Daniel Lieberman ... Ten Year Anniversary ... the article that launched it all

This scientific paper inspired the title for Christopher McDougall's
BORN TO RUN. I happened upon an article in a running magazine,
interviewing the professor on the 10th anniversary of this
publication. I realized I had never read the original article, so here
it is.

CLICK HERE

The ADK 80k Trail Race

A perfect day - maybe just a little too hot and sunny - and a good
time was had by all.

I led off at 6:00 am, but kept going after I finished my 20k leg. My
20k time was 11 minutes faster than last year, and eventually I logged
40k and 2250' in a bit under six hours. Next up was Melanie, who won a
prize for the fastest female leg of the day. Then David stepped up
with our fastest leg, which was a bit quicker than last year's
brilliant performance. Lucy anchored in about the same time as last
year ... recovering from a cold and the biggest nordic volume training
week of the off-season. Samantha immediately gapped the field and won
the children's race by a wide margin.

Everyone won prizes again, with me getting a gift certificate for a
pair of new Hoka running shoes that Lucy won in the raffle. (She felt
that given how little she weighs, she probably didn't need the maximal
cushioning as much as her dad.)

Kudos to Brian Delaney, and everyone at High Peaks Cyclery. And
something that is obvious but is worth saying ... how wonderful to be
able to run and ski on these world class trails ... I even stopped to
snap a picture of Cascade at the 22k mark!

"Trail Running" In The Alps

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE TROFEO KIMA RACE.

A legend in his own time ... KILIAN JORNET

Read this wonderful interview where Kilian talks about some of his
recent mountain races - Hardrock and Sierre-Zinal - in addition to his
mountain FKT on Denali and the Matterhorn.

CLICK HERE.

Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc Is About To Start

This largest, most competitive, 100 mile mountain race starts on
Friday at 11:30 pm eastern time. There will be live video and twitter
feeds until Sunday afternoon. Americans on the podium?


WATCH THE VIDEO TOUR OF THIS SPECTACULAR MOUNTAIN ROUTE.

ZEN AND THE ART OF RUNNING

Back in high school and college, running meant wind sprints and time
trials, and something to do to get in shape for "real sports." After I
graduated college, I happened upon this delightful, and transformative
book. Be advised ... this is really a time machine back to the early
1970s.


CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE PDF BOOK.

THE FOSSIL BLOG HITS 200,000!

Bringing an ultra-light pack to the Sierras

Hoping to see Mark in September, and I recently added another slick
item to my stash of minimalist gear for alpine climbing. The KLYMIT,
inertia X lite sleeping pad. It weighs in at 6 ounces, and uses laser
body mapping techniques to trim away excess material. It is
surprisingly comfortable, and many testimonials speak to its
durability.

So, on my way to Tuolumne I will also have along a: North Face Vert 26
pack (10 ounces), CAMP wind pants (3 ounces), Patagonia Houdini wind shell (4 ounces), CAMP helmet (7 ounces), Mountain Equipment half bag (1 pound), and my CAMP alp 95 harness (4 ounces).

LIGHT IS RIGHT.

The leaves are starting to turn ... FALL is coming!

CHAMONIX ... UTMB in a few days

Teaser Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® 2014 by UltraTrailMontBlanc

Climbing at the NCS Crag

Chile ... next summer?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SHORT ARTICLE.

The world's first ultra-runners?

Turn Right At Machu Picchu

I am a third of the way through my re-reading of this breezy-chatty
book which alternates between the story of Hiram Bingham (American
explorer famous for re-discovering Inca ruins) and the escapades of a
modern day "Martini Explorer." This well written book is a real page
turner.

Small is beautiful ... but not in the outdoor industry!

Small, local, innovative, family-style, creative businesses in the
outdoor industry that actually manufacture products in a small town,
rural America are rare as hell. They may start out that way, but
pretty soon you hear the giant sucking sound of big business scooping
them up, shuttering their doors, and moving the manufacturing
overseas.

So Bravo to ... Meier Skis, Voormi, Duckworth, and Melanzana.

CLICK HERE TO READ AN INTERESTING STORY IN THE ADVENTURE JOURNAL ABOUT THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."

—T.S. Elliot

THE INCAS

Having just finished this massive - and quite good historical novel -
I find myself wanting to delve into more of the history of the empire.
An empire, that at its height rivaled the size of the Roman Empire. An
empire that had an incredibly high level of sophistication but had
neither the wheel nor written language.


CLICK HERE FOR A SHORT CNN VIDEO.

A triple link up in Red Rocks

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Two hour Adirondack Trail Run

Treetops campers went home today. Rain threatened all morning but held off - thankfully. I had a nice run on some snowmobile and DEC trails at the end of Averyville Road.

Mountain Running American Style

American ultra runner and mountaineer gives French superstar - a road trip - before The Hardrock 100. They start rock climbing on the Flatirons and then head up Mt. Elbert, Mt. Yale, Handies Peak, Long's Peak, and finally arrive in the San Juans for the big event. Along the way we have short interviews with Kilian Jornet, Scott Jurek, and Tim Olson. The mountain footage is awesome, although there is too much French spoken for my tastes. Well worth watching!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

QUOTE OF THE WEEK ... Bacall and Bogart

This has nothing to do with wilderness, mountains, skiing, running, or
Alpinism, but it is one of my favorite old classic movies, and Bacall
did pass away this week.

As David Brooks wrote in his New York Times column (not to be missed)
... The verbal dueling becomes a way of testing each other's composure
and finally turns into pure come-on, which, of course, she leads. The
most famous exchange in the movie is allegedly about horse racing:

Bacall: "Speaking of horses, I like to play them myself. But I like to
see them work out a little first. See if they're front-runners or
come-from-behind. ... I'd say you don't like to be rated. You like to
get out in front, open up a lead, take a little breather in the back
stretch and then come home free."

Bogart: "You've got a touch of class, but I don't know how far you can go."

Bacall: "A lot depends on who's in the saddle."

Cory Richards ... A Tribute To Discomfort

A Tribute to Discomfort: Cory Richards from Blue Chalk on Vimeo.

TRAP DIKE ... Fastest Known Time

Wow ... Jan Wellford's recent run ... 2:03.59 which averages out to
6:45 per kilometer is pretty impressive.

Free Topo Maps

Looking for some information about my run into the Gore Range on
Sunday, I came across this wonderful website. Type in the name of any
peak, range, trailhead, or mountain region and you come up with free
topographical maps you can print.


CLICK HERE FOR MYTOPO

NCS in OUTSIDE MAGAZINE

Ben Hewitt writes an article about homeschooling (he calls it
unschooling), excerpting text from his book due out in mid-September.
In several sidebars Outside staff writer Katie Arnold writes short
blurbs about various schools where you can "Rewild Your Child" ... see
the short blurb about NCS on page 68 in the latest issue.

Must watch ... Aerial footage from Denali National Park

THE RIDGE from Camp 4 Collective on Vimeo.

Colorado Trail Running

This weekend, in between meetings with alumni I did four great runs,
amounting to 234 minutes, and 1850'. I ran at the Flatirons Vista
Trails, the Upper Piney River Trail, the Boneyard Trail, and the
Maroon Bells Snowmass trail.

A bivy tonight, a long day of travel tomorrow, and a couple of
appointments in NYC Tuesday.

Not what I intended but still a great day

Running Pike's Peak

Running to Barr Camp on Pike's Peak

Well it wasn't the outing that I was hoping for but it was a lot of
fun anyway. I hoped to squeeze a run to the summit in today, take the
cog railway down, and hopefully squeeze in a quick shower before my
dinner meeting.

Well with travel SNAFUS I got to bed at 2:30 am, and even with a 4:45
am wake up call I didn't put the pack on until 7:45. What was wrong
with this scenario: 1) I was tired. 2) The thunderstorms were
predicted shortly after noon. 3) At 12-15 pounds my pack was too
heavy. 4) True I had some residual acclimatization from Peru, but a
14er on day one! 5) I wasn't sure I would get to the summit in time to
catch the train, without that I miss my dinner meeting.

And so I bailed and "just ran" to the halfway point - Barr Camp - and
back. A good workout with 21k, 3,500', and 3:45 minutes of exercise.
(Oh, and I hit the time goals, so I suspect if I do the race next year
I will make the cutoffs.)

High Peaks Cyclery ... Wednesday night trail races

A beautiful night on the biathlon trails, small prizes for all, and a
nice little up-tempo run. Flying to Colorado today, and running up
Pike's Peak early tomorrow morning.

Grand Teton: 1967 north face rescue

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ADVENTURE JOURNAL ARTICLE AND WATCH THE TRAILER OF THE GRAND RESCUE.

Good luck Rory Bosio ... can she repeat at UTMB?

CLICK HERE TO WATCH HER PREP FOR THE ULTRA TRAIL DU MONT BLANC

Wildfires in Boreal Forests ... Climate Change

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ADVENTURE JOURNAL ARTICLE

Skiing the Cordillera Blanca

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARCTERYX BLOG

Five Great Yoga Positions

Another great adirondack trail run

Saturday morning I ran into avalanche lake (2:40 and 1250'). I got in
and out before the thunderstorms.

MACHU PICCHU, morning light

Doing a little googling on some information in the historical novel I
am reading, and I find out that Georgia O'Keeffe traveled the Peruvian
Andes in 1957 ... who knew!

Attempt to reclaim FKT on the Great Range

CLICK HERE FOR JAN WELFORD'S LESSONS LEARNED.

A ballsy attempt on the Hummingbird Ridge

Having climbed 44 of the FIFTY CLASSIC CLIMBS OF NORTH AMERICA ... it was time to try for the second ascent of this mythic route on Mt. Logan.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE SMILEYS PROJECT BLOG.