They say that downhill skiing is great training for the Bridger.  Pounds the quads like a well-prepared flank steak so that they will be ready for 9,000 feet of grueling downhill over rocks, roots and scrabble.  [Think about that the next time a flight attendant reminds you to raise your tray table and turn off your laptop because the plane is now at 10,000 feet.  Then look out the window and imagine a trying to get down from there — by foot!]  One reason they say that downhill skiing is excellent training for the Bridger is because almost all of they live in Montana where outdoor exercise between December and April is fairly challenging.  They have a choice between skiing and a treadmill at the gym set for a 15% incline.  No contest.

So here I am at Alta Ski Resort in Utah, following that sage advice.  Not really.  I’m here because my 18 year old daughter loves to ski, and we’re developing a tradition of annual father-daughter ski trips.  So much fun chasing her around a challenging mountain!!  Watching her hop into turns on the steepest of slopes, and doing my best to follow her tracks and line.   Which, again, is one reason for this exercising foolishness.  I don’t just want to be able to chase her around Alta in 2016, I want to tackle Telluride with her in 2017, Taos in 2018, and so on and so on.  And training for the Dipsea, Double Dipsea and Bridger is my ticket to this promised land.  

After 17 runs on breathtakingly beautiful Alta terrain, and 22,000 feet of vertical, my quads are on fire, but we’ve been talking about our great runs today, and plotting our course for the morning.   We’ll be on the first lift at 9:15 am tomorrow!