By Sarah Rawley
It’s a beautiful blue bird day on the slopes. Last night’s single digit temperatures are evident with the sparkling surface hoar on top of untouched powder. For once you snagged first chair, and you’re already onto your sixth run at 10:30 a.m. your stomach starts to grumble, and the coffee and muffin you slammed on your way to the ski hill aren’t fueling your sprint efforts through the trees, or the whooping laughter that your lungs expel with every turn. “I can’t stop now,” the right side of your brain thinks “must keep going…”
And then you remember something. “Ahah!” you think, as you fumble with your zipper. You reach for the emergency energy bar that has been living in your jacket for the past few weeks, strategically stashed for a dire situation like this. “This is my golden ticket for skiing strong though lunch.” You manage to unwrap the bar, and go to chomp down.
“Ow!” You may as well have tried to eat a rock. Your teeth barely made a mark on the frozen lump of sugar, partially hydrogenated oils and other artificial ingredients that you can’t pronounce. Determined to avoid stopping for a $15 cup of chile, you go in for another bite. The second effort seems more productive at first, but by the dismayed faces of your fellow chairlift riders, it appears that you've just slobbered all over the bar and your mitten, with little more achieved than a scrape of chocolate on your teeth.
Sound all too familiar?
I have skied for almost 25 years of my life, and while I’d like to say that I've learned many tricks of the trade to survive in adverse conditions, it's actually taken me years to find a fresh, healthy, portable and delicious energy source that I can trust not to send me in for more dental work. Living in Summit County, most of my days are filled with playing in the snow— skiing at the resorts, in the backcountry, nordic skiing up long valleys, and when the snow is no longer fun for skate skiing, getting out on the fat bike.
Enduro Bites have lived in my pockets through subzero temps, and when it comes time to remedy a dip in blood sugar levels, I know that the combination of figs and coconut oil will be moist, easy to eat, and provide steady, consistent energy. Plus, since they're gluten-free, I know I won't be dealing with any extra inflammation.
The two-bite packs are perfect for my daily adventures consisting of one to three hours on the snow. When I'm lucky enough to find a big chunk of chocolate in the Fig & Dark Chocolate, I’ll savor the piece for a minute to let it thaw before biting down. If it's really frigid out, I go for Cinnamon Blueberry and Lemon Cranberry since there are no chocolate chunks.
So the next time you're rushing for first turns on a powder day; or you just reached the top of the skin track and you're about to drop in for the run of your life; or you’re at mile 13 in your never-ending nordic escapade; bring your favorite flavor of Enduro Bites along for a guaranteed source of soft, palatable, healthy energy that simply works better.
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