Three Things Thursday. Issue #11.

Both mountain endeavors and writing about mountain endeavors have taken a back seat recently. I got wicked sick last week, and have been squaring away other life tasks in the meantime. I did get out skiing, one day, at Red Mountain Pass with Kling Mountain Guides. Josh Kling hired me to conduct a day of his staff's pre-season ski guide training. It was great to share, but perhaps even better to tune up my own skills in preparation.

Red Mountain #2, San Juans, Colorado. 12/6/2015. I'm out in front. Josh Kling photo.

• Speaking of tuning up for the backcountry season, part of my preparation was refreshing my own personal pre-trip checklist. There are now multiple pre-made checklists out there for avalanche terrain planning and preparation. I find that I "comply" with the checklist far better if it has my own "stamp" on it. I developed my most recent iteration with the input and inspiration of this article. 
• Like I said, I got sick last week. Colds hit me hard, so I laid low for a solid four days. Gauging one's recovery and readiness to return to action is always difficult. For a long time, one's resting heart rate was touted as a good way to estimate degree of recovery. However, measuring resting heart rate was problematic. No longer. Check out my latest OutdoorGearLab articles for reviews of devices that can monitor heart rate (especially resting heart rate. These devices aren't as good for tracking activity) and steps and sleep. Tracking sleep and steps has always had curious appeal, but not enough to cement one of these devices into my life. Adding heart rate, however, finally tips the balance and I've been wearing one all the time. 
• I am a total sucker for the multi-sport, Alaska, long-term trip report. This one is great.