The snow is lying deep in the central Colorado mountains, which makes them paradisaical for snowshoers. Snowshoeing opportunities abound. Check out these opportunities in the Gunnison-Crested Butte area:

Gourmet Dining on Snowshoes

Use snowshoes (or Nordic skis) for an easy trip to a delicious brunch or dinner at the yurt prepared by personal chef Tim Egelhoff.  Brunch at the Nordic Center’s Magic Meadows Yurt is available February 5 and March 18 from 10:30 a.m .to 12:30 p.m. The cost is $25 for adults, $10 for kids under age 12 (ski passes and rentals are extra).  Moonlight Yurt Dinner Tours are scheduled for February 7, 14, 19 and March 8 and 17.  Doors open at 6 p.m. and dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $65 for adults and $30 for children under age 12 (includes a trail pass and equipment rental but not gratuity or alcohol).  Reserve online or call 970-349-1707 for reservations.

Photography Workshops

Art and snowshoeing do mix, and local professional photographers Xavier Fane and Raynor Czerwinski are out to prove just that with six new photography
workshops offered from January through March.  Learn how to photograph winter in a number of ways, accessing subject matter on snowshoes or Nordic skis.  Workshops cost $55 each and include a Nordic pass but not
equipment. More information and registration is available online. Here are the dates:

• February 19 – Catching the Action (Fane) & Photographing the Earth Shadow (Czerwinski)
• March 18 – Playing With the Stars (Fane) & Winter Landscape
Photography (Czerwinski)

Guided Tours for All Levels

Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s Moonlight Snowshoe Tours (February 7, March 8 and April 6) offer the joy of snowshoeing moonlit mountain trails after being transported to the start by snowcat. Guided daytime snowshoe tours on ski area trails are offered daily at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with snowshoes, poles, water, a light snack and a lift ride included in the cost for the two-mile outing.  There are also daily tours of of Snodgrass Mountain from 1 a.m. to  4 p.m.  The cost for all tours is $75 per person, including transportation.  For
information and reservations, go online or call 970-349-4554.

Backcountry Tours

The Crested Butte Nordic Center introduces backcountry snowshoe tours during the on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  The cost is $65 per person and will take participants to the beautiful Gothic, Washington Gulch or Slate River areas.  Information is available online ot by calling 970- 349-1707 for
reservations.  Crested Butte Mountain Guides also offers backcountry
snowshoeing adventures.

I know that a lot of plastic ends up in landfills, though living in Boulder with its zero-waste goals and wide-ranging recycling program that includes most plastics, I wasn’t aware how much. The numbers are shocking. I did a double-take when I read that bottled water is a $15 billion industry these days, and it’s not a very environmentally friendly industry either. More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in U.S. landfills every day. They are the remains of the 1.5 million tons of plastic that goes into bottles just for water each year, and Less than 5% is recycled. Toto, we’re not in Boulder.

The new reusable American-made Hydros Bottle from a socially driven and eco-conscious company ( i.e., a Boulder-type enterprise) provides an alternative. With innovative side fill port and twist cap, Hydros helps to eliminate the temptation to buy disposable bottled. Each bottle accommodates a filter that which lasts for three months or up to 200 uses, which not only offers an average savings of $400 but also keeps 200 plastic water bottles out of US landfills. It might be akin to a pinprick on an elephant hide, but every single thing that helps reverse the trend of unconsionable waste is worthwhile.

Hydros is a do-good company too by helping to fund sustainable water projects like Gondum, Nigeria. One dollar for every bottle sold goes to global clean water initiatives, so someone in need can have clean, safe drinking water.

Hydros bottles sell for $23.99 or $29.99  (seemingly depending on color and whether it is a side-fill or top-fill design). Replacement filters are $9.95 for a single to #23.95 or $24.95 for a three pack. Buy online or in retails stores.

Estes Park, eastern gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, and the park itself are the place to go for snowshoeing immersion this weekend. And what a weekend it promises to be. The town and the park got some accumulation from yesterday’s snowstorm that deposited 5 inches of fluff on my back deck down in Boulder, and another storm this afternoon and evening promises an additional 5 to 11 inches. Should be ideal for snowshoeing and snowplay this weekend.

The fouth annual  Estes Park Winter Festival takes place from Friday, January 13 to Monday, January 16. It kicks off on Friday with the Ceilidh Irish Barn Dances. Festival events include wine and microbrew tastings in a heated tent, an elaborate ice castle, children’s activities, a chili cook-off, music, special sales, art shows, restaurant specials, horsedrawn carriage rides, hot air balloon glow and more. The schedule and prices (all reasonable or FREE) are more comprehensive than we have room for, but click here for details, call 970-577-9900 or 800-44-ESTES.

This family-friendly festival partners with the 18th Annual Winter Trails Day held Saturday, January 14 at the Glacier parking lot in Rocky Mountain National Park. Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend happens to be a FREE day in all FREE demo snowshoes and tours try them out. Winter Trails Day elsewhere last Saturday (I went to the one Echo Lake), but RMNP is the site of a bonus event. The fine folks from REI’s Denver Flagship organized the event (and brought snowshoes from their rental fleet), and Alpine Rescue Team volunteers led short, complimentary snowshoe walks along the lakeshore. The Alpine Rescue folks used the opportunity to caution backcountry neophytes on winter safety in the outdoors.

Last Saturday’s Winter Trails Day turnout (nearly 400 who borrowed demo gear to try and others who just went a tour or just enjoyed the ambiance) was quite remarkable, given the extensive coverage the local media has given to low snow this season, the fact that it was the National Western Stock Show’s opening weekend and that the NFL playoffs began that day. RMNP traditionally attracts more people than Echo Lake.

Snowshoers at Tubbs tent waiting to try demo snowshoes. Atlas, Colorado-based Crescent Moon and MSR had tents too.

Snowshoers on frozen Echo Lake.

I can’t wait to here the numbers from this event!

I did a double-take when I saw the Target sales flyer in today’s newspaper with a full page ad on page 5 on fitness equipment. Under the banner headline, “Save on New Balance” are several fitness products. The big lead picture  shows a lean and smiling young woman walking with poles. One little copy block reads, “Sale $16 iPod armband or walking poles.” Another reads, “New Balance adjustable walk poles. Add another dimension to your workout.” A third reads, “Burn up to 45% more calories.”

Granted, Target or its ad agency didn’t specify “Nordic Walking” but referred to “walking poles,” but still, they look a lot like Nordic ski poles to me. The model is wearing black gloves, so I can’t tell where the black straps are affixed to the pole grips, but she is grasping both poles high on the grips. If  they were any brand of Nordic Walking poles, the straps would be lower down on the grip. Also, if she were doing anythng other than smiling and posing in a studio, she would have her front pole planted father back, the pole angle would be different and the fingers of her back hand would be loosened. And then there’s that back elbow sticking out behind her.The implication is also that New Balance is selling walking poles, but an examination of their website reveals no poles at all. Besides, what kind of poles of any sort can you buy for 16 bucks, even on sale?

With “friends” like Target, no wonder the general public, if they think about fitness walking with poles at all, doesn’t have a clue about what the proper poles are like or what the activity is all about.

Here in Colorado where there is some snow in the high country, the show willl go on. Winter Trails Day activities have ebbed and flowed over the years, with more scheduled some years than others. The big event hosted by REI is snowshoe-only — no cross-country skiing. It takes place at Echo Lake along Colorado Hwy. 103 between Bergen Park and Idaho Springs from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and features hundreds of demo snowshoes for adults and children, guided hikes, snow activities, outdoor gear displays and free giveaways. For more information, call 303-756-3100.

Malin Svensson

Malin Svensson, Nordic Walking and fitness expert in Los Angeles is hosting a FREE teleseminar called “8 Simple Steps to Lose Weight, Look Great and Feel Sexy!” on Tuesday, January 10, at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Click here to sign up online (scroll down to the simple registration form).

The teleseminar will not be Nordic Walking-specific,  although Svensson has sterling credentials. Originally from Sweden, she came to the United States in 1989 with a Masters Degree in Physical Education. Among her numerous credentials are several in Nordic Walking: First INWA (International Nordic Walking Association) Master Trainer in North America and is one of the four INWA International Coaches in the
world. INWA-certified International Nordic Walking Coach. Founder and president of Nordic Body Inc., a California wellness company helping people get fit to stay fit at any age. President of NWNA (Nordic Walking North America), an educational organization for fitness professionals. Founder of Nordic Walking USA, an informational resource on Nordic Walking (and not associated with this Nordic-Walking-USA blog). Author of Nordic Walking instructor manuals and subject of numerous fitness articles.

My first Nordic Walk of the New Year was at Boulder Valley Ranch, an true multi-use parcel that remains a historic and working ranch and also is part of the Boulder Mountain Parks & Open Space system. Recreational uses include hiking/walking, running, dogs (on leashes or required voice/sight control) and horseback riding — and we saw every one of those uses. We parked at the east trailhead off 51st Street rather than the more popular (and more crowded) one at Longhorn Road and made a 3 1/2-mile loop of the Eagle and Sage Trails. The Longhorn Road trailhead is not the one marked with a the arrow on the OSMP map below but rather the one directly to the east, marked with a P for “parking.”

I enjoy Boulder Valley Ranch’s wide trails — ranch roads, really — that have ample room for runners and walkers to be side-by-side, even leaving room for mountain bikers and horses to pass with no conflict issues. And because trails are smooth, with very few rocks, it is easy to maintain a Nordic Walking stride. The views to the west provide a panorama of foothills and often the snow-covered back range as well. And the big-domed sky is always uplifting.

Walking with or without poles is but one of the recreational trail uses at Boulder Valley Ranch.

We made a loop of the Eagle and Sage Trails. Near the southwestern end of our route, as we walked parallel to the cottonwood-lined irrigation ditch, we first heard and then say three coyotes. The trail makes a loop past the busier Longhorn Road parking area, and returns to the Eagle/Sage junction and from there, it’s a mere half-mile to the trailhead where we started.

A handsome pair of bald eagles along the Eagle Trail.

Cottonwoods against a blue sky with drifting clouds.

Yuccas maintain a touch of gree in winter, even when everything around them is tan and brown.

Cheery red-roofed house in a hollow Boulder Valley Ranch.

Free entry to  & activities in archeological park in January and February

My resolution again is to be more conscientious about maintaining this blog to encourage people to pick up poles for Nordic Walking whenever and wherever the ground is bare and poles plus snowshoes when it’s covered in white. There’s good news for snowshoers and in fact, all visitors to southwestern Colorado.

Entry to Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado is FREE during January and February. The park’s main road and Mesa Top Loop Road remain open throughout the winter, 8 a.m. to sunset, weather permitting. Bring your skinny skis or snowshoes to  explore four winter trails with a total of 28.4 miles of cross-country and snowshoe terrain, snow permitting. More than 20 miles are groomed; the remaining miles are located on Wetherill Road, closed to vehicular traffic in winter.

Seeing Mesa Verde's famous cliff dwellings sheltered under a commodious overhang shows how the ancestral pueblans lived through the winter there. (MVNP photos)

Moving across this timeless landscape with snow underfoot and the big blue dome overhead provides ample reason to explore Mesa Verde National Park, but don’t neglect is archeological treasures as well. The Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum is open daily, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until March 10.  Put your snowshoes aside for an hour and  join a ranger for a FREE walking tour of Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde NP’s third-largest cliff dwelling and the only dwelling open during the winter, available daily at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Food is available at Spruce Tree Terrace, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. The park is near Mancos in southwestern Colorado. For more information, call the Chief Ranger’s office at 970-529-4622, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It [Nordic Walking] is considered an aerobic activity that brings great benefits to the  physical state of the practitioners, with a low sense of tiredness. This sport  can be practiced outdoors, alone or in company, which will confer a fun feature.  There are also various ways to practice: in the water, skates or the most common  place is the nature trails.

The techniques are basically accompany the push up and slide, with a hand  motion.

The most basic are:

* Keep your shoulders relaxed.

* Do not push too hard and keep the rods in a diagonal position.

* The stick should be pushed behind the pelvis.

* After the push rod should be taken to fast forward and when end of the  stick is pushed to open the palm of your hand.

* The foot does come forward while the opposite hand and must fully support  the heel to the toes.