Brooke Raboutou ... no doubt as the 2020 Olympics approach we will hear more about her story

I am not sure how I feel about rock climbing in the Olympics. Sure, I was in the crowd watching an early World Cup in the 1980s at Snowbird, but that was just to kill time before we all flew home, after a week of real climbing in the Winds. Was it impressive, was it physically incredible, we're the routes hard ... hell yeah ... Was it climbing; we were not really sure.

Yes, when I was heading a school in San Francisco, I had a climbing gym membership (and belay card) in San Rafael. I currently have a membership at the High Peaks Cyclery gym; no doubt it's great for training. Anyway, I am still conflicted, yet I am sure I will be watching the Olympic competition and not archery!

An interesting video.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8al-TslJ9KA

Beautiful day on Summit of Mount Van Hoevenberg but ...

A front is moving in, and we are due for snow on Friday.

2013 ROCK AND ICE article ... even more important today

https://rockandice.com/tuesday-night-bouldering/tnb-the-big-freaking-deal-aint-bouldering/

Disappointing trail race but ...

A few bright moments: physically feel good, I can jump back into full on training tomorrow, my first 4K were faster than I have run in years, and I was on goal pace for each of the 22k. It was a loop course, and I should have taken the time as I passed through to change into dry clothes ... oh well.

A sub-two hour marathon has been done, but can the Nose go in under two?

It's hard to imagine, but if this generation of climbers can do it, then these two are the most likely candidates. 

https://www.adventure-journal.com/2019/10/honnold-and-caldwell-and-the-nose/

Robert Service ... Bard of the Yukon

His poetry is often doggrel, but it spoke to the drifters, the gold rush, and the trappers. I read a bit in the Fossil Cabin, before and after my weekly sauna. (THANKS TO SELDEN FOR SO MANY WONDERFUL DAYS AND NIGHTS HERE.)

Making snow at MVH

No announcement for opening day yet, but I am guessing the second week in November.

First nordic center in the Northeast to open

On October 25th Foret Montmorency, just north of Quebec City will open a 2k loop on snow stockpiled from last winter ... take a look.  I think I may head up next week.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DCveMzV5WKs&fbclid=IwAR2DBzUFBpi4zROhmOs4Nc6ckfkqtkQMgY14ugqb0Y3Jy5ZQ1vMc2520wok&feature=youtu.be

I never seem to have a repair kit when I need it

This is the time to get ready for those big, mid-winter ski tours.

https://www.wildsnow.com/18228/building-first-aid-and-repair-kits/#more-18228

Sunset behind Street and Nye

Another great mountain day

Summit of Mount Van Hoevenberg, with Colden, Wright, and Algonquin in the background. Barkley and Pamela relaxing after a long weekend of board meetings. Sam, like me, is tuning up for the JFK 50 miler in a few weeks.

Spectacular fall day and easy 10.5k mountain run

Whiteface is looking pretty nice!

The importance of American Wilderness

Wallace Stegner was an important novelist of the 20th century.  In this day and age, when Wilderness is threatened on all sides, it is well worth reading his letter from 1960.

https://www.adventure-journal.com/2019/10/an-argument-for-wilderness-by-wallace-stegner/

First day on snow ... Whiteface Toll Road

Just below the halfway point you put on your skis. Good coverage, although it was crusty. Given conditions I was wishing I brought something a little beefier than track skis.

High Peaks Cyclery Rock Gym

https://vimeo.com/367087608

The Presidential Traverse In New Hampshire

I have only done the Traverse in the winter, and so I really can not relate to these unbelievable, almost incomprehensible running times.  However, the record was recently broken, and the short summary on that terrific feat, is well worth a quick read.

https://fasterskier.com/fsarticle/jordan-fields-and-his-fkt-of-the-presidential-traverse/

Secrets of the ice

An engaging short video about early Norwegian skis found by glacier archaeologists. Well worth your two minute attention ...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e-wF2U-W6xs&time_continue=122

More great trail runs ...

Jay Mountain Road and fire road to Marcy Dam. The high peaks are Whiteface, Wright, and Colden ... all Adirondack 46ers.

Ski Mountaineering In Peru

Fantastic footage from Pisco. Check out this video and then visit his Vimeo site ...

https://vimeo.com/174022788 

Some great trail runs in the Adirondacks this week

It’s not Alex Honnold ...

Just me scratching a little anorthosite. After my morning workout I thought it was too nice a day to run this afternoon, and so I hiked up Owl's Head and went bouldering. A great day, cruising easy rock.

A Blast From The Past ... the first ascent of Mt. Kennedy

I remember reading about the first ascent in the National Geographic article when I was in high school.  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QDDGsS80Cao

Another retirement sauna

A sauna once a week was on my list of retirement goals. The sauna that Selden made for the Fossil Cabin over a decade ago, has perhaps been under utilized, but that is no longer the case!

This sauna, heated by a wood stove takes awhile, but it gets very hot ... perfect for a windy, wet, chilly day. Of course, as always pouring multiple cups of ice water over your head brings out some yells from deep inside your belly.

The 1932 Olympic 50k Nordic Race

This race long ago was in the local news recently, as a land use plan for the Sentinel Wilderness Area is being revised.

Ski Season Has Officially Started

Of course, college nordic teams train all summer long at home. For the month of September, Lucy and the two other captains have been running SLU ski practice.

Traditionally, this first official week of practice in October is when the coaches focus on baseline physical testing. At St. Lawrence those tests include the following components: a battery of strength tests in the gym, a 3k run on the track, a 1.5k double pole, a 4K skate, and a run up St Regis Mountain.

Lucy was the top female in each test. She was particularly pleased in setting an all-time SLU pull-up record, and setting PRs in the overall strength test, as well as the double pole (missing the all-time record by 3 seconds). No PRs this year on the track or St. Regis runs, but she still retains the all-time SLU records for those tests.

Given a PR in a 5k campus run and a podium in the Climb to the Castle, earlier in September, it is clear that she is fit. Now, hopefully she will stay healthy, work on technique, and juggle the balance between academics and sport effectively.

The Hockmobile

There is still a bunch of work to be done, but the nameplate is on the dash, plans are drawn up and I will be camping at every college ski race this season!

More good mountain days ...

By the end of the week, I will have almost run 70k and well over 4000' vertical. I am feeling pretty comfortable with the volume ... however 50 miles in November is still going to be a BIG GULP.

Hoping to scratch rock soon

Lots of rain, but next week we will have a run of nice days and am looking forward to bouldering outside. Still, I seem to be getting more confidence in my footwork.

Tomorrow morning it will be in the low 20s ...

That means the ski season is rapidly approaching. If truth be told, I always ski once or twice in October. Often that amounts to one morning riding a lift at Killington, and another morning taking advantage of three ephemeral inches of snow to ski up the Whiteface Toll Road. 

So, it's time to check your gear. 

https://www.wildsnow.com/21023/pre-season-checklist-ski-gear/

Memories of the Alps and a recent book about alpine pioneer T. Graham Brown

In the early 1970s while in college I caught the climbing bug. 

During this time, I learned to rappel out of third story dorm windows. I commandeered a study carrel in the library next to the mountaineering section. I went to the gunks, Adirondacks, or White Mountains when I could. I camped out on Commonwealth Avenue for the big annual EMS gear sale. I was suspended from the lacrosse team because I did not attend our vacation training trip to Florida, and spent a week ice climbing at Chapel Pond instead.

After college I spent all my free time thinking, training, dreaming, and actually climbing. I spent an entire Fall climbing in the Canadian Rockies, and most of two summers in the Tetons. Finally, in my first year-long leave of absence from teaching I headed across the big pond ... three months climbing in: England, Wales, Scotland, Dolomites, Zermatt, and Chamonix. All this was followed by a Fall climbing in Yosemite, a winter living and climbing in Huntington Ravine (with side trips to Katahdin, Scotland, and Chamonix), a Spring on Denali, and part of the summer back in the Tetons.

But it was my time in the Alps which opened my eyes big and wide. Learning to go light and fast, how to bivy, getting a glimpse of the fitness level required to do routes of that scale, and balancing risk with the reward of speed were all part of my schooling. Backing off routes in the Dolomites, then moving together on the big snow and ice north faces of Lyskamm, Breithorn, and Dent d'Herens, gave way to a few hours at the bivouac hut on the Col de Fourche and  a big solo of the Sentinelle Rouge on the Brenva Face of Mont Blanc. 

I have not read this book yet - only available in Britain - but I can tell you that the triptych that T. Graham Brown climbed are classic and critically important in mountaineering history. The Sentinelle Rouge, Route Major, and the Pear, still are considered serious undertakings. This book review on the Footless Crow website is a great introduction to the life and times of this important, and idiosyncratic climber. 

http://footlesscrow.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-uncrowned-king-of-mont-blancreviewed.html

Tapering ... what I should think about five weeks from now

https://www.uphillathlete.com/tapering-for-race-event-what-to-do/