Getting up at ridiculous hours was a habit I adopted with a friend earlier in the ski season. We would get up around 1 or 2 AM, meet at a park and ride, and head into the mountains West of Denver. Why so obscenely early? It was almost always a weekday and I had to be back from the mountains and into work by 8. Also, avalanche risk is much lower at night so I considered it a win-win. See…perfectly reasonable.

However, this time I was alone. Not in any mood to go into the backcountry solo, I planned to head to Arapahoe Basin where their uphill policy lets you skin up pretty much any time of day. The goal was to get there early and have a solid workout in by the time the crowds showed up. As usual, nothing goes to plan and I realized about halfway there that I had forgot my headlamp. Normally I wouldn’t care but, with it being close to a new moon, there was almost no moonlight to ski by. With no other option but to wait until the sun started to come up and with the dark skies setting the stage for bright stars, I posted up and tried to get some shots of the milky way that was just starting to show for the year. It happened to be positioned perfectly above Arapahoe Basin as I looked down from Loveland Pass. They turned out to be some of my favorite shots that I have ever taken.

I started at the bottom of A Basin as soon as the alpenglow touched the tops of the high peaks. The sun hadn’t risen yet but it was enough to get by. Surprisingly, there were already a few others on the mountain skinning up. Still a little groggy from the little sleep I got, I clicked my toes in my bindings and began shuffling up. My first two laps took me to the top of the resort, about 1,600ft of gain in just over a mile. The best part about skinning up before the resort opens? You have the whole descent to yourself! Its probably a good thing that I had the whole place to myself…hitting 50mph on skis is one thing…hitting 50mph on tiny skimo race skis that are more akin to chopstix and handle more like noodles, is another.

The resort eventually opened and I was condemned to only skinning up to the first hut, about halfway up. By now, the crowds had started to arrive and the hills were getting busier. I decided to switch it up and grab my heavier ski setup for a harder uphill workout and more fun on the downhill…I even threw some 3’s in the mini park to bring me back to my days on the east coast.

After 10 laps and about 9,000ft of gain, I decided to call it a day. These longer workouts on little sleep have been both part adventure and part training for the Bear 100, where I will undoubtedly struggle in the later miles. Knowing how to suffer can be a big part of longer races so I plan to incorporate the occasional workout that really pushes me.