ilg!”…

it’s a simple formula that has worked for my whole life:   Snow + Blue Sky x High Peaks = A Very Happy Ilg!

dat’s Algae-bra that ilg can stand-under!  (aka; understand)

the snow was ideal up at 10,300’+…

the 60″+ of snow was highly compressed by the alpine ski area’s huge groomer on about 8k’s of exquisitely beautiful snow…here you can see a still unfrozen Alberta Reservoir on the right…this lake is home to the rare Rio Grande Cut Throat and Brook Trout…but don’t tell anybody i told you!

…looking up the 1 kilometer V2/V1 uphill

…which leads back toward the Wolf Creek Alpine Ski Area…Alberta Reservoir on the left, Alberta Peak hovers with her ski-scarred face overhead…if you haven’t skied Wolf Creek’s peaks and glades?  uh, get here NOW!

one of the steep hills leading from the ski area parking lot down toward the central nordic area..Platoro Peak in the background…

all nordic skiing is free of charge here in this shambala of snow… supposedly the area cuts classic tracks as well, however, this morning the classic tracks were not cut.  snowshoers are welcome (PLEASE STAY TO THE RIGHT!!!) and dogs and kids…yup, i’m brining the Clan, next week!

the Barnes Twins; America’s Podium Topping Female Biathletes are from Durango…

ironically, the only other skiers here for my first 40 minutes were my Durangatang Nordic Biathlon Goddess’s;  the Barnes Twins who leave for Sweden to start their new podium-gaining efforts like last year on the World Cup!   it was rad to spend a quality portion of my first day of the new season ski skating with these contact-high generating beings!   i say “ironically” because i’m buying the Rossi’s that you see in my opening photo from them (as Olympic/World Cup nordic biathlete’s, these National Treasure of Kickass Twins get more ski’s per season than ilg gets Ujjayi grunts from my High Performance Yoga® students!)….

“Om Mani Padme/I’m c(om)ing/Hung…”

Driving home, while doing Mantra, i came up with a Mantra ‘jingle’ (i don’t listen to music while driving; due to WF Training) which came about while visualizing my Daughter’s face when i would arrive home.  Dewa sings more than she speaks, so, i reckon Her singing is wearing off…my Mantra Jingle driving home was;

“Om Mani Padme/I’m c(om)ing/Hung…

Om Mani Padme/I’m c(om)ing/Hung…

Om Mani Padme/I’m c(om)ing/Hung…”

That’s right, baby girl,  Daddy’s coming “hung” from another tough, beautiful day of living the Work as a WF Teacher…and i’m gonna hug you soooooooo tight and spin you around and up and down when i see you!   (which, by the way, i totally did again, and again, and i (wish) endlessly again)…

may your own Practice be thus inspired…

hope to see you on the snow,

el coache