LAlleyFloop 2021!!

Announcing a pretty dumb virtual distanced ski tour/not-a-race for our Los Alamos Trails. The Los Alamos Alley Fake Loop aka the LAlley Floop.

As the club is general not headed up to do the Alley Loop in Crested Butte this winter and we miss it so, I(Tarik) have created this course in the spirit of the Alley Loop utilizing the all the ungroomed short cuts on our trail which are our version of the alleys in CB. This is really aimed toward the SWNordic Ski Kids racers, but all are welcome to try it any time between Wednesday 2/3 and Tuesday 2/9.

All SWnordic Kids that complete one of the courses this week will get a prize from our friends at Crested Butte Nordic. Please contact me (tariksaleh at gmail dot com) if your kid does the tour, and which course and the time if you want, I will collate, post participants/results, and get prizes distributed. If you want, send me a photo of you or your kids doing the course for posting.

I will take times and courses for other finishers, but again, this is not a race, it is a pretty dumb course and getting dumber by the second this week unless we get some snow, it was pretty damn good last week, but it is not last week anymore, is it? No, it is not. I put the "long course" on Strava as "LAlleyFloop2021" if you are so inclined. These is a true freestyle courses. Long course should be faster on skate skis, but the shortcuts are not groomed and are kind of a slog on skate skis depending on your skills and will. Kind of like the Alleys in crested butte, just with more altitude change. People might be happier on classic skis. I don't care, it is immaterial what kind of skis you use.

OK, everyone with me? I suggest the junior skiers ski this with their little pod groups for fun or with their parents. Again, do this at any time you wish in the next week and please don't gather or crowd or otherwise violate covid protocols. Watch for other trail user and dogs and snowshoers on the lower trails.

Here are the courses:

1. LAlleyFloop2021 Long Course (4km) this is on Strava : Experienced skiers only, and more experienced junior skiers. Be aware the N->O shortcut is kind of sketchy and narrow and is losing snow rapidly today : Start at A. Go up upper trails, take the left shortcut at TJ's and then the second shortcut up to J. At J go up the trails and take the next two upper shortcuts. At the top of the second shortcut, take a left and ski that loop down. Now go down the first of the upper trails shortcuts back to J. At J take a hard left to take the shortcut to point M on the meadow/lower road. At M take a hard right and head down the lower road, and keep straight at the shortcut at N (the snowshoe trail) and take that down to the lower road at O. Take the lower road back toward the start, however just past the top of the first uphill take a right on the wide ungroomed shortcut to the upper trail near B. From B, ski down to A. You are done! This took Aida and I about 45 minutes of slow slushy skiing with a lot of breaks to bemoan the way too warm conditions. There are a few rocks here and there and the N->O downhill shortcut is burning out fast and is narrow and steep and hard to slow down sometimes. It gets a ton of snowshoe traffic so the lane is a bit narrow for snow plowing. You may skip this and ski the whole lower road instead. If this sounds confusing you really should get to know our trails better, so consider it a challenge. If you mess it up, I bet you had fun anyway and it still counts if you tried. I am sure the map wont help top much, but here goes Map:

2. LAlleyFloop2021 short course (upper): Start and end at A. Ski the uppertrails taking the short cuts to point J. Take J to the meadow if you want. Get back to point A via whatever route is safe and comfy for you. This is less challenging for younger and inexperienced skiers, but still might be a little sketchy from J to A via the lower road if it gets too warm. So you can just turn around and head back to A if you want. For some of the newer skiers, just getting to point A is a victory in it self. So use your best judgement for younger skiers. Same to point J as above, choose your own adventure on the way back

3.LAlleyFloop2021 Littles course 1 (or everyone course if it all goes wrong this week for snow coverage): Start at Gate on camp may road, ski up the road to mother lift, around mother lift and then down back toward the gate. On the way back, take a right up the steep little hill and then ski past the Aspen lift and then take a hard left and go down the steeper cut back toward camp may road. Then ski up camp may road to the fir tree and take a right on our trail system and then an immediate right on the shortcut back to the gate. Dont do this when the lifts are running. I think this is almost 0.5 miles per lap, so do as many laps as you want. I will add this to strava for science sooon. Map:

4. LAlleyFloop2021 Littles course 2: Start at Gate on camp may road, ski up the road to mother lift, around mother lift and then down back to the gate. Finish at gate. This is about .3miles. You can do another lap, or lots of laps, see if I care.

Hopefully this will be fun. But remember, the real fun is the friends we made along the way, except for this year, there are no new friends, just isolation with you and your skis and the trail. I think there is great potential for an even dumber slightly expanded LAlleyFloop if the two shortcuts from TJ's to the lower road are passable again, then you can go from N->O and then right back up to TJ's and then across the lower part of TJ's to the other shortcut to P? on the lower road and then up the lower road to the shortcut up to B and make a zigzag. I think this is pretty impassible right now with trees down and aspens growing in the shortcut, so maybe next year. I am sure clay has opinions on why this is not a good course and how it could be better, but this one is 100% excellent and definitely the best course ever.