ADK 80k ... in second place so far

Melanie finishing her 20k leg with her daughter Samantha.

Three long days for Lucy

This is her largest volume block of training for the summer. Thursday she did a sunrise roller ski up Whiteface with the NYSEF girls, and then spent 90 minutes in the weight room at the Olympic Training Center. Friday she hiked up Dix (summit photo). And Saturday she is running a 20k leg on our relay team.

SEEMS LIKE SHE IS READY FOR CROSS COUNTRY THUS FALL.

Backcountry skiing trailer ... Elevation

GET PSYCHED FOR SKIING AND CLICK HERE.

Tapering for the UTMB

With less than a week to go before the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, Anton Krupicka is "dialing it back" a bit ... an ascent of the Gouter route from the valley (up and down in six), a nice jog up gornergrat, a casual three day circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, and really a totally casual week with 32k of climbing and 16 hours of running ... pretty cushy for him as it is a 25% reduction from the standard fare. It would be great to get an American on the podium.

Last easy run before trail race

KILIAN INTERVIEW ... speed ascent of the Matterhorn

CLUCK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW.

Ten things to do in Huaraz

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS SHORT ARTICLE.

Some context for Kilian's record

Matterhorn Record ... up and down in 2:52!

From the church square in Cervinia, to the top and back, in under three hours. Incredible.CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS AMAZING FOOTAGE.

Awesome trailer ... Backcountry.com

CLICK TO WATCH.

Callie and Mark on Mount Whitney

An interview with Anton Krupicka ... ultra stud

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW.

Running sections of the race course

Edward arrives on campus

He is looking quite fit, and we have not mentioned cuy even once! Edward is getting some of the NCS bouldering problems wired so he can mix rock laps with intervals on our hilly 1k loop. I told him not to come back for lunch until he was dragging.

Sunset, sipping whiskey, and waiting for the sauna to heat up!

View from the fossil cabin.

Mongolia ...darhard ski traverse

This looks like my kind if trip: remote, exploratory, high grunt factor, nordic style, and you carry it all on your back. My problem is partners ... I think the Fissils have started to rule out, age out of such trips. CLICK HERE TO WATCH SHORT VIDEO.

UTMB coming up ...

UTMB 2011 by Eurosport - in English by UltraTrailMontBlanc NOT THE OLDEST, BUT CERTAINLY ONE OF THE TOUGHEST AND MOST COMPETITIVE ... WATCH THE EUROSPORT COVERAGE OF THE 2011 RACE ... GET PSYCHED FIR NEXT WEEK'S RACE

Running hut-to-hut in the Dolomites ... is on my bucket list

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS GREAT TRIP REPORT ... toss in rock shoes and you have an ideal vacation.

Dewey Mountain Trail Run

I did a very hilly 90 minute run on the nordic and mountain bike trails. A wonderful place to go running.

Fairhope Farm

Lucy took this panorama shot with her new camera. Selden is doing amazing work on our 20+ acre farm down the road.

Hanging out with Kilian Jornet

Earlier thus summer my former student and camper - William - got a chance to rub shoulders with THE ultra-marathon man. This picture was taken in Chamonix when William was getting his race packet for the VERTICAL KILOMETER. Kilian finished second in that race, and the day after, won the Chamonix trail marathon.

Seven Chamonix Crags In One Day

CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

Cragging

Frank and William drove up from DC for a few days of mountain air, and maybe just maybe, a little single malt. They are stuck on single pitch routes as otherwise the new puppy - banjo - goes crazy when they get too far off the deck.

A beautiful day with a hint of Fall

Morning temperatures in the mid-30s, with a high of low 60s. Treetops ends tomorrow. Yesterday I did a short hike before work, and a 40 minute run on the biathlon trails before dinner. Where are you Frank, and when do you arrive in the 'dacks?

New Zealand Winter Games

I looked but I did not see Tori or Hannah on the start list. Several teams are out here prepping for Sochi and the 2014 Olympics ... US, Russia, Canada, Poland, Korea CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE FIRST NORDIC RACE.

Life of an ultra-running mountain man

See IN THE HIGH COUNTRY if you get a chance. These three screen captures only touch the surface ... spectacular mountain footage, life out of the back of a pickup truck, running 200 miles a week, getting gripped soloing Alexander's Chimney on Longs in running shoes, running up the technical slab routes on the Flatirons, a free spirit, and never any hint that this guy is a wicked fast ultra-marathoner!

FOSSIL ALERT

Gary does traverse of northern presidential range in NH.

Blast from the Past ... Hot Henry

Although it was almost 40 years ago I remember his slideshow about climbing in Dresden, as if it were yesterday. CLICK HERE TO WATCH SOME FASCINATING DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE.

Anton Krupicka ... great week before he heads to Europe

Tuning up in RMNP before he heads over for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, he tagged the summit of Longs Peak four days in a row. He came close to breaking the current FKT. Fossils will remember this picture, of the pitch off Broadway on the Kieners route. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FULL STORY FROM HIS BLOG

Hard to believe but ... Fall is coming to the Adirondacks

Ultra-runners set FKT on Muir Trail

CLICK HERE TO READ THE TRIP REPORT ON THE NORTH FACE BLOG.

Skiing Mount Robson ... amazing!

Five Tips For Safer Climbing ... OR video

Boulder Valley Ranch Trails

I did a wonderful, easy 5k run on these dirt trails.

The Puma Strikes ... a debacle

At 11:30 pm on Tuesday night I spread my sleeping bag out and hit the sack. It was a pretty good night for sleeping as the road was deserted, the temperature was mild, and I was pretty tired. When I got up at 5:45 there was only one shoe next to my head ... the shoe where I had stuffed the car keys was gone. You can imagine the vitriol that spilled from my mouth.
>
> After about 20 minutes of freaking out I got up and searched for the other shoe. (Needless to say my wallet with the AAA card, my spare shoes, my iPhone, and everything else was locked in the car.) Two hours later I gave up, flagged down a car, which thankfully took me to a dude ranch two miles away. Those generous folks at the Peaceful Valley Ranch fed me, and let me use the phone to call Selden, AAA, and the rental car agency. Selden was eventually able to wrangle the VIN number, and AAA sent up a locksmith from Boulder.
>
> The locksmith arrived several hours later, and his key opened up the trunk, which meant spare shoes! At this point the Boulder Canyon police showed up because my car had been tagged as abandoned. The locksmith could not get the car started because he needed to verify the code online and there was no service in this very remote area where I had pulled over. So, he went 30 miles to the nearest town to finish the job. We estimated he would be back in 75 minutes, and so the policemen and I started to extend the hunt for the shoe, and eventually we found it 3/4 mile away. One of the cops thought he saw a Puma track. The big cat chewed and ate the laces, however the keys and new Altra running shoe was intact.
>
> Pretty amazing adventure.
>

RMNP ... storm pass trail run

After I recovered - my shoe, my keys, and my wits - from a close encounter with a puma, I managed a spectacular 90 minute run. I got back just before the thunderstorm.

Two Great Trail Runs

I started the morning with an easy run at the Boulder Valley Ranch, which had great views of the Flatirons. After a meeting, some work emails, and a conference call, I headed out on a run up Green Mountain.

My plan was to head up to Estes Park, camp at the KOA, then get up early on Wednesday and run to Chasm Lake for a view of the Diamond on Longs Peak. It was getting late, I was getting tired, so I parked at a big pullout, pulled out the marmot bag and slept well, but the fun was about to start ...

Big Jim Whittaker

Behind every great fossil there is a fossilette who really makes things happen

Liz - polishing off the Sunday crossword puzzle - while keeping the house going, pulling together amazing meals, getting super fit to climb Whitney next week, and helping Hannah get squared away for New Zealand. THANKS LIZ!

El Presidente at Donner

Another good day at Donner Summit

Manzanita Bites!

We headed over to Donner on Sunday morning for some climbing. Mark needed to go to the bathroom and came back from his morning constitutional ... very bloodied ... but ten pounds lighter!

More on the Squaw Mountain Run

After the first mile, I realized that speed hiking was the way to go. I powered by many folks running, unfortunately during the last .5k it was hard to get back into a running stride and I lost a half dozen places. Lots of fun, and I felt good at the finish.

Bouldering at Split Rock

We were rushing to get back for a BBQ so unfortunately we did not jump in Donner Lake.

Squaw Mountain Run

A beautiful day ... 6k, 2000', 54 minutes, and second in my age group.

Hard Routes on Snowshed Wall

Yesterday there were some folks jamming up some stiff routes at Donner Summit.