Hello Athletes!

Dare I say that winter knocks at our door? For many of you the harbingers of the best season are arriving in the form of snowflakes across the hills and first tracks in the high country. If you are lucky enough to be near to snow and can start transitioning onto skis and boards, remember that the muscular loads are different than on foot! Keep a keen eye on effort, not just HR but also perceived exertion, and allow those first few sessions to be really chill. Enjoy the returning movement and pay attention to how your elevated fitness supports it. If you’re planning on swapping in skiing or riding for other aerobic sessions, it’s generally ok to match hour-for-hour and even to pad the on-snow sessions with a bit more volume as they lack the impact of running and hiking, but don’t do more than +10-15%, especially in the first week. 

Speaking of launching out into the wild and wooly snow, how’s your kit? Not skis/board, boots, bindings, though that stuff is important too. I’m talking about your first aid and rescue kit. Often the afterthought, it only takes one incident such as a broken boot or worse, broken limb, to test the bounds of what you put in your pack for even that backyard day mission. Gavin Hess over at The High Route wrote a great piece on dialing in your first aid accoutrement to level up preparedness for what hopefully won’t happen. And while you read it, consider subscribing to the site; the editors at The High Route are churning out excellent content on all things backcountry and hoping to make it sustainable through modest annual subscriptions. Give it a look!

If you’re in the Methow Valley or passing through (come from the south because Washington Pass is closed for winter, baby!), stop by our new Cascade Endurance World Headquarters at the Fly Shop in Mazama! We’re completely stoked to finally have a brick ‘n mortar location to meet with athletes, host clinics and group meet-ups, and provide weekly strength classes for the community. We’re a few quick steps from the bakery counter at the Mazama Store in one direction at the checkout counter at Goat’s Beard Mountain Supplies in the other, so it really is a one-stop-shopping experience for all things mountain, fun, and fueling. 

Finally, we had a great Zoom call last week and got into a great dialogue about fueling for your workouts and recovery, along with some other valuable topics. If you missed it, check out the recording here. As always, if you have questions about anything to do with the training or other athlete-related inquiries (or just wanna share your favorite playlist or cocktail), throw them up onto the Slack channel and we’d love to engage with you. 

Enjoy your week!

Sam and Alison