Summer update

Since I am going to be focusing on some other types of skiing rather than just skimo racing next winter, I have been able to be little more flexible with my training program this summer. Here are a few pictures from some of the longer trips I have went on this summer.

My longest trip this summer was accompanying my Dad and cousin for the first week of their ride across Canada. I spent a week riding with them and when I reached the Kootenays I turned around and started riding home.

Hwy #3 has some great vistas!

Danny with the first flat tire of the trip.

Paulson Summit, one of the many pass on Highway 3

Another fun trip I had was to Rogers Pass. I have spent some time skiing there in the winter but I haven't spent much time there during the summer. My wife and I climbed Uto Peak and then we climbed the NW Ridge of Sir Donald with our friends Michelle and Nick. We also did some trail running, and when the weather changed we headed home.

Making my way up Uto Peak.

Aimee and I on the top of Uto with Mount Sir Donald NW Ridge
in the back ground.

Making my way up Mount Sir Donald's NW Ridge.

Nick and Michelle looking for the easiest way down the NW Ridge.

The left skyline is the NW Ridge of Sir Donald and the route we climbed.

Beautiful trails for running in Glacier National Park.

I have been running lots this summer around Squamish and have entered a few trail races this year. The first was Loop The Lakes, right here in Squamish, where I was just able to hold off Nick Elson, a great runner and friend, to win. The second was the Kusam Klimb in Sayward BC. In that race I was no match for Nick's downhill speed and placed second behind him. The latest was the 23km at the  Squamish 50, which you can read about here.

Ski season will be starting in September for me this year (surprise!), so stay tuned to see where my next adventure will take me.

Squamish 50

Accepting my award from the race director
 Gary Robbins.

Last weekend I ran the 23km race at the Squamish 50 and had a great time. The race started at Quest University above Squamish, which is an amazing place to start a race with its great views, and ended in downtown Squamish by the farmer's market and all the atmosphere it brings. It is a pretty challenging course with 1000m of elevation gain over 23km on very technical trails.

When race started I was in the front pack right off the bat. I was trying to go out slow and ease into the race because I was anticipating it being about 2 hours long. But that did not last long, as a fast looking guy in a yellow shirt pulled up beside me and started pushing the pace. All I could think was that he seemed strong and that he was probably an experienced road racer. Once we hit the trails I was in front again, and by the time we hit the downhill after the first aid station I was by myself. This was 4.5 kms into the race and I would race by myself for the rest of the race.

The hardest part of the race for me (mentally) was the last 2.5km of flat running at the end of the race. I seldom run on flats because I do not find it very interesting and so I really have to work hard to keep my legs turning over. I ended up finishing in about 1:51, which was under my 2hr goal time. I think that I could have ran faster - it's hard to put down a really fast time without someone there to push you. A race where you have to fight to the end to win is also much more rewarding.

Results can be found here. Congratulations to Adam Campbell, who won the 50 mile race, and Eric Carter, who won the 50km race. Both of these guys are friends, and we all attended a pre-race pasta party at Eric's house the evening before the race. I think that Eric should cook for us more often!

A look at the last 4 weeks: Part 3 - Redemption

Whoops! I thought this got posted months ago. Well, here it is now. I have an exciting ski trip in the works so stay tuned for news on that! My blog has not been that active the last few months, but you can always get updates here and here. 

Part 3: Redemption

Photo courtesy of Lake Louise Ski area

After a few days of rest I headed off to Lake Louie for the Ken Jones Classic. It was both the final race of the season for me and the final race of the 2012-2013 Canadian circuit. With the start of the race at 8:00am, I was up at 5:00am to eat and get to the pre-race meeting. The temperature was eerily reminiscent of the Jackson Hole race in January, -20 without the wind chill. Right off the start race Eric, Peter and I were testing each other with small accelerations, and unlike the Dogtooth Dash the weekend before I was feeling fast.

Elite Men's podium - Ken Jones Classic
(Peter, me, Eric, Stano)

The race was lots of fun with great descents on steep terrain and well-set skin tracks. The three of us stuck together all the way to the end of the last climb, when I was able to put a gap into Peter and Eric. I finished first, followed closely by Peter and Eric. It was a close race! Check out a great race report here.

Following the race I headed up to the Columbia Icefield for some skiing. The first night my friend Marc and I slept in the parking lot in anticipation of our trip. We left early the next morning with the goal of making it to a spot on the Icefield commonly referred to as "The Trench". This is a common spot to spend the night before trying to summit Mount Columbia. We had a clear skies, but two -20 nights with no sleep took their toll and we did not summit. Other contributing factors were our lack of boot crampons and motivation. So after two days on the icefield, we skied out and went our separate ways.

Skiing off the Columbia and on to the
Athabasca Glacier

What an amazing winter of racing it has been! I have learnt so much about training and know that I have so much more to learn. There is something very fulfilling in working towards being the best you can be at something you love.
The journey to find my full potential is just beginning and this keeps me moving forward. Thank you to Millet, Julbo, my wonderful coach Jen Segger, my very understanding wife Aimee, and my great team members for all their help along the way. It's time to start working towards World Championships in 2015! But first it's time for spring skiing! Find something you love and start working towards your full potential.

Just hanging out on the Columbia with my best friend.
That's what skiing is all about!

A look at the last 4 weeks - Part 2: No time for rest - The Bow-Yoho Traverse!

On the way into the Bow Hut

Part 2: No time for rest!

The day after the races Igor, Bob and I were off to spend 3 days skiing the Bow-Yoho traverse. After dropping a car at Emerald Lake we continued on to Num-ti-jah lodge and the start of our trip into the Bow Hut.

Just over the Whale's Back

We left the parking lot at about 3pm and dropped our packs at the Bow Hut 1 hour and 45 minutes later. After a snack, we headed out for a quick ski on the headwall above the hut. It wasn't as nice as we'd hoped and ended up being in flat light on breakable wind slab. Not the best ski quality, but fun nonetheless. We had a quick dinner and tucked ourselves into bed for the big day ahead.

A nice cold day. I'm wearing all the clothing I have with me.

The weather report was only calling for one day of relatively clear weather and this was the day we planed to make the 20km dash over the glaciers of the Wapta Icefield to the Stanley Mitchell hut. The early start and cold weather had us wearing every item of clothing we had with us as we climbed up onto the ice of the Wapta. Because we had limited time for planning, we had no beta about the coverage on the glacier at one of the cruxes of the route. Rather than taking our chances and possibly eating up valuable time navigating through thinly bridged crevasses, we opted for a route variation that would take us over a moraine called the Whale's Back.

After climbing a few steep slopes and emerging into the sun, we stopped at the location of a proposed new ACC hut for a snack. From here we could see that our detour was unnecessary, but I guess I will just have to go back another time if I want to complete the missing part of this classic traverse.

Up to Isolated col

We still had lots of ground to cover to make it to the Stanley Mitchell Hut, including climbing the steep slopes to Isolated Col and descending the south face on the other side of the col into the Little Yoho Valley. By the time we made it up Isolated col it was getting warm, and we all had the south aspect on the other side of the col in the back of our minds. In the end it was not too soft and ended up being one of the best ski runs of the trip.


Six hours after leaving the Bow Hut, we arrived at the Stanley Mitchell Hut - which we had to ourselves for the night!

Some R&R at the Stanley Mitchell Hut

As forecasted, the weather the next day took a turn for the worse. This forced us to abandon our plans of skiing out to Field over the tops of the President and Vice President. We didn't want to ski out on the Yoho Valley Road as it is 23 kms long and involves 13 kms of travel on a snow covered road.  Instead we skied out the Skyline trail. This turned out to be a great exit. Staying high above the valley gave us amazing views of the surrounding peaks and glaciers between bouts of whiteout. It was capped off with a steep run down to Emerald Lake from high above Yoho pass.

I was happy to be back at the car, but my Rockies road trip wasn't over yet!

Next up: Part 3 - Redemption!

A look at the last 4 weeks - Part 1: Pushing Through

Part 1: Pushing through

Photo courtesy of KHMR

What a busy 4 weeks it has been! It all started with a trip out to Golden for the Gore-tex Continental Championships. I was really looking forward to this race because of its great course and the opportunity to race against some of the top North American skimo athletes.


I arrived the day before the individual race and spent some time checking out the course and the new snow with my friend Michelle.  It was apparent that we were in for a great race with all the fresh snow that had accumulated during the week. Something I have always liked about this race is that it starts midday, leaving more time to sleep in! Most high level endurance athletes need to eat 3 hours before an event to provide time for digestion or there is a possibility of being slowed down by stomach cramps. So if your race starts at 8am that means a 5am (at the latest) start to the day.


The race started with its classic Le Mans start and a ski down to the first climb. This first section of the course would be the only part that I would be in the lead for. I found out as the race unfolded that I was not as well recovered from Europe and the previous weeks of hard training as I had thought or expected to. After having to dump a lot of speed on the 3rd decent to avoid some public skiers, I arrived at the transition behind Ben Parsons. On the next climb Ben was having some trouble with the skin track and I was stuck behind him until I could exploit an opening to pass. The top 3 put a gap into me that I just could not close with my sluggish legs. After this the race did not change much for me - I was stuck in no mans land, forced to battle with my mind to the end. I ended up in 4th place. It was not where I was hoping to be but I was happy to have raced hard against great competitors and friends.

The following day was a fun relay race designed to show off the sport than rather than be a hard race. I arrived early to help set the course, which really reminded me of the great races and courses in Europe. After a quick lap around the course and some fun cheering, another race was over and I had an invitation to go on a 3 day ski traverse!

Next up: Part 2 - The Bow-Yoho Traverse!

Millet Cruise PWS Softshell

Nice big chest pocket

Millet is a French outdoors company that first took off in the 1930s with the popularity of their backpacks. Since the 30s, Millet has expanded from packs to clothing, sleeping bags, climbing footwear, and ropes - to name a few things. I have been using some of their products this winter and have really been enjoying them. One of my favourite Millet pieces is the Cruise Jacket, which I've worn almost non-stop since I got it last November.

The Cruise is made with Polartec PowerShield, which is similar to Gore WindStopper but with more wind permeability. This makes it more breathable and therefore better for active sports like ski touring. On more than one occasion I have gone out for a day of skiing wearing the Cruise and have not had to add or change layer all day.

The large direct-access chest pocket is great for everything from race skins to maps, and it's large enough that it's useful for more than a tube of chapstick. The cuffs have an extra piece of fabric sewn into them so when you open the velcro closure they open wide and can easily be pulled over gloves. The hand warming pockets are higher than on most similar coats, which allows them to be used if you are wearing a harness.  One of the best features of the Cruise is the hood. The jacket zips up nice and high in front of your face so you have good protection from the elements if needed. The hood also has a stiff brim and good adjustability. But hands down, my favourite thing about the Cruise (and Millet products in general) is the fit. The Cruise is well tailored for tall and skinny guys with its ample arm length and overall athletic cut. After many years of frustration, it's nice to have a softshell that actually fits me well.

Lots of protection from the wind and bonus points for ninja style.

No problems getting these sleeves over gloves!

In my opinion, the Cruise Jacket is an ideal softshell for ski touring because of its very well thought out design tailored to ski touring. It has just what you need and nothing more, and is by far the best softshell jacket I have used.

First speed traverse of 2013 - Garibaldi Neve in 5:32

Days before heading to France for World Championships I had a little fun on the Garibaldi Neve. My Friend (and excellent Skimo racer) Eric Carter called me on a Friday night. He wanted to get out on Sunday for a ski and suggested that we try to do the Neve in a day. Despite the poor weather forecast, I agreed,knowing that our chance of success was not that good if the weather forecast held true.

With an early start of 8:00am, we glided out of the Diamond Head parking lot. For most of the morning we skied in what I would describe as a cloud sandwich - valley cloud lingered between 200-600m and the high cloud started at about 2300m. We were in the middle, with the top part of the sandwich steadily descending toward us as the day progressed. One advantage to the cloud cover was the cooler temperatures that it had provided the day before and which gave us more confidence in the snowpack's stability.

We were able to make good time on the well beaten skin track to the Elfin Lakes Hut. A shout came from the front door of the cabin: "How long did it take you to get here?". When we replied that we'd been skiing for an hour and twenty minutes, it took some convincing for them to believe that we'd started from the trailhead and not the Red Heather shelter.

After a quick drink and snack, we were off and feeling slightly optimistic about our chances of success, despite the deteriorating weather. The remaining folks at the hut had informed us that a group of four had left the hut the previous day intending to traverse the Neve, and we knew that this fresh skin track would greatly aid our rate of travel.

By the time we got on to the glacier the visibility was closing in, but we pressed on and soon found ourselves at the rock feature just above the Shark Fin. There, we caught up with two ski tourers with large, heavy packs. Looking at the size of their packs, I was glad that we were going light and fast. I think they also must have been wondering about us. What were two dudes in spandex suits doing in the middle of a glacier?!?

After navigating a small icefall and descending the slopes bellow the Shark Fin, we broke trail to the col that overlooked the last big hurdle: Garibaldi Lake. Once on the lake we found that the snow was too soft to skate and this slowed things down a bit. On the upside, there was a skin track which helped because we did not have to break trail. We kicked, glided, and generally smashed the our toes into the front of our boots to get across the lake down to the Rubble Creek parking lot. We reached the parking lot 5 hours and 32 minutes after leaving Diamond Head parking lot, and we were tired and hungry.

Our optimism had paid off this time and we made it through the clouds and the pain to the other side. All of our hard work training is coming together and hopefully there are bigger things to come. Thanks to Eric for the great day and the family that picked us up when we were hitchhiking back to Squamish.