Lunch stop

I hiked 5 easy kilometers uphill to this lunch stop on the side hills
where cattle and sheep had been grazing. A pretty spectacular view of
Huascaran Norte and Sur. I imagine I did about 1200'.

Sunset on Huascaran

After 36 hours of traveling I made it to La Casa de Zarela for the
last bits of a glorious sunset. I spent the evening sipping a beer at
the Cafe Andino watching World Cup soccer. I was in bed by 9 pm.

Andean Altiplano

I believe that next to the Tibetan plateau this is the largest and
highest upraised portion of the Earth's surface.

Cresting the 4100 meter pass

Well the bus made it over the cordillera negra and we got our first
view of the southern part of the cordillera Blanca. Now the long
descent to Huaraz.

The bus to Huaraz leaves in 45 minutes

Morning rush hour in Lima ... Other than the persistent diesel fumes
and morning fog, the incessant taxi horns are the memories I have of
this Urban area. To be fair I have never really spent enough time here
to see anything other than the Cathedral, which was pretty impressive.

Landed in Peru

Sipping chai at the airport Starbucks, and waiting for the crowd to
thin out before I pull out the bivy sack for the night. I am hoping to
snag a seat on the 8 am bus to Huaraz.

Huaraz here I come

Thanks Matt ... starting to look like an alpinist again.

My Adventure Goals

A Great Father's Day!

Of course we also celebrated my son Jon's 27th birthday, and belated
Selden's 55th birthday. For Father's Day I got the awesome, and
massive tome - THE LORE OF RUNNING - from Lucy, great GIFT
CERTIFICATES from Jon and Amanda, and a SAWYER water bottle filter (yahoo no giardiasis).

Mountain running ... Kilian Jornet ... Inspiration to get off the couch

A Fine Line official trailer. from Summits of My Life on Vimeo.

Last Big Workout Before The Cordillera Blanca

The first and last third went quite well, however the middle third, with its beaver dam, sucking bog, technical terrain, and screaming downhills brought me to a walk in many places.

Trail Building Trends

In an interview with John Morton - biathlon Olympian, former national team coach, author, and CEO of Morton Trails - he talks about the divergent style of recent trails built for cross country running and Nordic skiing.

Click here to read the article in Vermont sports.

Denali Speed Ascent ... Kilian Jornet

Kilian Jornet set a new speed record of 11 hours, 40 minutes roundtrip on Denali's (McKinley's) West Buttress route in Alaska as part of his Summits of my life project.

Kilian's effort bests the previous record set by mountaineer Ed Warren in 2013 at 16:46 for the roundtrip by 5 hours, 6 minutes. Warren also held the now previous speed record of 12:29 for the ascent, which Kilian clearly also bested. We don't yet have confirmation of his ascent time, but we will update this post as we learn more. 

Kilian used a combination of skis and crampons to climb the 20,320-foot mountain located in the heart of Alaska. The West Buttress speed-record route begins at base camp's air strip at 7,200 feet altitude, travels 16.6 miles to the summit one way/33.2 miles roundtrip, and gains over 13,000 feet across quintessential Alaska mountaineering terrain including a 55-degree headwall located at 15,400 feet.

The record information comes direct from Maureen McLaughlin, the Public Information Officer for the Talkeetna Ranger Station in Denali National Park.

Chamonix ... Mountain running ... Get off the couch!

Teaser Marathon du Mont-Blanc 2014 - Skyrunning World Championships from Marathon du Mont-Blanc on Vimeo.

If this doesn't get you to lace up the running shoes or hiking boots, nothing will. 

Something to keep in mind in the Cordillera Blanca ... energy bars

Tune-up for the Cordillera Blanca

Fitz Roy ... An Epic ... The Dark Hours

The Dark Hours from 5Point Film Festival on Vimeo.

Mountain running ... 2014 Zegama race

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE RACE.

Biathlon Clinic

Lucy getting advice from Algis, former national team coach and Olympic gold medalist. The US Team is doing a major youth development movement, as they see retirement in the near future for the veteran team members. They are scouting around for fast skiers who can be enticed to pick up the sport.

The clinic was at the Saratoga Biathlon Club in Day, New York. The
nordic trails are fantastic to run on, and while watching Lulu, I
logged 12k and almost 1400', on several runs interspersed with yoga
sessions.

Less than ten days until the Cordillera Blanca

Lots of work, family, and logistical stuff to do. However, I am
ramping up the workouts, adding plenty of vertical and volume, to get
me ready. In the morning I ran on our super-loop and in the afternoon,
I did laps around our ski hill, and laps up easy routes on our crag.
In between, I did 30 minutes of yoga.

Summer Grand Traverse ... Crested Butte to Aspen

Looks like Edward Kenney and I may give it a go. I will have to hustle
to make the cut-off at 35k.

The Matterhorn ... it's not always a piece of cake

Yes, Kilian's run up and down from town in 2:52 was spectacular, but
lest we forget, this can be a real bad-ass mountain.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ESSAY.

More laps on the snowbowl

Coming back from St. Paul's we stopped to do a bit of hiking ... a
beautiful day driving in the foothills of the white mountains, getting
some vertical in the green mountains, and seeing the adirondack
 mountains off in the distance.

Hiking Middlebury Snow Bowl and Picking Up Lucy

Yvon Chouinard Turns 75

CLICK HERE TO READ AN INTERVIEW.

Getting ready for the Cordillera Blanca

After a long workout on Sunday, and too little sleep over the past few
days, I took it pretty easy on Monday. However, I vowed that each day
I would do something to get ready for Peru, so yesterday I hiked on
our super loop with my ice climbing boots, and soloed easy laps at the
crag. Then I came in and researched solar chargers for my iPhone.

A Big Weekend ...

2014 NCS Graduation and my 40th College Reunion.

The Two Cordillera Blanca Prizes

Hoping to do both the West face of Tocclaraju and the North face of
Ranralpalca. I leave in 16 days.

A St. Paul's School Record

Lucy comes home in five days, and we are very excited. Her year has gone well, she has scored very high on a couple of finals thus far, with a few still to go next week. Athletically, she has exceeded her own high expectations. In her first year running cross country, she consistently was the #5-6-7-8 runner at St. Paul's. She was the #2 New England prep school nordic skier, behind her teammate Tessa. And as you can see, she was on the record breaking 1600 meter relay team, as well as scoring points in the 800, 1500, and 3000 meter events. 

NCS seniors coming off the summit of Cascade

Amazing, Must Have, Free App ... Mountain project climbing guide

With beta, directions to crags and bouldering areas, as well as
photos, to almost every climbing area (big and small) in America, this
just has to be on your smartphone or iPad. Additionally, it has route
descriptions for over 50 countries from France and Switzerland, to
Mali, Israel, and on to Tajikistan.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE, AND DOWNLOAD.

The Cordillera Blanca Climbing Season Is Upon Us

It looks like the wet season is over! I arrive in Huaraz in 22 days.

Mckenzie Pond Boulders ... local adirondack spot

2014 / Bouldering at McKenzie Pond from nataliejwong on Vimeo.

Feeling Fit

Are you just "getting off the couch."

Pretty humorous.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS SHORT ESSAY AT THE ADVENTURE JOURNAL BLOG.

Skiing Tuckerman's Ravine

Working For The Weekend 6: Spring in Tuckerman Ravine from Ski The East on Vimeo.


Another ski season come and gone.  I have to put this on the calendar for next year ... Once more before old age creeps in!

More Climate Change News

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS IMPORTANT NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE.

Dreaming of ski mountaineering?

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS ANNUAL COLLECTION BROUGHT TO YOU BY SKINTRACK

Is this a climate change disaster?

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT EXTREME DROUGHT IN AMERICA.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK ... about henry morshead

In the picture, on the far left, with Mallory on the far right, he was
one of those multi-talented, hard as nails, British climbers and
explorers from the last days of the Empire.

"Eventually Bailey came to understand that Morshead simply did not
notice impediments of any kind, certainly nothing so trivial as a
parasitic leech. Not only was the man utterly fearless, Bailey
discovered; he thought so little about danger that he didn't realize
that there was such a thing as risk."

Excerpt From: Davis, Wade. "Into the Silence." Alfred A. Knopf,
2011-10-18. iBooks.

New England Prep Championships

This was Lucy's first year doing track and St. Paul's had a good season. Yesterday at the championships hosted by Northfield Mount Herman, the St. Paul's girls team finished seventh overall.

In the track events the girls scored points in the hundred meter, 200 m, 400 m, 300 m hurdles, and the 3000 m run. Lucy set a PR in the 800 m run with a time of 2:36.2. Her opening leg in the 4 x 400 m relay was 66 seconds, which equals the best she's run this year.

New England Prep Champioships

Dreaming of the Cordillera Blanca

After I acclimatize with Alejandro and Maria on Urus and Ishinca,
while Gary and John are getting used to the altitude in Huaraz, I am hoping to run this 50k loop, considered the best hike in the Andes. Then I will meet John and Gary and hopefully do the West Face of Tocclaraju, and possibly Ranrapalca  as well.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE RUN.