# Snow is too deep to ride, post a pic of your alternatives.



## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Consider this an alternative thread for those of us who have to seek alternatives to get out this time of year. I'm always hoping for colder, wetter weather here in the mountain southwest US, as the alternative is invariably gumbo clay mud. I find that xc skiing is an excellent cross-training activity that keeps my core and legs strong over the winter. Hiking is my activity of last resort, but sitting in the sun drinking beer works too...


----------



## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

I do a lot of this:








and I decided to take up skate skiing this year. Brutal learning curve. The total silence is awesome.


----------



## lkfoster (Apr 2, 2004)

Just ride in the snow if it's not too deep. Bonus points as the snow fills in a lot of dips.


----------



## Dawgprimo (Mar 7, 2004)

Went up to Seymour (Dec 27th) for a quick workout.......
Unexpectedly the snow was awesome and I did a couple of up and downs using the skins. 
Love the quietness and the solitude.
The road up and down was stupid due to morons with no snow tires or comment sense!
But a Fat bike on the snowshoe trail...........


----------



## Brisk Eddie (Jun 23, 2014)

Walking the dogs (Aussies) in the woods with snowshoes.
Sorry, no pics!
Will be trying Fat Bike this year too.


----------



## miatagal96 (Jul 5, 2005)

Keep the skate skiing up Formica! There is quite a learning curve. It's good to take lessons several times a year - lessons really helped me. My first lesson meant the difference between barely making it to the top of a tough hill and reaching a heart rate of 183 to reaching the top of the same hill one week later with a heart rate of 168. Eight years into skate skiing, it now seems 'easy'. Still lots of work to do.

Skate skiing puts you in great cardio shape for the upcoming biking season.


----------



## miatagal96 (Jul 5, 2005)

If we ever get snow in the east, I'll be doing this:


----------



## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

miatagal96 said:


> Keep the skate skiing up Formica! There is quite a learning curve. It's good to take lessons several times a year - lessons really helped me. My first lesson meant the difference between barely making it to the top of a tough hill and reaching a heart rate of 183 to reaching the top of the same hill one week later with a heart rate of 168. Eight years into skate skiing, it now seems 'easy'. Still lots of work to do.
> 
> Skate skiing puts you in great cardio shape for the upcoming biking season.


oh yeah.... the hub and I got ourselves gear and lessons for Xmas. He's progressing way faster than me (always, everything we do). Sunday's lesson will be a private for me, I've got some crazy mis-timing thing going on. I've been out 4 times, two of those lesson days. But.... I did do 12k the other day and was doing OK until I started to bonk. Yikes, first bonk in 30 years. Not pretty. I only called the trail a M**********R instead of the hub. Really, another grade? We found out later we did the loop backwards. All things considered I'm doing well but I hate having to learn something new as it never comes easy for me.

We are big alpine skiers. In our area we'll get these snow drought where there is nothing new for weeks and alpine conditions start to really suck. The word from our nordic skiing friends is that the groomed nordic trails really hold the conditions well.


----------



## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

Fantastic pics ^ miatagal, formica, dawgprimo, bsieb.

I try to ride as long as I can. Sometimes there is a lot of pushing when it gets too deep, and some most winters have stayed cold enough that we can ride rivers, ponds, packed trails, night ries and shore ice.
















































I have tried other winter activities like learning to Alpine ski, cross country ski, snow shoe, etc. It all depends what the season is going to be like. We've just gotten fatbikes so that should make the riding a little different


----------



## jp08865 (Aug 12, 2014)

Be careful, that's one 'dirty' snowman !


----------



## Mr5150 (Dec 20, 2011)

Guess which are Mrs5150's skis.


----------



## BruceBrown (Jan 16, 2004)

*Gym season is here...*

If the snow is too deep and paths are not cleared for some road riding, then there's plenty of riding and training to do in the home gym...:thumbsup:



__
https://flic.kr/p/jDKziB
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/



__
https://flic.kr/p/jdyCg2
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

When the snow isn't too deep, bundle up and enjoy.



__
https://flic.kr/p/bdzQeR
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

Otherwise, spend time preparing for when we see dirt again...



__
https://flic.kr/p/7rWC5Q
 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


----------



## ladljon (Nov 30, 2011)

35 mile snow-gravel ride....and I do ski, snow-shoe, and sometimes kayak in the winter....


----------



## milliesand (Jun 29, 2015)

Riding in snow sounds interesting, if for no other reason that frozen precip is a novelty here in Tucson.


----------



## k2rider1964 (Apr 29, 2010)

Yeah, no snow in San Diego....EVER so the alternative to mountain biking is road biking every once in a while. The crazy thing is I are up skiing which morphed into snowboarding and the activity pretty much consumed me vacation time and $$. My dream was to retire in Steamboat Springs so I could snowboard all Winter. Then I started riding mountain bikes again religiously after breaking my femur in 2009 and now it's all about bikes. I also decided that I no longer desire to be in a cold weather climate for months at a time so we need to find our next happy place once we move from San Diego (in 2023 at the latest)


----------



## telemike (Jun 20, 2011)

Here in the Grand State of Confusion, the snow is powder. There's six feet at the trailhead in Lassen Volcanic National Park, my regular ski. But, you can ride down hwy 36 a couple dozen miles and ride the Iron Canyon Trail or the Hog Lake Plateau trails.

However, most of the riding is too wet around me so I'll be on the tele skis in the backcountry. Here's some video of the east side of Lassen:


----------



## thecanoe (Jan 30, 2007)

I just get on an airplane in Boston and head to AZ. 








Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

^ That looks similar to the type of skiing we have done. I 've got a set of Salomon X‑Adv which are good for climbs and downhills. Perfect for our landscape


----------



## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

formica said:


> I decided to take up skate skiing this year. Brutal learning curve. The total silence is awesome.


That was last year. Owning vs renting fat bike is this year.

So far I'm torn because for all the work, skate skiing is really great when it works for me. Same can be said for the fat biking. Hmmm.....

The skate skiing really works upper body and core. I'm hoping for time and weather that lets me do both.


----------



## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

Snowshoeing and camping in the Commanche Peaks Wilderness of northern CO.



















Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


----------

