I’m selling my K1. I don’t use it enough these days to justify re-locating it to the city and storing it in Zurich. Please help spread the word!
Its a gorgeous boat for the experienced paddler. Comes with spraydeck.
Photos to follow or on request: http://fiolafoley.com/tag/kanuschweiz/
Im getting into Strava. Being the kind of athlete who goes faster because of the fear someone will catch her, it seems like a good match for me!
Here is this evening’s ride. I missed a few K’s cause I kept forgetting to turn the timer on after we stopped for some reason or other (there were plenty)
On a run with a friend up Uetliberg yesterday I got thinking about the Irish Mountain Running Association (IMRA) training runs that are on every Wednesday night outside of Dublin. Rain, hail, sleet and snow don’t stop people from turning up to the runs and although there is a distinct competitive element attached to each run, the nature of hill running makes it relatively easy to re-group at the summit or run down and join the group to summit again together and avoid getting cold. All of this making it a great social event where no-one gets left behind.
Barry Minnock in an IMRA League Race
Hill Running in Zurich
I always wondered why there are apparently no organized runs around Uetliberg on weeknights. Or a hill running league in the Canton of Zurich. I know there is the ZKB Zurich Laufcup but its not really hill running as we know it in Ireland. But short of organizing our own, lets start out with one night a week where anyone can join a group run up Uetliberg.
Zurich Hill Running – Tuesday Evenings
We will meet at 18:30 at the Triemli S10 train stop, warm-up together and then run to the top of Uetliberg. Depending on the evening, the group, and the mood we can extend the run along the ridge to descend further along the ridge and eventually finish up at Sihl City, or just run down again to finish up at Triemli.
RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/events/387179351317723/ and while you are at it, join the Run and Bike Zurich group here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/goinglong.zrh/ to get in touch with like-minded sportspeople in and around Zurich.
About IMRA
IMRA started in Ireland with a group of enthusiastic hill runners in Dublin and has grown into a prosperous, active association affiliated through the Athletic Association of Ireland (AAI) to the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA). For more on Irish hill running greats read a previous blog entry I wrote on John Lenihan here.
See you there!
Ticino MTB Trip, a set on Flickr.
Just back from a short but great Easter break bike trip down to Ticino with Cait Elliot.
Irish XC Champion
Cait is Ireland’s top female XC Mountain Biker (a well-earned title after winning the Nat Champs last year). I seem to have forgotten that when we organized our trip! I am glad she took a much heavier bike than mine because although she currently isn’t training half as hard as she would be usually due injury, she still kicked my butt!
I have a lot to learn : )
Road Trippin’
So we drove to Ticino, and arrived pretty quickly in only 2.5 hours from Zurich – dropped our bags at the hotel, got changed and hit the trails on the first day. The weather was a bit mixed and we didnt make very good route choices as on the first one we had a lot of hike a bike, but the descent was nice and the banter good.
Thunder, lightening…and pizza!
A little break at the hotel to wait out thunder, lightening and hailstone and we both went out separately for a short evening spin. Me, to spin my legs which were sore from a hill run the previous day, Cait, probably to inflict at least some pain as she didnt feel any going at my pace Im sure ; ))
The evening was nice, pizza and a long night’s sleep.
Capanna San Lucio Ride
The next day was always going to be a big day. We rode up to San Lucio from Camano. 1,200 mtrs of alt. gain. I discovered that I only have one speed right now after not doing much biking over the winter but we made it to the top quite quickly and went inside the hut for a break where we met a lovely German family who invited us to tea and cake!
Broken
After my feet had warmed up we hit the trails. There was still some small ascents before hitting the real downhill trail and on one of the little uphill trails a branch got stuck in my rear derailleur causing the hanger to break off. That put a spanner in the works and I had to abandon the tour and freewheel my bike all the way down to where the car was parked at the bottom of the valley. I was really really bummed – and frozen. Its the second time this has happened out on a longer ride – so now Ill order 2 new hangers from Kinesis and always take a spare on bigger rides. Just wondering if its usually that simple to break a hanger? This one cant have gotten that many knocks that would have fractured it already, at least that I know of.
All in all a great weekend. Plenty of action and great company. Here is Cait’s take on the weekend.
I’m falling behind with my updates! There are a few weekend adventures I should report on but I have been going through some big changes recently so blogging has taken a backseat.
Basically this last ski mountaineering race makes me really want to do more! I LOVED IT! Im just bummed the season is nearly over. The race was quite adventurous, with a steep col to climb and a real mix of technical ascents and descents. The snow conditions were great so I held it together on the descents too.
Instead of writing the full event report for the Trophées du Muveran from scratch, Im copied the email my teammate and friend, Mathilde – sent to the girls on the team she has been doing other races with this year, below.
I have also added some photos below, I didn’t buy them but you can see some more on the race photographers website here.
Mathilde’s Report
“I finally have a bit of time and energy to make the full race report. First, big thanks for your message and support.
So, we arrived in Plan sur Bex on Saturday evening and had a race meeting in the very small chapel completely full of top fit ski tourers. The meeting was interesting as they explained all the key technical sections with pictures from the days before. We had dinner there and had the “pleasure” to share our dormitory with 5 French guys. I wish I had taken some ear plugs with me, it would have made the night a bit longer.
Although it was very convenient to sleep 1 minute from the start, other competitors began to wake up at 2h30 for the first start at 4h30 so the night was really short.
4h30, wake up, nice breakfast at the hotel, material check (a real one for once), and 6 am, start of the big day.
It was quite dark but we started on an easy road for almost 45min. Then, because of recent avalanches, we took the summer trail and had to carry our skis on a short sections as there was no snow left in the forest. The rest of the first climb was fine, sometimes quite technical with a lot of conversion but we had quite a good pace. It was quite hard snow but I had new skins and had no problem going up. Fiola was in top shape on her full heavy skis!
We arrived at the bottom of the couloir, skis on the bag. I was glad I had done the 2 others races before and you had given quite a lot of useful advices. The couloir was very nice, on snow first with a bit of climbing at the top, 250m of “adventure”. At the top of le Pacheu, we started our first descent. The snow was good and it was a wonderful descent. We arrived in Derborence after 3h30 of racing and already 1700m in the legs, ready to start climbing again.
The start was quite steep in the forest and quite busy as we were catching up with people who had started in the early starts and the fastest teams were already there. Then there was a never ending flat section and Fiola was having some pain in her right foot. Nevertheless, we made it to the top of the second climb still doing really well. A short descent and a short 100m climb again (good to practice the transitions 
)
We were then hoping to have an easy descent till the finishing line. Stupid idea. There was quite a long flat crossing where we had to skate, carry the skis 50m, push on the poles… and finally go done the valley. The descent was very technical as there was not so much snow and we had to zigzag between trees, rocks and avalanches… (I might have a few scratches on my skis!). Finally, it got easier on a forest road down to the village, oscillating between skiing and carrying the skis.
12am, we crossed the finishing line both happy of our fantastic day and first race together. Very happy also to get out of the ski boots.
Shower, lunch, beer and driving back to Zurich, feeling completely exhausted but very happy and relaxed.
I was really tired today and have to admit that I didn’t go running tonight.
It was a very nice race, very friendly and well organized. The circuit was quite technical and wild, in the spirit of “la Maya” but with some sections in the descent being quite difficult due to the late season. We got very lucky with the weather once again and I can’t believe that I manage to have 3 fabulous races in perfect conditions. I will really recommend this race in the future and you can actually sign up almost on the day.”
Clariden, a set on Flickr.
Skitouring, ski mountaineering is a risky business. It is great when everything goes according to plan but small mistakes can have dire consequences.
We decided last week that we would climb Clariden on Sunday. The weather forecast was good, avalanche risk low and we were in bed early on Saturday night sure that we would have a great following day.
A number of glitches altered our original plan to start our tour at 08:30. 1/2 of the group was arriving by Mobility and the entire Zurich fleet was out of service on Sunday morning meaning they had to look for alternative transport setting us back about 1.5 hours. The biggest mistake we made was not adjusting our expectations accordingly and cutting the tour short so we would be off the mountain by 14:00. Instead we carried on with our plan to summit and didnt realise how much danger we were putting ourselves in.
In the end, nothing happened, everyone got home safely – I am embarassed to say how late we actually got back at. We saw and heard avalanches but we were cautious and took our time to come down from what was quite a technical ridge to the safety of the valley.
I spent some time talking and thinking about the entire tour afterwards and wondering what made us not stop and think about what we were planning on doing that day. Often we are inclined to let others do the work, follow the leader and not take responsibility for ourselves. This is something I would like to improve in myself. I realise the need for more education when it comes to route planning and general mountain safety. One of my missions for next year can be self-development in this particular area.
Enjoy the pics.
Just back from a great weekend in Tirol!
Bad Snow
The snow wasn’t the best, in the morning it was really icey and after noon, slushy. But I enjoyed it anyway. On Friday I did a short 1 hour skin up the small ski piste in front of our hotel and then 90 mins on cross country ski’s, it was my first time and I really enjoyed it! I think I will do some more of that next year.
But Good for…
Then on Saturday we spent most of the day on the slopes which was good fun and I really enjoyed the chance to focus on my technique which is more survival mode these days from all the off-pisting on the tours.
An Extremely Adventurous Morning
Today I headed out on my own in the morning to climb up Seefelder Joch.
I didnt realise just how much of an adventure that was going to be, especially since I had seen so many people walking up on the piste yesterday (apparently “pistentouring” is BIG IN Austria these days, the amount of people I saw walking up the ski piste yesterday was pretty impressive) It was all going ok until I hit any slope with an angle greater than 30 deg. Then the trouble began, as there was absolutely no traction on the snow, which was actually pure ice and I hadn’t brought any ski crampons with me.
Sliding on Ice (going uphill)
I struggled my way up to about 1,600mtrs then had to get tactical and take great care to traverse the steep slope that led up to the summit. There was absolutely no chance of walking on the piste and the off-piste was just bumpy ice and very steep. Even making kick-turns felt challenging because of the extreme angle. I also realised that it was too late to turn around and ski down as there was no safe place to stop and take my skins off it was all so steep.
Keep Calm and Move On
In the end, I stayed calm, and made my way slowly but surely up to the top. There were plenty of people around, so there was no fear of being really stuck in a bad way but I now appreciate a lot more that bringing extra equipment “just in case” is very wise indeed.
Glad to only have a few ice scratches from some little slips on ice and a bruised ego for not having planned better!
Here are some more pics from the weekend.
Furgelenstock with Abi and Pezz, a set on Flickr.
Today we decided to go for an easy tour near HochyBrig. However – most of the route we wanted to walk was closed to preserve nature. Pezz mentioned that most of the birds must have flown their path anyway by now but she insisted we didn’t go there reminding us that it was blocked off for a very good reason. I agree.
So we had to re-route and walk mostly on a piste (albeit an empty one) to the top of the Ibergeregg ski piste and then cut right across the ridge to Furgellenstock.
Once we got to the top we werent quite sure what the best way to come down would be. Going back the way we came up would bring us to the piste which I thought would give us the most consistent downhill, but we would have to put our skins back on to get there. Going down off the West side of the summit meant we would have probably about 20 nice turns and then we would be into forest and have to walk and pole push our way out.
We decided for the former but we ended up somewhere unsatisfied as groomed piste was quite flat and boring and the off-piste snow was sticky.
All said and done, it was a great girls day out! The banter was good and who cares about the rest when you are surrounded by good company and good friends.
Chli Chärpf, Glarnerland, Mar 10, 2012, a set on Flickr.
I was excited all week long to climb Chli Chärpf yesterday with Mathilde and it lived up to beyond my expectations. We set off early from the car park on the side of the road, beyond the Elm Ski station and made our way up with the summit in sight.
The weather was spectacular and we stopped twice within the first hour to take layers of clothes off.
We pushed it quite hard in the first 750mtrs and paid for that a little in the second half. But it was ok. Getting to the top required some technical work – most people were taking off their skis and boot packing it up but we decided to leave them on. This was one of those moments you really don’t want to make a mistake. We had to edge up a narrow couloir/gully with our skis parallel to the slope and make an exact kick turn on the same +45 degree (est) slope to change direction and carry on up the last 200 mtrs to the summit.
Nothing like a little adventure! But we all managed it without any glitches.
The view from the top was breathtaking and it was warm enough so we took our time and ate a couple of sandwiches.
This tour bangs a lot for your buck – the uphill is challenging and consistently steep and you are rewarded with some of the best snow and downhill I have had yet on a skitour. Its not often that the downhill feels longer than the uphill but yesterday it seemed to go on forever.
Chli Chärpf, Ill be back! Thank you!
Chli Chärpf on Skitouren.ch: http://www.skitouren.ch/gipfelbuch/detail/id/53252
I took part in my 2nd uphill ski mountaineering race last night, the Ybriger Nachtskitourenskilauf at Hochybrig. It hurt all the way, from the very start, to the second I crossed the line. It hurt even more when all my really hard work to catch the woman in 3rd place ahead of me, went to vain on the flat and downhill sections because I hadn’t waxed my skins! There is a lot I have still to learn about this sport!
The Course
The Start Hurt
I got a shock at the start when everyone started off running uphill. Man, that hurt. I tasted blood in my mouth after a minute (anyone got an explanation for that?). Then I knew I had to settle into it or I would blow up horribly. The next major discomfort were the dehabilitating cramps in my calves. I guess dragging the weight of my super-not-light skis at a much faster pace than normal, sent my calves into shock! But after I raised my heel on the bindings and dug in to the steeper uphill section the cramps eased.
The Middle Hurt
When I approached mid-way I realised I had closed in on the woman who was ahead of me at the start. I was determined to try to keep closing on her until, in my imagination, the big sprint at the finish when I would overtake her. Alas, that was not to be due to the problem mentioned in the opening paragraph!
The Finish Hurt
Despite my disappointment at not passing my rival in 3rd place. I was happy to still have some fuel in the tank to push through at a nice pace to the finish egged on by my friend Sylvain over the last few metres to the line.
The Result was Ok
All in all I was happy with my result. I was a long way off the first woman but she is a professional biathlete who has obviously got a lot of racing and experience under her belt. I was within 2 minutes of 2nd and 3rd place respectively, and 2nd place was a well-known ITU triathlete in her day! So – hurray! I’ve got some form again.
Unfortunately I have no photos but here is are the results: http://tourenskilauf.ch/listen/Rangliste12.pdf
My friend Mathilde came in close behind me and that was a great show. We both dug deep.
Ski Mountaineering Races are…great!
I really like these races. You are pushed to the limit the whole way. There is no avoiding it, just getting to the top is a struggle, there is no hiding or drafting and not much tactics involved in the shorter races, its just all go right from the start.
The Ybriger Nachtskitourlauf costs 25 CHF to enter and that includes a meal at the end, so does the Night Attack in Flumserberg. They are usually at night so you have the day to lounge around and relax (unless the race is a longer one)
You nearly always a bag of goodies to bring away and a very high chance of getting a prize for performance or in the raffle (at the Flumserberg Night Attack 2 people out of our 6 person gang came away with raffle prizes). The ski down is nearly always great fun in the dark, although the conditions last night were less than optimal as it was raining and the snow was slush.
The people are nice and friendly and not pretentious at all, this makes a change from some other sports where people are really into fancy equipment but in the end are still afraid of the pain factor. Although there is still a lot of flash gear at the ski mountaineering races, the majority of competitors are quite unassuming characters.
There is a list of upcoming races on the SAC website
