Over 250 skiers, snowshoers, and winter sports enthusiasts attended the event, according to Race Director, Mary-Anne DeBoer. The event is growing each year under the guidance of DeBoer and the amazing course groomers – led by cycling’s Time Trial Champion Clay Moseley of Los Alamos – which magically transform a powder-snow alpine meadow near the top of Cumbres Pass into a nordic racers paradise for only 3 days. Former KOM Champion, Steve Ilg states, “This weekend is like the aerobic, winter counter-part to a Tibetan Sand Painting…”
Last Saturday; in the start gate of a 10k freestyle…my head is down, mula bandha engaged, the start gate is just below my knee chakras, my mind with my breath, my Blessed Mala’s dangle like a door ringer for Hanuman to bring His Strength and Endurance and Loving Insight into my heart….sorry, however, there is no Higher Yoga Mat than the start gate of a nordic ski race…sing kirtans and do asana to trance beats all you want, however, to find your Highest Self? leave it to nordic ski racing to really lay your spiritual bones to the fire of tapas!
at this point in the story, ilg could attempt to relate the technical, high speed descents where one wrong mOMent on your skinny, edgeless skis could send you like a racing catamaran into a stout grove of aspens and/or pines waaaay bigger than you, or how i dug super deep to keep the next offending young gun or aging warrior from claiming my own sacred-sweat earned spot in the lineup….
pleased is ilg, with this first ski race of the young season…4th place AG, 8th OA among super, duper, NOOPER fit Durango skiers in a tough as ice 10k which featured more climbing than descending and maybe 3 meters of recovery during 2 x5k laps. my yoga teachers Transmitted to me the stalwart principle of “being a capable human while being,” and that Transmission took. it made ilg re-Member many lives and thus took root, and has blossomed. if you can find a more versatile, capable yogi; let me know. on the podium for all yogi’s since 1981!