Saturday, January 26, 2013

New Salomon Speed Cross 3



Salomon Speed cross 3 is awesome!  Love Love these shoes.  The quick lace system, the wicking of the material works great with my Point Six socks.  I thought the shoe would be too narrow to accommodate my inserts but they work awesome with them. Thank you!  Forever a fan!  We use the Salomon LAB gators while in the back country of Colorado and it helps keep our shoes dry as the snow powder just falls (bounces) off as we run/jog/walk and snow shoe. 
PWild

Fourth Annual Jim Plant Memorial Ski-O & Snowshoe-O at Frisco Peninsula

Our first "race" in Colorado for Team Lupine. Our first training Orienteering meet was on a day that could have not been better. Day started at 9 cold degrees and would end up being about 26 and sunny.  This was our second time on snowshoes for any event and found that it was true that it only takes about 5 min to go from beginner to advanced snowshoe'er. We Got to Frisco about 10 min to 9am. Seemed that at least we won this portion "we were the first in the parking lot". went into the Frisco Nordic Center to meet our new club members.  Registration started at 9 and course open at 10. Pwild went with her Osprey Kobe 30 pack and was using the MSR Evo Accents and Zorilla packed his Salomon Advanced Skin 12 Pack and broke in his brand new MSR Lightning Accents 25's. 

 The options were the normal three, short, medium, and long course. Tho, things became challenging for the snowshoe option as we could not use ANY of the Nordic trails because of the lack of snow. We would have not known the difference as we had plenty of snow off trail. We pretty much stayed with a good trekking pace as we were learning about our HR and Temps as far as clothing choice. As we shed layer after layer, 24F and sunny started to feel like 80F the sweat was poring.

We started the course and due to the no trail issue decided on point to point Nav. We were the first on the course for the long course. We nailed every CP along the way. This being a month after we moved here we had some times of huffing and puffing. We really didn't relize that shoeing would take so much more effort then what we are used to. Pwild got a little shaky and we stopped to share some Honey Stinger Chews that really work fast for energy, oh and they taste good....like candy.  Some parts of the bushwacking on the course the snow was up to our knees. RMOC uses the memory stick logging setup and this makes for really quick punching. And after your done with the course you can print out your times right there. Things started off pretty cold and our Point 6 socks did there Job of keeping our feet warm and comfy inside our Salomon's, even if when you get done and take them off  you find you forgot to put insoles in (PWild). Rocked the first map then on to the second. The second map we wound up crossing our and others paths quite a bit and the nordic trails were getting busy with People out for some CC skiing. Many of them stopped us and asked what was going on. The last couple of CP's there was some good ground to cover. Making our way to CP 7-77 and Zorilla knowing we were right on it....double checking his map when Pwild disided to scout around the large mound of debrit for the ash borers that had done there damage to the area some years back. And yup sure enough we were right on it...Damn xray vision wasn't working. the rest was down hill and our final sprint to the finish to Keep our three hour goal in check.


Team Lupine winners of the Long Snow Shoe O (we'll take what we can get lol)
We had a great time for our first snowshoe O, and can not wait to get back out there and do another one. Next one Team Lupine will be a little more refined and ready for this new type or Orienteering. Wow this is a fun and just plain amazing way to race. We want to thank Rockie Mountain Orienteering Club and look forward to racing and working with you all in the Future.



Zorilla, Sharon(RMOC), and Pwild
Electronic Chip Control Point with a photo bomb of Salomon Spikecross's with SLab Gators.

"See You Out There"



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Kode 30 WINTER Series Osprey

The Kode Series is dedicated back country snow play packs featuring wet/dry gear organization, insulated hydration compatibility and the exact features needed to carry a variety of snow toys/tools.  I have the medium size with a capacity of 38L and weights 3.7lbs.  The suspension systems consist of HDPE framesheet light wire peripheral alloy frame, thermo-sculpted snowshed back panel and foam padded.  Sounds heavy but its not and helps keep my back warm.  The ski carry loops(and snow board) also adapt to carrying my snow shoes.  So many great features on this pack....I was skeptical about the internal sewn in hydration sleeve with reservoir hanger and fully insulated, dual zippered harness router with hypoallergenic stretch garage for the mouth piece as well.....it was well below freezing at 10000 feet with wind blowing and my water did not freeze!!  Another great feature is the micro fleece goggle/sun glass pocket to keep eye wear scratch free and easy reach.  Top load helmet carry, back panel entry access to bladder and dry gear section of pack!  Check it out!!  I LOVE THIS PACK.  I have several Osprey packs and this one is the winter bomb!
PWILD

Burton Gore Tex Gloves vs Below Zero Temps in Colorado MT'S

So NO glove I tried in Colorado keeps my fingers warm.  I mean nothing!  Until I found these  Burton Womens Gore Tex Glove with Removable Liners. The tips of my fingers would get so cold to the point of being painful while out in the back country of the Colorado mountains or riding my MTB.  Between the temps and wind the temps are well below zero.  We found these gloves at REI after trying a few pairs from our local bike shop with no good results.  These Burton gloves have a outside pocket that a hand warmer fits in nicely.  The two straps to tighten the gloves around the wrists are perfect and keep cold air and snow out.  I love them.  Just wish they were not so "bulky" but I will trade that for warmth!  Thank you
PWild

2012 GoLite Black Mountain Thermal Wind Pant "I do more with less, Therefore I GOLITE"

Gear review for the GoLite Black Mountain Thermal Wind Pant at Walker Ranch in the Mountain just west of Boulder Colorado.  Temps: Partly Cloudy, High 35, chance on snow later in the Hike.  Winds would pick up to over 20mph.
It was really cold that morning so we layered our running apparel.  Jason wore just the GoLite Black MT Thermal Wind Pant on bottom and I wore my thermal underwear under my GoLite MT Thermal Wind Pant as I tend to get cold fast.  Hats, Gloves, buffs covering our necks, multiple layers on top and full packs with 100oz of water OFF we went.  This was a very technical trail run over 7 miles with climbs with a range of 1100 ft elevation change.  All at or around 6700 elevation or more. 
I have to say that I really thought there was too much material around the mid section of the pants from just trying them on.  But after running, trekking, bushwacking, bouldering, jogging in them for hours I had NO PROBLEMS with feeling "free" to move in them.  The 3 layer strech construction is awesome with the inside brushed fleece back panel makes them so comfortable!  AND I do NOT need the thermal underwear on under them, I was too warm at this point.  We felt no wind thru the panll ts(Laminated Soft Shell with the windproof front panel) and were comfortable the whole time.  The "clamshell" knees for ease of movement really held up to that...I felt no pulling down of my pants as I raised my knees to run or climb.  The pants did not feel damp on the inside and they did not stick to me the harder I worked out.  Proves they are waterproof and breathable. 
We would recommend these pants for wind protection and comfort....no more multilayer for the legs in cold weather!!  This pant does it all.  THANK YOU for making such a great product!!
See you out there!
PWild

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Zpole Conversion to snow basket

So have gotten into the winter training season and have invested in some snow shoes (reviews of those to come later). We are going to be doing our first snow shoe O meet (http://www.rmoc.org/) this month so we are brushing up our skills, it is known that the difference between a beginner and advanced snow shoer is about five minutes. We would say that is close to true. It is not hard to keep busy here in Colorado learning new skills. 


Now when it came to poles we already had our favorite poles made which are the Black Diamond Carbon Fiber Zpoles.We know we could have gotten another set of the Compactor Zpoles that have the baskets we wanted but what fun is that...and we love the weight of the Carbon ones. So below is the Video Link we made to show you how.