C&C on the Move

It's been a while since I've recapped my travels on the blog, so I thought I would share with you the details of my adventure this past weekend!

My husband and I recently took up alpine touring/randonnee skiing, which is when you use a special alpine touring binding that allows the heel to be clipped down for more support when skiing downhill, and allows it to be released to swing resistance-free from the toe when climbing uphill. 

Anyway, since my +1 can't just dabble in sports, he decided we needed to sign up for a ski mountaineering race. "What is a ski mountaineering race you ask?" Competitive ski mountaineering is typically a timed racing event that follows an established trail through challenging winter alpine terrain while passing through a series of checkpoints. Think adventure racing on skis. 

It involves crampons, climbing harnesses, ascenders and via ferrata (pajamas discouraged). 

We traveled to Brighton Utah this past weekend to take part in the Wasatch Powderkeg, a two day race including an individual race on Saturday and a team race on Sunday. This sport requires a lot of gear, but some of it can be "cute", i.e. my new pink race suit!

Here is a description of Sunday's race. The blue= uphill climbing on skis, the yellow= uphill climbing in boots (carrying skis), and the red= skiing downhill. That's 8600 ft of vertical ascent over 14 miles.

 Here's a picture of the highest peak from the race. It's around 11,000 Ft.

And here's a photo of the Elite field taking off in Saturday's race.

I chose to race in the "Rec" field since it was my first time competing. It consisted of 3500ft elevation gain over 6.5 miles. It took me 2 hours and 11 minutes to complete, and I ended up in a 3rd place despite making a few rookie mistakes...i.e. losing the course and nearly sliding down the mountain (thankfully I grabbed a tree and pulled myself back up before taking an epic plunge).

I was really proud to be on the podium next to women who live at altitude and train regularly on snow, especially since my training and preparation was less than adequate.

Here we are...happy and tired after day one of racing! Since this is a "fashion" blog of sorts, I'd be remiss not to tell you where you can get my headband. it's the Dynafit Leopard Logo headband, and you can get one here! 

Day 2 brought blizzard conditions resulted in the cancellation of the team race. I was bummed, but I was also relieved. I was fatigued from day one of racing and feeling the effects of altitude, so I knew that the team race was going to be extremely challenging for me.

So what to do when your race is canceled? Drink coffee and eat cookies, of course!

I highly recommend checking out The Rose Establishment next time you are in Salt Lake City. It has a super cool atmosphere and great food.

Here are my other two recommendations for dining in the SLC area. 

Lone Star Taqueria- located just near the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon, this place has the most amazing tacos. We actually ate here twice over the weekend. It's that good! 

Ruth's Diner- Unfortunately we didn't make it to Ruth's this trip, but I ate there regularly when I lived in Salt Lake.  It has been an institution in the city since 1930. 

And the biscuits...I dream about the biscuits and the jam. Every diner gets to enjoy them (think of it like table bread), and they are mouth watering! 

Probably best to be consumed after a day of ski mountaineering! :)