But, since this is a blahg I could never just leave it at three words, so here are some more details.
To get a feel for the skate skis first I went out for a few minutes sans dog. Found out quickly how much difference the extra length in the poles makes for poling.
Then I hitched up Lucy and we hit the trails. It was awesome. The skate skis are infinitely better than classics, in so many ways. For one thing, now I can actually ski fast enough so that I'm not just being towed along by the dog. This is great because it means I get a lot more exercise, and the dogs can run fast without having a lot of pulling pressure on them. For another thing, manoeuverability and control have increased tenfold. Even as a novice skier, I'm now able to corner and snowplow with ease, including in the more icyish areas. I was hoping skate ski equipment would be worlds different from my junky old classic gear, and it sure was.
However, I'm still not exactly proficient at skate skiing and dread to think of what I looked like to my skijoring friend who was following behind us. :-) But, this was a great start and it can only get better from here.
Oh! We had some excitement on the trails today: on the JGL trail, two deer hopped out of the bushes about 100 metres ahead of us and ran down the trail for a bit before dashing back into the woods. The dogs didn't see the deer as they were obscured by a slight rise in the trail, BUT! What a reaction from Lucy when we came to the part the deer had just been on. All of a sudden there were strange yipping sounds and I thought, "Who is that barking? Seems to be coming from Lucy? Has she hurt herself somehow?" No, it was just her going into overdrive at the superfresh deer smell. I'd never heard her make any kind of sound like that before. Our skijoring partner's dog (a herding breed) didn't seem too interested, and neither did Walter (also a herding breed) later on when it was his turn, so I wonder if it's a hound/hunting dog thing?
Looking forward to our next outing and trying both dogs together. The dogs, however, are off in la-la land...
Some more la-la land photos while I'm at it, highlighting the rudolph nose Walter sports in the winter (appropriate for lead reindeer and lead dogs):
1 comment:
Wow-very cool that the skate skis were everything you thought they'd be but more :) I loooove mine. The noses are too cute for words :) And that kitty is adorable!
Sounds like a perfect doggiful day!
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