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So it’s all set. The new Power of Four race is officially “sold out” with 75 teams of two registered to start in the morning. I was out yesterday with Dirk and Pete Swenson, helping with the course marking between Snowmass and Buttermilk. About 11,000 feet of vertical gain with ski descents of [...]  Christy cuts through the powder on the Congo Trail section on her skinny little race skis. (Christy here) The new Power of Four Ski Mountaineering Race is right around the corner, so in an attempt to scout out the complex course and get some time in our new Dynafit ski mountaineering race setups, Anda Smalls and I went out this weekend for a little familiarization. read more>>>
The 12 Hours of Sunlight was yesterday and I’m sure everyone who was there would agree– it’s nice to have that done. The 12 hour race requires skiers or boarders to ascend, on foot or skins, 1,500+ vertical feet up Sunlight Ski Area and then ski down and repeat, for half a day. It can be done as a solo, duo relay, or a four person “firedrill” team. Christy and I decided to give the “Sunlight Endurance Challenge” a go, now in its second year in the 12-hour format, as a co-ed duo. And though the overall field was relatively thin this year– there were only 24 different solo/teams registered and just 3 co-ed duos– the presence of our friends Adam Frisch and Lyndsay Meyer as one of the three in our category meant that despite the small number of competitors, we would likely have a real race on our hands. And that is exactly what it became, proof of which can be seen in the fact that in the end, after half a day and 20 laps completed by both of our teams, only 3 minutes separated us. read more>>>  Here's a look at the first leg of the trip, the Rim to Rim from south to north. It might not look that far but remember, it's not called the Grand Canyon because it's small. Click to enlarge. Here’s a good one if you’re a fan of the long day– start at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, run nine-plus miles down to the Colorado River and ascend some 14 miles up the other side to the North Rim, and then come back. What’s it all about? Well, it depends on your perspective. A seasoned mountain runner might say it’s no big deal, that it’s really just two big hills. True, I suppose. At its most basic level that may be an accurate description, but that’s really a bit oversimplified. Put in a different, slightly more sensational tone, it’s running a double traverse of the Grand Canyon, which to the uninitiated might sound downright crazy. read more>>>  The overview, click to enlarge. It was another good one, and not just due to the fact that we had perfect weather, but that we put together a loop of trails and passes we had all seen individually many times before, but had never linked up in this fashion. It came together after Christy, Neal and I were planning a long run together, but being a Saturday in August with a good weather forecast we realized our standard “go-to”, the Four Pass Loop, would be pretty busy. So we opted for a different linkup– slightly shorter, with a bit less elevation gain and one pass fewer yet still in the same neighborhood and hitting some trails that don’t see as many people.  It's all downhill from here, or at least from a little farther up. Neal climbs up from Talyor Pass. “Thirty-seven.” That was his answer to my question as to when he thought he had reached his top form, and after which he first noticed his speed, stamina and general physical condition begin to deteriorate– in other words, when things started going downhill. At the time, I didn’t think it to be an inconsiderate question, I was genuinely curious. But I later realized that to ask a guy 13 years my senior, and with a near lifetime more experience in the mountains than I, was actually a bit disrespectful. It implied that he had peaked, that he was over the hill, and my innocent curiosity put him in the uncomfortable position of having to actually nail down the exact start of his decline. I was asking him to admit that he was getting old. But as certain as time may be, Neal still refuses to surrender to age, and he wasn’t going let me get away with forcing it on him. That would explain his answer, because I was thirty-seven, and it was the obvious, easy comeback to my unintentional call out. As in,”I may be getting older, but you’re right there with me, pal.” |
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