Snow Shoe Debut

 I recently debuted in some snow shoe racing out at Mt. Hood. I must say I have alot more respect for snow shoe racers after trying a race. I had no idea how to put them on initially, but thanks to my good friend Rich Bolt I managed. The day was pretty clear upon arrival, but a few minutes before the race it all changed and the snow started to fall pretty hard, making the news reporter a blatant liar....as usual.

After about the first 5 minutes of the race I already started to go the wrong direction due to the heavy snow fall covering course markers.

The first section of the course featured a long gradual climb with a few steep climbs. I made my way through the first lap without any carnage besides a small slide out on a steep descent. I was told that the snow shoes usually clipped your ankles and calves by my buddy Rich. I was concerned about this while toeing the line, but after the first lap (4k) I was pretty carefree. Little did I know that I was actually tearing my ankles up, but they were numb due to the snow and cold temperatures. I was fresh the first lap, but soon the heavy snow shoes, deep snow, and long uphills took their toll. I felt like I was running in sand and I probably looked like it.

I started clipping my ankles with every stride and by the end of the day I had what I refer to as dingers (cuts, bruises). I was able to come away from my debut with a win, but also a very sore back and cut up ankles. A quote for snow shoeing would be, "With victory comes pain". Snoe shoeing provided me a great adventure and I will definitely try another race or two!

From the pics you can obviously see that they are not all from the mountain. I went on a little journey to see a few places I didn't get to see when I last visited Portland. Checked out a place known as Crown Point. The last picture is from the parking lot near the start of the snow shoe race. Notice how the parking lot is pretty much snow free. All that changed in just seconds as the snow covered th entire lot with a few inches of Mt. Hood's finest powder! More pics to come soon from the actual race. Try not to laugh, I'm sure spit is frozen all over my face....

*Picture courtesy of xdogevents