Kilian Jornet: thoughts on racing and training

https://mtnath.com/training2022/amp/

One more flight and a two hour drive gets me home

It was a great trip to the Sierras. My buddy Mark who has wrestled with multiple health issues over the past four months, literally got off the couch, and re-started a yoga practice and daily walks. The guy has his MOJO back!

I logged 11,000' vertical, and aside from being the first 70 year old to the top of the Mammoth Mountain Race, in the 50+ age group (23 people) I ranked 7th.  Two other big highlights were a 23k run in Yosemite and a 7k run in Lundy Canyon.

More about Hilaree Nelson

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/28/sports/hilaree-nelson-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

Hilaree Nelson’s on found on Manaslu

https://www.wildsnow.com/32674/hilaree-nelsons-body-found-on-manaslus-south-face/

SIERRAS: day 11

I got back to Olympic Valley last night, and Liz cooked up a tremendous BBQ supper. This morning (9:45 am) Mark will drive me down to the Reno airport. I am worried that my flight schedule will be disrupted by the hurricane.

It was a wonderful trip, and the hope is, that next spring when we get together Mark will be fully recovered and fit. I am thinking of coming to Tahoe for Broken Arrow and rock climbing next June.

My last run on the east side yesterday, up Lundy Canyon, was a good one … looking forward to running all the way up to Saddlebag Lake next time.

SIERRAS: day 10

Heading back to Tahoe. I did a great recovery jog up Lundy Canyon, and we stopped at Travertine Hotsprings.

SIERRAS: day 9

I feel pretty good considering last week I had two interval sessions, a tough race, and more mileage than usual.

Today will be low key: yoga, an hour recovery run, and maybe a good soak in a hot springs.
Some great views from the summit of Mammoth Mountain yesterday.

SIERRAS: day 8

Excellent race - technical and at altitude - I finished first in my age group, for the inaugural Mammoth Mountain Uphill Run.

SIERRAS: day 7

This is mostly a rest day, as I race up Mammoth tomorrow. Yesterday afternoon I ran up to Saddlebag Lake, and back to our campsite at Tioga Pass.

SIERRAS: day 6

Heading to Tuolumne, stopped at a climbers gathering in Yosemite Village and won a North Face hoodie. Good recovery from yesterdays long run, and will run up at Saddlebag Lake.

SIERRAS: day 5

I ran the Valley Loop today and it was fantastic. My running time was 4:22.3, and it was just under 23k. I also added some uphill intervals - 2 x 10 minutes and 1 x 20 minutes - which were connected to the loop. (The Garmin server is down so I am unable to find how much vertical this involved.)

SIERRAS:rest day and travel to Yosemite

SIERRAS: day 3

Another uncharacteristically, rainy day in Tahoe. Despite the poor weather I had another active day:

I did an easy 2.5 hour run, with 30 minutes of yoga, and a 30 minute walk with Mark as warmup. Then we ordered take out, and watched Good Girls Revolt.

Today we head to Yosemite!

SIERRAS: day 2

Well, skies were cloudy with intermittent rain all day; pretty uncharacteristic for the Tahoe region. That said, we had a good day. A leisurely morning, with some yoga and a little tai chi for me. Then, a half-hour walk with Mark on his post-surgery, cardiac rehab route. We laughingly dubbed it the Tiger Tail head wall … we made the direct ascent, without oxygen, and no fixed ropes. (Of course, the street had a whooping 75' vertical.)  After this, Mark took me to the Pole Creek Canyon trailhead, where I had a wonderful two hour run, with some nice views of Silver Peak, and the surrounding forested hills (below). I spiced it up with some 3 x 3 minute intervals at above race pace. We finished the day with a bit of wine; some great lasagna and potato salad that Mark and Liz cooked; and finally a couple of episodes of Good Girls Revolt.

Tom Brokaw: Chouinard, Patagonia, Tompkins, and the environment

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/opinion/patagonia-yvon-chouinard-tom-brokaw.html

SIERRAS: Day 1

After a brutal 24+ hours of travel, including an unplanned bivy in the Dallas airport, I managed to squeeze in a good hike up to High Camp at 8200'.

BLAST FROM THE PAST … dance of the woo-li masters

One of my fond mountain memories was hanging out on the Kahiltna Glacier with Jim Bridwell after putting Mark on the plane to Talkeetna following our successful Denali climb. For almost two hours before Bridwell's pilot returned, we guzzled his Jack Daniels, and shot the breeze. 

After I told him I was going to stay put for a week before my next partner (Michael Franklin) flew in, he said "well if you are still here when I get back maybe we can do a route on the North Buttress of Hunter."  He was flying out to film a segment for American Sportsman on Angel Falls in Venezuela. 

Just in case you are wondering, I did let him know, that his climbing level was way out of my league.  His misperception came about because during our conversation he told me he was desperate to climb the big ice routes in the Alps.  I told him of my Sentinelle Rouge solo on Mont Blanc - certainly a big ice climb - but certainly not desperate. Needless to say, he was the real deal, a climbing genius, and I was just a guy plugging away.

https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/dance-woo-li-masters/

Documentary about 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche coming to theaters and Amazon Prime

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=129&v=G4NpOlJ_O-I&feature=emb_title

YVON CHOUINARD … continues to be true to his values giving up PATAGONIA

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html

Ski and Run The Whites

https://news.ultrasignup.com/rock-hopping-run-the-whites/?utm_campaign=Weekly%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=225820939&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Aebsi68n_61GkCEMEunJHOGR7A4wGChbj01V3dDBM_sytmXnFCvgKPPv2sKGlTORVQBaC1ZVC2kgbVLli3-qGv7W2kA&utm_content=225820937&utm_source=hs_email

BLAST FROM THE PAST … sentinelle rouge brenva face

Having seen a bunch of the articles about the collapse of the Col de la Fourche hut, brought up many fond memories of my climb of the Sentinelle Rouge route (in red).  

It started with the first cable car ride of my life - Aiguille du Midi - followed by a not insignificant climb to the hut. The hut held 4-6 comfortably, but that evening there were a dozen jammed in. A South African and I were curled up under the table in our duvets. Sleep was impossible as the first party, left at 11pm, probably for the Pear (green); followed every 30 minutes by a party going to the Route Major (blue), or the Brenva Ridge (yellow). 

At 12:30 am, we gave up all pretense of getting more sleep, ate a chocolate bar, and at 1pm headed out on the glacier. At Col Moore, Richard untied - "you are faster than me" - and we each soloed the route. I arrived on the summit just before a glorious sunrise and Richard arrived 20 minutes later … then followed the long slog back to Snell's Field, as neither of us had money for the cable car, or the train from Montenvers.

Three weeks later, after some tuning up in the gunks, and a transcontinental Greyhound bus trip, my South African friend and I arrived in Yosemite, to meet Mark.  Of course, Mark had a different adventure to end his European climbing trip, and a story to tell, and re-tell through the ages. 



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

Sierra postponement …

Fires in the Sierra foothills - ash and bad air quality - had me putting off my flight for a week. (Good thing I had trip insurance.) Still hoping to do at least one of the races at the Mammoth Trail Festival … probably the race up the Dragon Back trail.

Speed Ascent of a 7000 meter peak

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V486o_8bE8g&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Jimmy Chin’s new adventure series

This ten episode series is streaming on National Geographic and Disney+.  Find out more on the enclosed link. 

https://www.adventure-journal.com/2022/09/jimmy-chin-is-about-to-take-us-over-the-edge/

Most skimo vert in 24 hours

Read the full article:

https://skiinghistory.org/online-magazine/short-turns-ski-mountaineering-speed-records-fall

Fall is on its way

Night time temperatures are dropping into the low 40s, migratory Canada geese are resting in our pastures, and I am starting to pack for my trip to the Sierras. Hoping to get some early October snow to ski on the toll road.

Historic Col de La Fourche hut collapses

One of my fondest alpine memories, was a cramped bivy on the floor, prior to a 1 am departure to solo the Sentinelle Rouge on the Brenva Face. 

https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/alpinism/landslide-destroys-alberico-borgna-bivouac-at-col-de-la-fourche-mont-blanc-massif.html

7000 meter peak … up and down in under ten hours

https://www.wildsnow.com/32452/a-7000m-himalayan-speed-project-dispatch-5/

Good recovery from last weeks race

I logged 20 hours and 6125' vertical this week after running up Mount Mansfield last Sunday. This included 124k on the exercise bike and 58k on foot. Next Saturday I will be in the Sierras.

Accelerating Himalayan glacial melt has big hydrological impact

https://undark.org/2022/08/29/melting-himalyas-glaciers-climate-change/

Are mountain ultras getting to dangerous?

https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/racing/utmb-runner-death-2022/

The DYNAFIT Transalpine Run … 8 stages, starting tomorrow

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=54&v=Hqa_Ijx7ISA&feature=emb_title

The backstory on UTMB winner Katie Schide … a great ten minute video

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bC8n3675fvk