Winter Challenge

Winter is almost here and that means one thing to me...SKIING. Those of you that really know me know that I love skiing and I love winter. Every year since I was in the 5th grade I have spent my weekends downhill skiing with my dad up in Traverse City. I've spent hours and hours riding up the chair lift and skiing down our little michigan "mountains." This year will be no exception. 

I've been hanging around a guy named Marathon Don for the last two years. Don is an adventure guru. Don doesn't believe in resting. You've all heard that you should have a list of 100 things you'd like to do before you die, well Don actually has this list. He's physically spent the time to type it out on his computer, I've seen it. Not only does he have this list but he actively checks things off the list. I'm pretty sure for each thing he checks off he ends up adding about 5 more. 

Well after you hang around a guy long enough who has ran more than 175 marathons, climbed a bunch of mountains, and done about 1,000,000 other really cool things you start getting "Adventure Ideas." While I have to admit I still don't have my list of 100 things to do before I die, I did come up with something I'm going to challenge myself to this winter. (Maybe I'll work on the list and make it a blog posting in the days to come) 

My challenge: To spend every day of winter with skis on my feet.

It might not sound like much but here is what I want to do in detail: 

Everyday that it is possible to ski, meaning there is enough snow on the ground to cross country ski or there is snow at a downhill resort that is open, I want to ski for at least 30 minutes. I want to track my mileage on my cross country skis and try to ski at least 200 miles this season.  The skiing everyday isn't going to be that difficult because I already downhill ski every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. So Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I need to make time to get in at least 30 minutes of XC skiing. Obviously if I'm going to try and XC ski 200 miles in the season I'm going to have to add in a few XC trips on the weekends as well. 

Ultimately I would like to find a way to cross country ski a marathon. (26.2 miles) I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to train and be ready for that this winter and I still have to work out some logistics, but I think it might be possible. I don't really know why I've set this challenge for myself but I figured what the heck lets try it and see. If I accomplish my goal then it will be a building block for me to set and accomplish future goals. Not to mention it will also be damn good exercise... something I need to be getting more of. 

I've got everything I need to make this a successful challenge. For the first time in my life I actually bought brand new downhill skis. I spent good money and bought a top of the line ski because I spend so much time on them I might as well bet getting the best possible performance out of them. I also just used my ski patrol discounts to purchase a brand new Yakima Roof rack for my car so it will be easier than ever to transport all my gear with me where ever I go. I'm getting really excited and I can't wait for more snow to be on the ground. 

With any luck we'll be skiing by Thanksgiving and I can start on my 200 mile journey...I'll keep you posted.