Reporting from Greenland’s Arctic Circle
If you’ve ever wondered about the versatility and durability of modern snowshoes read on. I’m a professional dog musher and live in Greenland’s Ittoqqortoormiit with my 17 dogs: 16 males and 1 female. Her name is Girly and she’s very popular.
Ittoqqortoormiit is very remote but it’s home for 460 people and over 400 working Greenland Dogs, the only breed allowed above Greenland’s Arctic Circle. By remote I mean 500 miles from the next community. There are no roads leading in or out of Ittoqqortoormiit. Outsiders coming to work here have been known to freak out, panic and want out because it’s so isolated. There’s no plumbing. Storms and cold are brutal and polar bears are always about. It’s a tough place.
Ittoqqortoormiit is a place of extremes. Despite summer’s 70 days of perpetual daylight it’s very rarely T-shirt weather and there’s not a single day in the year when you can’t see snow. We get only two re-supply ships per year and what’s here by September is what we rely on until the following July, for me it means gear that withstands abuse and brutal cold.
Come winter we have 56 days when the sun never rises and we live in total polar dark. It can snow any month of the year in Ittoqqortoormiit and Christmas here is always white. Gravity-sped cold dense air can rush down vertically off cliffs to create colossal coastal 100-knot piteraq winds. Windows pop and houses have been known to explode. Everyone is vigilant for polar bears wandering about houses, bears that fear nothing and have a tendency to eat people. No-body walks far unarmed. Reach twelve and kids can legally carry a firearm.
The Ittoqqortoormiit sea ice sledding season – November to July – is probably the longest in the world and sometimes I’m away travelling with my dogs for three months. Minus 40 temperatures aren’t rare here. There’s no getting away from the cold and there are only three things I can do to warm up: put on more clothes, eat, or exercise. My dogs don’t carry me. Skis or Tubbs snowshoes enable me to generate heat and stave off hypothermia while breaking trail for my dogs through snow that’s sometimes chest deep.
When I’m home I train twice daily by running, whatever the weather even in deep snow I run my own trail system wearing Tubbs snowshoes.
I know about other makes of snowshoes, enough not to be impressed.
If you’d like to know more about how and where I use my Tubbs snowshoes:
http://www.garyrolfe.com/sponsors-endorsements/index2.htm#Tubbs
Winter Trails Day
Date: Sat, January 9, 2010
(or Sat, January 16: special Estes Park, CO date)
Location: various locations across the USA!
Info: www.wintertrails.org
To Register: Winter Trails Registration Form (registration not required, but recommended!)
Don’t miss the 15th annual Winter Trails Day®–a FREE snowshoe demo happeneing at dozens of locations across the country. Winter Trails Day offers children and adults a chance to try snowshoeing and cross country skiing for FREE, and to discover the great fitness and social benefits with these easy-to-learn winter sports.
Visit www.wintertrails.org for a location near you, or check out the list of “anchor” winter trail sites:
Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series–ON
Date: Sat, February 20, 2010
Location: Scenic Caves, Town of the Blue Mountains, Ontario
Join us for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®–a 3k snowshoe walk or 5k snowshoe race that benefits the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation®.
This beginner & family friendly event is a great way to beat the winter doldrums, get out snowshoeing, and support a fantastic cause.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® has engaged more than 16,000 people in the sport of snowshoeing and raised nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for breast cancer awareness, research, & education!
Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer–NJ
Date: Sat, January 23, 2010
Location: Mountain Creek Resort, Vernon, NJ
Join us for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®–a 3k or 5k snowshoe walk or 3k snowshoe race that benefits the North Jersey Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
This beginner & family friendly event is a great way to beat the winter doldrums, get out snowshoeing, and support a fantastic cause.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® has engaged more than 16,000 people in the sport of snowshoeing and raised nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and its affiliates!
Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series–VT
Date: Sat, January 30, 2010
Location: Stratton Mountain Resort
Join us for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®–a 3k or 5k snowshoe walk or 3k snowshoe race that benefits the Vermont/New Hampshire Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
This beginner & family friendly event is a great way to beat the winter doldrums, get out snowshoeing, and support a fantastic cause.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® has engaged more than 16,000 people in the sport of snowshoeing and raised nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and its affiliates!
Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series–CO
Date: Sat, March 6, 2010
Location: Frisco Nordic Center, Frisco, CO
Join us for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®–a 3k or 5k snowshoe walk or 3k snowshoe race that benefits the Denver Metropolitan Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
This beginner & family friendly event is a great way to beat the winter doldrums, get out snowshoeing, and support a fantastic cause.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® has engaged more than 16,000 people in the sport of snowshoeing and raised nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and its affiliates!
Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series–UT
Date: Sat, February 6, 2010
Location: Mountain Dell Golf Course, Salt Lake City
Join us for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®–a 3k or 5k snowshoe walk or 3k snowshoe race that benefits the Salt Lake City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
This beginner & family friendly event is a great way to beat the winter doldrums, get out snowshoeing, and support a fantastic cause.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® has engaged more than 16,000 people in the sport of snowshoeing and raised nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and its affiliates!
Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series–OR
Date: Sat, February 27, 2010
Location: Mt Hood, OR
Join us for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series®–a 3k or 5k snowshoe walk or 3k snowshoe race that benefits the Oregon/SW Washington Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
This beginner & family friendly event is a great way to beat the winter doldrums, get out snowshoeing, and support a fantastic cause.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® has engaged more than 16,000 people in the sport of snowshoeing and raised nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and its affiliates!
Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series-WA
Date: Sat, February 20, 2010
Location: Summit at Snoqualmie Nordic Center, Snoqualmie Pass
Join us for the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series–a 3k or 5k snowshoe walk or 3k snowshoe race that benefits the Puget Sound Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
This beginner & family friendly event is a great way to beat the winter doldrums, get out snowshoeing, and support a fantastic cause.
Since its inception in 2003, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® has engaged more than 16,000 people in the sport of snowshoeing and raised nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and its affiliates!
Don’t miss our first Romp to Stomp in Washington State.
2010 Romp to Stomp Registration Open
Aiming to top last year’s 4,150 participants and more than $200K contributed to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Tubbs Romp to Stomp Out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series® is lining up seven events in North America for 2010. Anticipating another successful season, 2010 will mark Tubbs’s donation of more than one million dollars in the fight against breast cancer.
To celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the 2010 Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Series is now open and participants can take advantage of the special Early Bird rate saving them up to $15. With winter right around the corner, the Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Series offers a fun, family-friendly way to help fight breast cancer beyond breast cancer awareness month. In the USA, participants choose from a 3k or 5k snowshoe walk or a 3k snowshoe race in New Jersey, Vermont, Utah, Washington, Oregon, or Colorado; and the Ontario, Canada Romp offers a 3k snowshoe walk or a 5k snowshoe race. The cost for early online registration is $25 per adult ($15 for kids) or $40 for onsite registration ($30 for kids and available at most sites). Each event will feature goodie bags for all participants, a sweepstakes, a breast cancer survivor tribute, and a grand prize awarded to the single largest individual fundraiser.
“The Romp to Stomp Out Breast Cancer is a fabulous excuse to get outdoors in the middle of winter and raise money for a great cause at the same time” said Alyson Ruby, captain of Romp to Stomp team P-Ruby and a past series top fundraiser. “I didn’t really know what to expect when I became involved with the event in 2004 as a person who was very new to the sport of snowshoeing and had only recently become a part of a family battling breast cancer. Over the past two years as my family’s battle became bigger so did our team and our donations. It has been, and will continue to be, an honor to be a part of this wonderful event.”
2010 Dates/sites:
January 23: Mountain Creek Resort, Vernon, New Jersey
January 30: Stratton Mountain Resort, Stratton, Vermont
February 6: Mountain Dell Golf Course, Salt Lake City, Utah
February 20: The Summit at Snoqualmie Nordic Center, Washington
February 20: Scenic Caves, Town of the Blue Mountains, Ontario
February 27: White River West Sno Park, Mt Hood, Oregon
March 6: Frisco Nordic Center, Frisco, Colorado
For more information or to register on the Tubbs Romp to Stomp Out Breast Cancer Snowshoe Series, visit www.tubbsromptostomp.com