"You have to do the Ski Marathon this year!", said Robert Saunders, as he pushed a Canadian Ski Marathon brochure in my face....and that was the last I heard from him, as he and his wife went off to New Zealand for six weeks....
Robert is a fellow parishioner at Evergreen Anglican Community, where we attend church. He is a small-framed, bearded tour de force, having collected 15(!) "Gold Bars" over the last decade or so. He is part of the elite group of skiers known as the Gold Coureur de Bois. In order to attain this status, one must ski 80 kilometres in a day (with a packsack full of your gear), sleep outside, then wake up and ski another 80 kms!
http://www.csm-mcs.com/index2.html
But first one must attain Bronze and Silver levels. Bronze is the beginner level, you ski 80 kms on day one and then 80 kms on day two. You can't sleep outside. The Silver level means you ski the 160kms, but with a 5kg pack on your back (and sleep inside). Once you accomplish these levels, you qualify to sleep outside as well!
So Robert has pulled this thing off many times, and he is about 65 or so years old!
I have known about the Canadian Ski Marathon since I was a kid in the 70s. My friend in elementary and high school, Chris Austin, is Jack Rabbit Johannsen's grandson. The Ski Marathon had been going just a couple of years at that time.
Read about Jack Rabbit here...he's a legend! http://laurentian.quebecheritageweb.com/article/herman-jackrabbit-smith-johannsen-1875-1987
So when Robert exhorted me to ski the event in 2012, I started thinking.....I have thought for over two weeks now, and decided I can do it.
Just sent in my application today....
I have decided that since there is no snow I must train using ski poles and long strides over at Mont Rigaud.
I must train for cardio as I always do, mostly running a this time of year.
My big dilemma at this point is whether to use my classic touring skis (light, long and lighter/more flexible boots) or my Nordic Touring Skis (a bit shorter and heavier due to their metal edges and heavier, less flexible boots). Why the dilemma? You'd figure that the classics would be a slam dunk, right?
But there are some wicked downhills on this course....it is not flat at all, and the metal edge touring skis are bombproof on hills. I go down ski hill runs on them confidently. The Classic skis scare the crap out of me on twisty downhills! I need new Classic boots, my current boots are twenty years old. Maybe the newer boots have better support for downhill?
Decisions, decisions.....follow me as I journey the 71 days to the start line, 6:30am in Buckingham, Quebec.
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