Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Alaska, X Alps

I'm off to Alaska for a week of climbing, kayaking, paragliding and filming the same for a TV program. Stoked for that, I've never been to Alaska in the summer before, should be an adventure...

I'm also wasting way too much time on this, the Red Bull X Alps. I know the terrain well as I raced the X Alps in 2003, and covered it as a reporter in 2005. It's an amazing event, the "live tracking" can take over your life.

Sports: Had a good Sunday--we hiked into and ran the Pipestone, which had a surprising amount of water in it (good) and then went and mountain biked to Ross Lake. Super fun afternoon of just being out and about in the mountains, love it! If you haven't ridden to Ross Lake you've got to check it out, it's one of the best rides in the Rockies that I've ever done (if you're uber-fit bike nerd ride it twice or something). Most rides in the Rockies go up and then down; Ross Lake just rolls along for a little under an hour each direction, and it's all rideable with a few fun stream crossings and places to fall down. I know this because I fell down when my chain came off. I know my chain was off because I tried to hop my front wheel up on a little bridge thing and didn't have any power in my pedals. First time I've ever landed on my head mountain biking, kinda cool.

Plus some other rivers, hikes, bikes, and general activity. Summer, yeah!!