Cosmic

Ski season is in full swing here in Colorado, while I have been rando skiing (ski touring) alot in RMNP many people have been getting after what seems to be the most fun you can have in the mountains - the Colorado Ski Mountaineering Cup. I had lunch with the promoter yesterday, Pete Swenson, who got me really psyched for some of the races - who also gave me a great deal with some Dynafit Skis (dynafit.us) and Bindings( with the help of Ian, Drew, Sarah and Chris at the office). I am really psyched as I am now running a pair of the Dynafit World Cup Carbon Race Skis with Low Tech Lite Binding, and a pair of Broad Peaks with TLT Vertical ST (I like these as i have a range of boots from light racing to high altitude guiding that I can use with them), combined with my Scarpa F1 Race (www.scarpa.com) boots and all of the race specific gloves, helmet, and backpack from CAMP (camp-usa.com) - yikes, it seems my only excuse is not enough training. Oh well, I have been saying alot lately that rando skiing is the most fun you can have in the mountains, hands down - saying it ALOT. To see photos from the race this past weekend and to see a bunch of tech tips on rando and racing check out http://www.ussma.org/cosmic/.

COSMIC RACE SCHEDULE RACE DATE LOCATION CS Irwin Lodge Rando Race 12/11/2010 CS Irwin Lodge The Heathen Challenge 01/15/2011 Sunlight Mountain, CO CAMP Ski Mountaineering Race at Crested Butte 01/29/2011 Crested Butte, CO COSMIC Sprint Race and SIA Uphill/Downhill Challenge 01/31/2011 Winter Park Ski Resort /SIA On-Snow Demo Race the Divide 02/13/2011 Monarch Mountain, CO Winter Wild 03/05/2011 Aspen, CO The Five Peaks 04/09/2011 Breckenridge, CO San Juans Rando 04/23/2011 San Juans Mts, CO Marmot Grind 04/30/2011 Arapahoe Basin, CO More information available at: http://www.ussma.org/cosmic/