|
|
 Island Lake and Ice Lakes Basin - just another one of the awesome views out there on the course. Click any photo to enlarge. The 2010 Hardrock 100 is done and now, a week later, I’m still trying to put it all together.
In the days that followed, as I embraced my “recovery”, mostly in the form of sitting on the couch and watching repeats of the days Tour de France leg, I fought the urge to procrastinate and attempted to post something about the event. But as I sat with my laptop open, I just couldn’t seem to put anything into words. Now a week later, still feeling challenged with the task of reconstructing the day in my head, I’ve come to realize there was so much packed into the 30+hour effort that I can’t do it justice in a simple blog post. The memories I have from the day range from visual images of steep trails, creek crossings, and distant mountains that moved position with every pass I gained, to faintly recalled bits of conversations with pacers, fellow racers, aid station volunteers or myself in my own head(which comprise the majority), to broader moments like the sunset on Engineer Pass, Handies Peak at midnight, dawn in Pole Creek, and more acute imagery like the sickly elk we came upon at dawn, the passed out runner above Maggie, and the finish and kiss of the rock– it is for the third time now, the most unique experience I’ve been a part of. So for that reason, I can only really sum it up briefly, and then hope the photos fill in the gaps.
 The expansive view forward from Virginius Pass. The route to Ouray heads right down the snow to the pinch leading to the valley below. Click any photo to enlarge. read more>>>
8 works for me.
The gun goes off at 6am tomorrow and if all goes well I’ll be back here in Silverton sometime on Saturday, the earlier the better. You can follow the race through the Hardrock Live link on the homepage here.
I’m trying to stay optimistic about it but the weather [...]
 Runners somewhere around mile 8, on the ridge between Alpine Gulch and Williams. At the end of this ridge are the 14ers Redcloud and Sunshine. Astronomically speaking, Monday the 21st was the longest day of the year, but for about 200 runners, Saturday’s annual San Juan Solstice 50 Miler in Lake City marked the real beginning of summer. Blue skies, dry trails and resulting dry feet contributed to a record number of finishers (results here) and a near course record by 18-year old winner Dakota Jones, who covered the mountainous course with nearly 13,000 feet of vertical gain in 8:13. It was definitely welcome weather when compared to the snowstorm last year and the peak flow creek crossings of ’07 (see report here).
read more>>>
 Clicked in atop Capitol but not out of the woods yet. Click any pic to enlarge. So Christy pulled it off, and what a finish it was. And not simply due to the fact that her final peak was Capitol, considered by my many to be the most committing ski descent of all the 14ers, but in the various challenges that presented themselves this past season. It may have appeared as though it all fell right into place, but in reality there were several occasions when it looked like Christy might not wrap it up this year.
During the fall of 2009, with winter right around the corner, Christy and I began to talk about our goals for the next season. Among other things on her extra long list, she was really hoping to wrap up her own “Ski the 14ers” project. She had nine peaks left: Sneffles, San Luis, Holy Cross, Little Bear, Pikes, El Diente, Mt. Wilson, Pyramid and Capitol. A stout list for sure, but also a reasonable number to do in a season. But when we began to consider other things– a two week trip to Greenland planned for spring, another Elk Mountains Grand Traverse in March, Christy’s nordic goals, and both of our work schedules– Christy realized that in order to have the best chances of finishing this season, she should start on her list as soon as was safely possible. At a cost to other activities, (i.e. winter tennis league, sewing projects) she decided to make skiing these peaks a priority, and as her partner through it, I thought I’d share my take on Christy’s Homestretch. read more>>>
|
On May 16, 2010, with a ski descent of Capitol Peak’s east face, I completed my goal of skiing the 54 Colorado 14,000-foot mountains (aka 14ers). While the root of the project can be traced back 10 years when, as a relative novice with a ready smile, I skied my first 14er, Quandary Peak, it eventually evolved into something bigger than I ever could’ve imagined back then. And so somewhere along the way, it occurred to me: I wanted to ski them all — something no woman had ever done, and something I learned more about during my husband (and best friend and best skiing/climbing partner) Ted’s own Ski the 14ers Project, which he completed in April 2008.
The journey surpassed my expectations. I experienced everything from epic, bluebird powder days to bone chilling winds and less than desirable snow conditions. I trekked around the state to trailheads and mountaintops, and sometimes re-trekked those same routes when the actual “mountain top” eluded me. I switched from tele boards to alpine touring gear and once shoveled snow where there was none on a summit in order to ski it — all the while reaffirming my love for the mountains a thousand times over.
Below are some details of my 14ers project with dates, routes, partners and slideshows for each peak. read more>>>
|
 The race was awesome. Reflecting on it briefly here, a few things stick out– I improved on my prior 2007 time, cutting off 1:16, with a good amount of credit due to meeting my goal of getting through aids stops faster. A crash in the early parts slowed me down for a bit, a simplified strategy for food and fluids worked better than my mixed menu last time and the weather and snow coverage weren’t an issue and might even be described as ideal. Crash aside, things were smooth mechanically, joints held up well, blisters weren’t an issue and mentally I was way more together, with only a short bout of sleepiness that passes rather easily. By the end, my feet hurt a quite bit and the final stretch from 95 to the finish was one of the fastest stretches of the day, which is always a nice way to finish. Put it all together and it’s hard to call it anything less than a great day out there. I finished in 11th place, in a time of 31:59. I owe a huge thank you to the crew- Christy, Tim Mutrie, Kathy Fry and Neal Beidleman. Thanks for helping me put this all together.
And that’s my report. Being so long and involved and with much of what went down out there holding significance only to me, it can be difficult to sum up the whole thing in one post. On Saturday, when it was all said and done, there were over 100 photos on my little Nikon, shot by either myself or my pacers and I thought it might be best to share some of them– to cover the day and the course from that perspective. For more of a write up, check out what Jon Maletz put together after talking with me about the day here in the Aspen Times.
Here are some highlights from Hardrock, in pictures: read more>>>
|
|
Recent Comments