GILLIAN CLAYTON

Gillian is a marathon runner turned professional triathlete who won Ironman Canada 2012. She's also a new mama as of August 2013! She grew up skiing Mount Washington, & 20+ years later, she's still here. With training for triathlon & other endurance sports, Gillian finally learned that cross country skiing is the best workout an endurance athlete can find for the winter, & she fell in love with it. On epic powder days, you'll find her on the Boom chair.

[gillianblogmountwashington]

West Coast Snowshoeing 101

It’s grey. It’s rainy. It’s blah. You’d like to get out for a walk with friends but nobody is too keen in the drizzle. Even the dog is looking at you like you’re crazy as you ask, “Want to go out, buddy?”. Well, if you feel this way, you’re not alone. Winter on the west coast is hard - it makes you want to hibernate on your couch with a cuppa something warm, some type of animal (dog, spouse, child), and some type of entertainment. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but hibernate for 100 days of the year and you’re not going to feel too great.

So what can you do instead? Well dear friends who live oh-so-near to the wonderful Mt. Washington, you can snowshoe. We know skiing is not for everyone. It can be an investment, a timely experiment, and can often come with sliding down a hill quickly with possibly little control (some of us love it, some of us not so much). But if you can walk, you can snowshoe. Simple as that.

Mt Washington is host to a terrific circuit of beautiful trails leading out of the Nordic Lodge. There is terrain from beginner to advanced, and even maps to show you the way! Don’t have any snowshoes? Not sure where to go? No problem, they’ve got great rentals in stock and will take you on a tour!  So really, you don't have much of an excuse not to make a date with some friends and head up the hill for some sweet sunlight, white snow, and some happy faces.

Take a backpack with snacks, bring a water bottle and a camera, and get ready to explore the nooks and crannies of the woods - something you can’t really do on skis, skinny or otherwise. I always feel like I’m a kid again exploring in the wild far from home when I’m out there. The bonus being, the routes are marked, and you can head back to the Nordic Lodge at any point for a hot chocolate or a bowl of warm, delicious soup. Always a plus!

And of course, there’s the weekly Snowshoe & Fondue events that are going on up the hill. Nothing like stomping around in the snow to work up an appetite for a three-course fondue dinner!

Now get on up there and enjoy a break from the grey!

[gillianblogmountwashington]

Gear you'll need for Cross Country Skiing

Have you ever watched XC skiing on TV? Spandex suits, fluoro everything, and everything matches.  Then your buddy suggests that you come out and try some cross country skiing with them, a change from your normal routine.  You think that seems like a good idea, but honestly, you're not sure about the spandex. Well, friends, spandex is not mandatory.  It's a lot more simple than you think.  Now, of course you need skis and boots, and likely poles (all of which you can rent from the Mount Washington Nordic Centre for a pretty affordable fee).  Beyond that, you get to customize! Socks - important for keeping your feet warm and making boots comfortable.  I like a pair of athletic socks (think running) and then a thicker pair over top.  You could just wear one.  Simple! Pants - I have seen everything from jeans, to ski pants, to tights.  Wear something that you could do a reasonable lunge in.  Depending on how fast you want to ski, don't overdress too much.

Tops - I like one shirt that is breathable and can wick away a bit of sweat - so think your technical running shirts, or something with a bit of merino wool - just not a giant cotton baggy long sleeve shirt - those are the shirts of bad times.  You'll sweat a bit while you ski, and cotton gets cold & damp. Underwear - goes without saying.  Forget it and you'll have a very bad day. Jacket - something you can zip down, blocks a little bit of wind.  Bike jacket, ski jacket, running jacket, probably nothing button down or double breasted though.  You should be slightly cool as you set out for your ski - you'll warm up as you go.  Dress for about 7-8 degrees warmer than it is - you'll warm up fast.

Handy things. Yes, pun intended.  Wear gloves, or at least bring them in your pocket.  Cold hands do not equal warm heart when you're skiing.  Cold hands equal grumpy skier. Heads up.  Bring a toque, or I am a fan of headbands to keep the ice cream headaches at bay - plus they cover my ears.   Other things that are worth stashing in your gear? A granola bar, possibly a water bottle, and some sunnies.  Other than that, you do not need anything crazy tight or fluorescent to enjoy the day.   Now get out there and give it a try!

[gillianblogmountwashington]

#eatallthesnow

Think about how you feel right now. That feeling of sweet relief, excitement, joy of your first taste of sliding on now. What an amazing anticipation we’ve had waiting for the white flakes to fall - and fall they did - somebody was due for a nice holiday gift this year and that place was Mt Washington!

Then Kaboom. Snow. Lots of it and more coming. How sweet it is.

So not only will I be hitting the chairs, skating the Lakes Trail, but I’ll be trying biathlon this year for the 1st time! I have been dreaming of the feel and sound of crisp fresh trackset under my skate skis over at the Nordic centre. As always, I’ll bring out the Atlas running snowshoes to remind me how easy running on pavement truly is.

It never fails to amaze me how many options you get on our mountain. We’re now proud residents of Courtenay, and we’re so lucky to have this at our city’s doorstep. For those who need to get up and cruise in the early, warm, & dark of their car with a good cup of java, well, they’re lucky too. To me, that’s a fond memory.

I remember as a kid growing up in Campbell River, getting up in the dark with my brothers and sleepily being shuffled into warm clothes and into the car. It was warm, bumpy, windy (the road was different back then, you young punks!), and dark. Quiet. I think, anyways. A tribute to my Dad’s parenting, we were given toast in a bag (appropriately named the “3 bag toast system” - I had two brothers, one for each) to eat in the car, and what I always remember as a rotten banana (read: ripe - I hate ripe bananas). From there all I remember is going from that dark to light, to white snow and sliding down the hills as fast as we could.

And now we can transition from those memories of fondness, visualizations of us cruising along the snow, to actually getting up there and doing it! The principle of delayed gratification is with us every opening ski season. We’ve been waiting. Watching that cookie on the counter and being told that if we just wait a little longer, we can eat the whole cookie jar. Well, I don’t know about you but I feel like the cookie monster and it’s time to #eatallthesnow!

Happy sliding everyone! Here’s to a great 2014/15 season to come!

[gillianblogmountwashington]

Pop it, drop it, & Loppet! A Mount Washington Loppet 'Race' Report!

So I did it! A Loppet!  What's a Loppet? I'm glad you asked! A couple years ago I'd be asking the same question. If you can cross country ski for a reasonable amount of time (I don't know, say an hour?) then you can do a loppet race (maaaybe not a super long one). Now, mind you, you are taking advice from someone who has never done one until just last week & didn't know what they were a year or two ago. But you know, that demographic may just encompass the greater majority of us. So read on if you're curious! The lesser minority of people may know what a loppet is. Those would be those sleek, technical fabric wearing fit-o's that hang out down at the Raven lodge.  Now, I'm not picking on them. They're my kind of people. I am those people. They are the Gran Fondo's of the snow.  They just haven't taken the world by storm yet. But I bet you they're coming. Maybe it's because we live in a warmer climate (hey, no digs about our slow start to the season, usually it is a rockin' early start!) that we don't focus on winter races. We bunker down, ski for Vitamin D's sake, and make it through the grey. But a lot of other communities (anything East of us and that stops somewhere in New Brunswick, basically), have embraced winter racing. There are ski marathons or 'loppets'.

Some people even do this race, as crazy (FUN?) as it sounds:

The Canadian Ski Marathon.

One day, I think, one day I want to tackle that race. But not quite yet.

Don't trust my opinion? Copied right out of CCCSki.com (Cross Country Canada Ski) is this their definition: "The Loppet means different things to participants.  For some it’s intense competition, for others it’s a relaxing way to spend a day outside, taking in the pristine beauty of the country side or wilderness, and enjoying the home grown entertainment and great food and drink at the rest stops along the trail."

Hot eats are right. I had hot Gatorade in the race! But I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to explain this race a little bit more. Because when I googled, "How to race a loppet", I came up with NADA.  ZILCH. I googled "loppet race reports" and came up with the big goose egg. What? Ok, if you google, "triathlon race report", you will be bowled over with information. So where's the loppet love? And that's why I'm writing down my thoughts on the race for you.  So you can google this before you race and know what's coming your way.  You still might be just as terrified, but at least you're be an informed terrified person. Nah, just kidding kids, don't be scared! Loppets are FUN!

I'll cut to the chase. Here's how they start. First you register. And in my opinion, these races are a great deal! I paid $1 per kilometer of racing, which I think is more than fair, and benefits our local economy & sports organizations.

Then you get a shirt bib (this is novel for a triathlon, we're given paper numbers & safety pins to jab our fingers and bellies with). You forgo a warmup because you're so sore from last week's 1/2 marathon that you're not even convinced you can finish. If you're also me, your warm up is really finding a washroom then feeding your 7.5 month old in your Westy Van (hippies UNITE).

Time to start the race. You try to not be intimidated by the 8 year olds crushing you on the warm up path to the start. They're not allowed in your category (I did the 30km) so you breathe a sigh of relief. Then someone shouts something at the crowd, and you ask the people around you what that meant, and they explain that you have to double pole out of the stadium. You begin to freak out a little. This is a mass start, meaning everyone starts at the same time (I don't know how many people there were - 100, 200?). But it's ok, you're in tracks and if you're slow (I was) the people behind you will just have to grit their teeth and chillax. I gave them lots of opportunities to line up ahead of me.

Honk! Horn goes, double poling ensues. And then basically, after some bottle necking and people falling and stepping on skis and poles (it was a touch crowded and this ain't the Olympics) everything sorted itself out and we were all off skiing on course. Once that fear was over (approximately 7 minutes), then I had a joyous wave of satisfaction that I indeed, was in a ski race. My first ever!

Now without boring you, my race report goes like this: "I skied for 30 km".

But here are a few of the things I learned:

1. Hot Gatorade is AWESOME. They give you this at the aid station.  Which I was thinking, is no small feat, because the aid stations are in the middle of a wintry forest, and someone had to lug that big hot vat out there. I was truly thankful. Usually in triathlon, when handed a hot Gatorade, after taking a sip and feeling that hot sweet liquid hit your mouth, you throw it away in total disgust, making a fake gagging noise and then spitting on your own face. But here, it was like liquid hot melty gold.

2. Bring your own snacks. At least one. I brought no emergency snacks thinking the aid stations would be more regular like they are in triathlon and marathoning. Um, they weren't this time, so I was hitting a very hard and fast BONK town half way through the race. Lesson learned. I thought I saw a sasquatch, which is my go-to hallucination when I am super low blood sugar. 

3. It's totally ok to stop at the aid station and treat it like a Bonanza Buffet. I hunkered down and stopped for at least 3 minutes at the aid station (I have never done this in my life in racing!), explaining that I was quite hungry and could I please have 3 cups of hot Gatorade? I also explained I'm a breastfeeding mama, so calories were in well-deserved need. The aid station people helped a sister out in filling her face and I felt like a million bucks after.

4. You'll pass at least one uber fast person because they will break their ski skiing so darn fast (I passed 2). I felt bad for the skier because skis are not cheap. But then I felt secretly proud of being slow and posing no risk of ski breaking at my non-break neck speeds, and moving up one more position. Yes, I can be that petty and competitive.

5. You need to be ok with getting passed. It will happen. It's your first time doing this.  And it will probably be a old bald guy that does it.  Totally ok, because his head is way more aero than my braids. Plus I passed two guys on the Raven Hill (it's long) and felt justified that I am a half-way ok skier.

6. Conditions may change. Your perfect start weather may not change.  We started in the sun and finished into a driving blizzard.  It happens.  This is WINTER. Be prepared. Or at the very least, keep moving & stay warm.

7. It's peaceful out there. You're in the heart of winter, gliding along beautiful park trails. There are no cars driving by choking you out with exhaust (read: road running races), but there are also very few fans shouting encouragement when you are way out on the loops of the course. But it helps you focus on yourself. On what you are doing and why you are doing it. It strips away distractions and makes you come face to face with your feelings (Bonus: Loppets, also much cheaper than therapy!).

8. If you feel not so great about yourself, you work through it and find the positive, or at the very least, find the 'tough' and get going with it. My day wasn't all roses out there, but it's a very personal challenge. And those of us that take on challenges know why we do it - it needs no explanation. That I think really sums up my lessons learned. I had a lot of fun. I felt proud of myself for taking on something new.

As I've learned in life, taking on new challenges often leads to eye opening life changes (read: one day I signed up for my first triathlon, 3 years later I won Ironman Canada). Not to say I'm taking on the world of XC skiing, as it's not so much about the title as it is about all the stuff that happens in between - that's the stuff that really changes your life for the better. The lessons, the people, the challenges, the sacrifices and the rewards. Not to mention the humbleness and the honour that comes with being an athlete.

It's a great game. I'm going to stick with it. So I encourage you to try the Loppet next time it comes around. It was a very fun, low stress, not-too-intimidating way to have a fun day on skis, meet new friends, and support your local ski clubs & ski mountain. 

Everybody wins & you get hot Gatorade!  Yum.

[gillianblogmountwashington]

A Match Made In Heaven

Hey everyone, Gillian here, one of your Mount Washington bloggers. I have been thinking on what to write a little bitty about for the last little while, and the one thing popped into the forefront of my mind as I lugged myself up stairs for a good night’s sleep - what a good match nordic & downhill skiing is.

Yes, some people definitely do both, or they used to do one and now the other, but a lot of people just stick in one camp. You either eat the cinnamon buns at the Alpine Lodge or the Raven Lodge, but not usually both places (do people remember the old Nordic Lodge buns, I have fond childhood memories of those!). Did I mention we ate all of our family ski meals in the parking lot of the old Red Chair? Tailgate style? That’s a whole other blog entirely - stay tuned - it might be next!

But here’s the thing - I live up here and I am a snow enthusiast to say the least, and I get all that I can out of the mountain. So, skinny skis or fat ones, I’m out there (heck, even our kid’s Chariot has skis! We get a lot of compliments - almost too many - maybe we need a “Shhhh, for the love of a powder day, our baby is sleeping” sign). And I couldn’t help but notice lately, as we get into the season and my legs have built in some resilience, that the combo of nordic & downhill is amazing for getting into shape. Here’s why!

Think of it this way - would you go to the gym and do the same exercises every day, or even every other day? Probably not, you’d think you want a little bit of this & that, some cardio & some strength, and if you’re on the hipster core strength wagon (I am!), then you’d be doing some core & balance training as well. So why not do that up here? Skip the gym for the whole winter? To me, that sounds like a dreamy fudge sundae.

I am no fan of the gym really, it smells a little bit like your Dad’s socks with a touch of ‘that guy next to you on the bus’ (ok, not all gyms but…). Fresh air is not only amazing (we’re so lucky to live here!), it’s healthy, inspiring, and it gives you a sense of clarity. Parents used to leave their babes outside in prams to get fresh air (& inspire hardiness?), we’ll skip that but we certainly believe in taking him out for a couple hours for a walk daily (either in a Ergo/snowshoe hike, or the wonderful Ski Chariot), and he sleeps like a dream.

And when he isn’t sleeping like a dream, he is often giggling in fits of laughter because Daddy is doing windsprints with him (because it makes him laugh). And sometimes he cries “like a baby” and Daddy calls Mumma who is often nordic skiing down in Strathcona Park (or up on the Boom), and has to huff it back up (or down) to the village to feed our little monkey. But I’m going a little sideways here - my point is, you should do both. And carrying a cell phone is handy.

(I also take mandatory ski chocolate wherever I go - you never know when you’re going to need it).

I used to say that skate skiing was like a combination of swimming, biking, and running. I’m not kidding - I kinda was an ok triathlete - I think I should know.

I felt like it used all those muscles, but at once, which is why nordic skiers are some of the best (or THE best?) cardiovascular athletes in the world. Then there’s classic skiing, which I just started, and I’d say it’s a good combo between running and that elliptical machine (and maybe a touch of slacklining?), but harder than all put together. Then downhill skiing? Well, might as well line up a competition of friends for a wall squat competition and see who can tolerate the burn the longest. Nah, well, it doesn’t have to be that hard, but if you’re like me, skiing solo while your family is hitting the trails with the Chariot, you are skiing alone and for fitness, and you do a lot of runs. And your legs burn to the point of ridiculousness (especially on some of the ridiculous powder days we’ve had up here this February - they’re real, and they’re spectacular). So you’re getting a cross-fit(ness) of snow sports. And the key thing is, they all require balance so you don’t fall on your tuchus. So you get cardio, dynamic movement, agility and balance. Oh, and fun. Dreamy.

So what happens for me, is that I build up a reserve of cardio in skate skiing, that I’m now using in spades in classic because I’m working that much harder. Then, I strap on my fat skis and slide down the hill thinking, wow, ‘so much easier than cross country’ - UNTIL - I am half way down the Blue face and thinking, “Hmmmph, my legs are shaking like a polaroid picture”. So I go again and again until I almost fall over OR start looking at the BeaverTails thinking I can’t live without a sweet creation - either are the universal sign that it is time for me to head back home and throw 14 fruits & veg into our Vitamix & give it a whirl while I go back to feeding our babe who has been out playing in the snow for a couple hours.

The point is the cross over is amazing. I head back to the nordic trails and my legs feel way stronger heading up the hills, I can feel new muscles there - and it’s from downhill. Then on the downhill I have so much respect and thanks for a chairlift carrying me effortlessly up the hill, while I get to zoom down it, while using technique in a entirely different way, wondering how the heck did those little kids bombing past me got to be so good…

Because I’m so confident in my ski fitness I’m going to jump into a half marathon in a couple weeks in Courtenay - a great local race that I’ve done before. I won’t be breaking any speed records - but then I haven’t run more than a handful of times since January. But I’m fit, thanks to the mountain. Then - most excitingly, I’m going to enter a Loppet (yes, you ask, what is that? I asked the same question. But it’s a ski race. Why don’t they just call it a ski race? I have no idea - maybe I’ll find out). Yes, you heard it here. I still have to figure out how to register (March 29th at the Raven Lodge, I believe) and how to actually ski ‘race’ (this is a new thing for me), but I am very excited! I’ll let you know how that goes!

So get out there and try both nordic & downhill. It’s like winter cross-fit, but way more fun, with goggle tans (optional - I wear sunscreen, because I’m smart), and a whole lot of happy people up here to ski with! It’s a dream team.

Happy skiing everyone!

[gillianblogmountwashington]

[gillianblogmountwashington]

Mount Washington: Our home.

Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to finally be sitting down to write with a blanket of white stuff outside my window - we’ve been waiting for this for a long time, just like you!

We are fortunate to actually be living on the mountain this winter. As skiers, we were thrilled to be moving up here with our brand new (ok, not totally brand new anymore, but pretty tiny!) baby in December. We waited for the snow like all of you and have had a long hard wait for it to finally arrive - what a crazy year! But it’s here - and it’s glorious!

Even through December and January, when very few flakes fell, we surprisingly still had a lot of options. My background has been, and will be, in endurance sports, and after having a baby in August, my energy level was finally starting to come back to me. But I had a dilemma - I wanted to get back in shape - I had counted on skiing, and it wasn’t quite available yet - so what to do? The answer: there are tons of things to do up here!

First up was snowshoe running, which is a very tiring way to run - but so fun! So I crashed around on my snowshoes for a couple of weeks and was exhausted even 10 minutes from my door. It is a great workout. I even did a Yeti snowshoe race! But the snow started to thin out, and harden up, and I turned from snowshoes to my YakTrax when the sun came out.

All the while, I should say, we used one of those wonderful inventions for our baby called a Chariot, with a ski attachment, meaning that Dad was able to get out, get some fresh air with our little babe, and usually coerce him into a nice mid-day nap - a win-win for everyone! (And no less of a workout - in case you haven’t noticed, there are generally two directions on a mountain - up, or down!).

Then we had a boom day with a crazy amount of snow - and the mountain was fully into gear! Hopefully you were up enjoying the beautiful sunshine and getting some time in with some spring like conditions. But alas, it wasn’t to last - unless….you were a nordic skier. A win for skinny skis, spandex & silly visors! Thanks to some amazing grooming on a set of trails, cross country (XC) skiing was able to stay open even when the downhill didn’t have enough coverage. So in January, I was able to start XC skiing with increasing frequency.

If there was any workout that gets you into shape in a hard and fast way, it’s XC skiing. I was grateful to start feeling like I was getting my sea (or ski) legs back. There was a awesome moment when I had finally made it up the Grind (it’s hilly) track without stopping. It might of been ugly, but I made it, and I was proud. And while we were having this crazy inversion that followed the snow, I was t-shirt XC skiing - in January!

Persisting despite the conditions, I was still able to use the mountain to continue to get my fitness back on track. After a massive inversion, we plunged into icy chilly temps, and with bare roads, I was able to do some road running when XC was closed weekdays while marveling at the amazing ice flow sculptures that had accumulated on the side of the road (there were even ice climbers up here - amazing for the West Coast!). I don’t know enough about climbing to know whether this was a good idea or not, so I am not promoting it! But it was nice to see other people out enjoying winter, even without the ski forms. It made me think, a mountain is so much more than a downhill ski run. The mountain is alive with winter in so many ways, and perhaps this crazy weather system was a way for us to appreciate it not only for what we missed, but also for what we found anew.

Then BOOM, we got snow. And then we got more and more snow. And then on February 16th, we got so much snow it was ridiculous. And that was the day I decided to go XC skiing. It was a bad choice.

I think it snowed about 40 cms on my ski alone (in 2 hrs - crazy). So, for someone skate skiing, that’s not a plus. It was one of the tougher sporting moments I’ve encountered, and it made me stop and take stock of my character. Could I get through this? Yes. Did I curse at the sky? Yes. And I could do it because I had been working hard outside this winter, with conditions good and bad, in freezing winds (ok, for BC -20 is pretty darn cold, hopefully not many people from Ontario read this blog and snicker) and sweaty XC climbs, I could endure this crazy, crazy ski.

I realized, it’s the gift the mountain gives you - not only does it get you into shape, it makes you truly Canadian in your approach to winter (we get out there!) and leaves a smile on your face. Who can ask for more?

So here’s hoping all of you are getting out there and going home at the end of the day with a smile on your face, wanting to come up for more. We’re so excited the snow is here and it has been well worth the wait. Now we just can’t wait until our little guy can ski! Watch out world!