"If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes"

This is a familiar phrase to those of us who live in Southern Alberta. It seems true all year long. Summer days can bring wild sweeps of temperature readings in just a few short hours as in winter. Maybe more noticeable in winter, and often more appreciated.

Last week on Thursday morning, I headed out for a quick gravel grinder before having a "photog-nerd-fest-lunch with a bunch of great Calgary photographers. It was 7C (44F) when I headed out. Then, on Friday, snow and cold blew in. Monday I went for a ski behind my house, and it was -27C (-16F) when I left the house mid afternoon. Now, today, we're expected to warm up to above freezing again. Crazy.

With the warm spell we had last week, XC skiing wasn't an option, as we had lost a lot of snow. A single speed 29er serves well to get you outside and seeing things. It was muddy and much like the riding of spring.

gravel slop

With a hearty dump of snow and cold temps over the weekend, back to skiing again. It makes for a fun change up for sure.

I still find I make the mistake of over-dressing when I'm out skiing in the extreme cold. I had a balaclava on, and ended up taking that off right away, unzipping my coat half way and opening up the arm-pit vents. Sweating at -30 can be dangerous, it's a delicate mix of not getting tingly cold, and not over-heating. Being outside for an hour and a half, I came in with sweat-drenched gear. Fine if I'm right behind my house, but I'd hate to end up like this while out on a ski trail somewhere. The dialling-in continues.

With the old ski tracks melted away, and 10" of new snow, I had to set some new tracks for myself. The first few laps were a slow slog, but now they're ready for some faster skiing. Here's a quick video of me setting some new tracks. Most of the time my ski tips remained hidden under the white stuff.

More XC Skiing in Fernie

After only a few weeks away, we couldn't resist another chance to head back to Fernie for a weekend away. Being as I'm living the freelance lifestyle, we opted let our oldest miss a day of school, and turn this into a long weekend. Freelance is risky and downright scary at times, but it also has it's perks.

Last time we were skiing in Fernie, the temp was -17C (1F). This time, temps are just above freezing. Quite a nice treat considering the intense winter that we've had so far. This was also the first time that we set out for any considerable distance with the whole family in tow. I am amazed at how well my sons are picking this up. They are moving well enough that actually do cover some ground. And my little girl, she's loving the chariot with the XC ski attachment. Usually it only takes about 10 minutes and she's out catching up on her beauty rest. Between yesterday and the day before, we had over 5 hrs of skiing. Not back considering we're doing it all with 3 kids 6 and under. Just shows that if you want to do things outside and be active, children aren't a hinderance to most activities. You just need to adapt a bit, and use the right gear.

Here's some pics and video of the last two days.

I'm amazed at how kids can contort themselves to get upright again. It's almost easier for them to get up after a fall than us.

My oldest going on his first 'downhill'

My youngest son is getting it well. If you look at the video, he's actually gliding on his skis.

Chariot XC-ski attachment

Cross country skiing is where it's at right now. We were able to outfit the whole family with new gear, but finding a day warm enough to test it out was testing our patience. Today, we watched the thermometer outside of our kitchen window show that it was warming up. -15C. Yay! Still not warm, but we were getting sick of waiting so out the door we went.

It's so nice to have this open space right behind our house. If we got cold, we're only a 2 minute walk from the warmth of our home, and hot chocolate!

I had wondered about the performance of the XC-ski attachment for our Chariot X-Country (which BTW is an amazing stroller/bike trailer - one of the best "child accessories" we've ever bought and worth every penny) and I stumbled across a local (Alberta at least) blogger who uses one. Oddly enough I found her blog via twitter, and while I was in Fernie. Natalie posted about skiing in Fernie while we had just arrived there on our last trip. Small world. She highly recommended the ski attachment and said it worked very well. Her only complaint is that you can't ever find them for sale used. Good enough of a review for me! We picked one at Bow Cycle last week.

My first thoughts of the ski attachment...Excellent addition to the chariot. The skis are very simple to install, built very well (like the rest of the Chariot) and with just my 2 year old in it, it pulls amazingly well. Like really well. I had my six year old in it with my daughter for about 15 minutes, and while it's not as easy, it's certainly doable for several hours. I am amazed at how well this works!

The boys were petering-out, so they took turns riding with their sister. The brilliant design of the Chariot makes attaching their skis to the back when not being used a snap. Chariot products are so smart, and just work so well in real world conditions.

The additional skis leave an interesting trail for other skiers to scratch their heads over. The great thing is it doesn't affect the ski trials for others.

Out here on the prairies, we like to head for any trees we can find. Feels more "wildernessy" that way:)

Last time we were out in Fernie, my little girl ended up getting a mild case of frost-nip. Not quite frost bite, but enough to scare Steph and I and make us feel like terrible parents. We took extra precautions this time. It was noticeably warmer inside the Chariot (we had the covers all closed up) and when the boys were in there, they said it was nice and warm. So much so that our little girly fell asleep!
We're going to head out a few more times before our next trip to Fernie. The boys need a bit more practice at getting up by themselves, but they are doing incredibly well. This is such a fun family activity and it's so nice to have something we can all do to get out of the house in the winter.

Our yard is starting to look like a ski-lodge

Go outside and have some fun!

Late night nordic ski

As a great change up from running (and/or a nice compliment to it), cross country skiing in the dark is a blast. For some reason I thought it would be faster than running though. My average speed was 10:13 per mile skiing. I run between 8 and 9 min/mile, depending on the flavor of the day.

There is another nordic skier setting some nice tracks right behind my house on the canal, so I did 4 laps for a fun 6 miles.

I can't get over how fun this is! (I will be paying for it tomorrow though. I hurt in ways I never do after running).

Ski Fernie (nordic style)

We had an incredible time on the cross country trails at the Fernie Golf Course today. We weren't able to find any ski rentals for the kids, but we did pick up a set for my sweet wife to try. Good news, she loves it!

I guess we're now in the hunt for some kids nordic skis and a set for my wife. Also looking to pick up the cross country ski attachment for our Chariot so our youngest can come along too.

Being as we weren't able to find skis for the kids, Steph and I took turns between doing a few laps on the trails, and tobogganing with with the kids. Win/win!
For the last hour, Steph cruised on the skis, and I walked with the kids around the trails. They love getting out in winter and being able to just slowly toodle around at their own pace. After I gave each of the boys one of my ski poles, and they became "arctic explorers". Even started a dialog between each other to further the adventure. It was awesome to see.

Even my little girlie-girl lasted for 3 hours in the -17C (1.4F) temp. She had a blast.

It's days like today that make me so thankful to live in a country that affords adventures like this. There are some things about a cold nasty winter that I don't love; but then, there's days like this. Love the winter time!

Cross county skiing

My sweet wife bought me some nordic skis for Christmas. I went out tonight for the first time, and it was so fun. I'm sure I look very ungraceful, and I've got to figure out the whole waxing thing, but I am so stoked to be doing a lot more of this!