I keep asking David if he's going to Telemark for the Talons Challenge. This is his 3rd year and my 4th. He did tele the first year, but I think it broke his pride a little.
It's tough. 24,000 vertical feet of Blacks and double blacks! That means Bumps Bumps Bumps! only one of the runs is groomed, and that's the world cup race course golden eagle, 1 pitch is 47 degrees, and let me tell you, that one is ICE.
It's pretty cool to ski that run and check out all of the rigging used for to winch groomers up the slope, there are also some large rigs for protective netting to keep skiers from sliding off into the trees.
David hasn't skied Talons on tele since his year 1, he always comes back with, "I'm not in shape for that". David, David, David... It's just part of the training routine!
This year Ed, Jayson and myself ran the list. No stops. Except for a 10 minute wait in the lift line while Grouse Mountain lift was stopped. We exited the line and ran some other runs. All said and done, I pulled into the check out tent, and while removing my skis, a family friend walked up. "Tucker, your wife kicked your [butt], she was here 40 minutes ago!" Yep, that's what you get...
We closed up at about 1:20, and headed in for the free brat and beer. Karyn had already laid claim to a table in the bar, and populated it with some friends from Iowa. It was less than 30 before David and crew came in. I was pretty beat up, and didn't need to take any more runs that day. David was in about the same shape despite taking the easy way out (alpine skis).
This year I've signed up for the Tour de Cure in August. Karyn rode last year in the 100km ride. I've never ridden over 35 miles in 1 day, and those trips are bike to work days (one way). One year I rode to and fro, and logged ~55 miles, but I had an 8 hour break in the middle, and a stop at a local pub on the way home.
I'm going to have to spend some time learning the ropes for long distance riding. I might be able to make the bike to work, just part of the training routine...
