Week Summary: June 18 - 24

06-18-2012
Mon-AM: 1:01, 2500' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Up 2nd down 1st Saddle. Nice mellow morning outing, but hot. From Chautauqua.
PM: 4:31, 4500' ~ La Plata Peak (14,336')
Got out for a mellow hike in the evening. Finished just as it was getting dark.

06-19-2012
Tue-AM: 2:23, 4500' ~ Pyramid Peak (14,018')
From the Maroon Lake parking lot. 1:25 up, :58 down. The last 1000' is an exposed 4th Class chosspile of a ridge that took me 22min to navigate on the way up and 20min on the way down. That should attest to its techiness and generally shittiness. Still, the Elks have to be in the running for most scenic mountain range in the state.

06-20-2012
Wed-AM: 2:07, 4500' ~ Torreys (14,267') and Grays (14,270') Peaks via Kelso Ridge.
Parked 1.5mi from the trailhead. Fighting a bit of a cold, so didn't have a ton of pep, but legs felt solid on the ridge and the time between summits was only 13:30. Cloudy, gloomy morning in Boulder, but I enjoyed brilliant sun up high. 1:39 for the run trailhead-to-trailhead.

06-21-2012
Thu-AM: 2:57, 6500' ~ La Plata Peak (14,336') via the Ellingwood Ridge
Really good morning. Car-to-car (up Ellingwood, down NW Ridge from Highway 82) I managed a 2:57:46 with a 2:21:33 ascent and a 35:46 descent after ~30sec hitting a gel on the summit. Perfect weather. Could see shaving a few minutes off this now that I have some familiarity w/ the routefinding on the ridge.

06-22-2012
Fri-AM: 2:22, 5200' ~ Mt. Elbert (14,433')
Up and down from Echo Canyon. I was crewing Joe for his run over Massive, Elbert, and La Plata, so after parking on Highway 82 I ran up to the summit, waited for him there, and then showed him the line back down.  Tired legs today, yesterday took a bit more out of me than I thought. Long, techy route, too. Really fun descent below Golden Fleece Mine, though. 1:30 up/:52 down.

06-23-2012
Sat-AM: 3:25, 6000' ~ Mt. Princeton (14,197')
From the South Cottonwood TH on the CT, over to Maxwell Gulch, then up the gulch to the NE ridge to the summit. Back the same way. With Joe (though he turned around at the ridge w/ tired legs). More Nolan's scouting. Took 48min to run the CT over to Maxwell Creek after which 15min of heinous bushwhacking occurred, heading up the gulch. Finally emerged from the jungle, gained the ridge and grunted to the summit. Took 1:19 to do the 4500' of vert from the CT to the summit. On the way down, I slalomed down a particularly nasty scree/talus chute, cut across to the south side of the gulch above treeline, and gained the actually quite nice abandoned road/trail that offers a remarkably clear path back down to the CT (48min descent).  Took another 30min to run the CT back to the Roost at South Cottonwood.  Before finding the abandoned trail on the way down, I was convinced this climb is the crux of Nolan's...it's still a giant vertical mile of gain, but much smoother now that I know the line. Very important, as I almost certainly will be doing Princeton at night.

6-24-2012
Sun-AM: 2:26, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Up Kieners, down Keyhole+Reveley Route.

Improved my car-to-car time by a couple minutes: 2:26:11 RT = 1:34:54 up/51:17 down.
With the hot, calm weather I decided to just go in shoes and shorts--didn't take a jacket this time--and carried a pair of tent stakes again for the traverse of Lambs Slide.  I was right on my splits from last week until treeline (legs were a bit heavy again, coming off the run up Princeton yesterday), and then I gained a few minutes between treeline and the base of Lambs Slide (no wind to deal with this time, so I could actually run most of it).

My climb up the east ridge of Lambs Slide was sort of hairy this time, as for some reason I ventured into high 4th Class terrain with even some 5th Class moves.  I was just stubborn about not losing elevation I guess. The snow traverse was easy as the snow was very soft and I basically didn't even need the stakes. I also traversed way lower than last week, which saved a ton of time. Above Broadway I'm getting the route pretty dialed in, so that went quickly and soon enough I was on the summit, with a nearly 7min PR.

Since I'm not yet comfortable downclimbing the wet North Face, though, after literally 5 seconds of catching my breath I descended the Keyhole route, passing a bunch of people on the Narrows and moving quite well down a completely dry Trough.  After the Boulder Field outhouse I cut across for the ridge and took my now usual descent down to Jim Grove and back to the TH, running pretty much as hard as I could because I needed to get back to Boulder for an appointment.

Full Splits:                                                (last week's split)

Goblin - 12:30                                          (12:30)

Battle Mt sign - 26:35                               (26:45)

Chasm cut-off - 36:30                               (37:50)

East side of Chasm Lake - 45:35              (47:30)

Base of Lambs Slide east ridge - 58:??     (59:40)

Broadway entry - 1:12:??                         (1:17:??)

Base of Notch Couloir - 1:17:15              (1:23:10)

Diamond Step - 1:31:30                           (1:38:15)

Summit - 1:34:54                                      (1:41:37)

Top of Trough - 1:39:30

Bottom of Trough - 1:44:??

Keyhole - 1:49:30

Boulder Field outhouse - 1:55:10

Crossed trail - 2:04:45                               (2:05:40)

Battle Mt trail - 2:13:15                             (2:14:50)

Goblin - 2:20:20                                        (2:22:25)

Pavement - 2:26:11                                    (2:28:31)

With the dry Trough conditions, I think I may take a crack at the true standard Keyhole route up and down FKT sometime in the next week or so.  Something in the 2:30-40 range seems possible (1:35-40 up, 55-60min down).  It looks like that with a descent of the North Face instead of the Keyhole, I could come close to cracking 2:20 on the roundtrip of Kieners. 

Hours: 21h12min
Vertical: 39,000'

This was a nice comeback week for the shin after having a bit of a scare the previous week and realizing that it isn't ready for the really long days yet.  I'm more than happy with the way it held up this week, though, and am grateful for every summit and day in the mountains.  Speedgoat will probably be my first race back.  I haven't decided yet if my shin will be up for all the running at Leadville (less than 4mi of that race is worth hiking if you're going as fast as I like to), but I'm just excited to get back to some competition.

Of course, yesterday's WS100 can't be ignored.  I think we all knew that heat has an adverse effect on distance running performance, but wow, quite a spectacle that everyone out in California put on yesterday.  Really inspiring stuff from lots of people; it's awesome to see the sport continue to move forward.  I'm extremely excited to get back amongst it, that's for sure.

At the same time, I'm more inspired than ever by the Nolan's 14 line and am scheming as to when exactly I'll be able to fit it in during the next couple of months, and if the shin will allow it...we'll see...

La Plata summit, Monday evening.

Maroon Bells and Snowmass from the summit of Pyramid Peak. 

La Plata's Ellingwood Ridge.

Pretty much only been listening to The Walkmen's new album for the past month.

Kieners Route on Longs Peak

Last week was a fun experience.  I was back spending a few days in Boulder, supporting Scott's book tour, seeing friends, etc.  Part of this involved getting out on Kieners on Longs Peak with Buzz and Peter.  Last fall, when my shin injury gave me time to rekindle my interest in technical rock climbing, Buzz started taking me out on the Flatirons for some scrambling--soloing on moderate terrain.  After a few times up the uber-classic Third Flatiron, Buzz commented that we would do Kieners in the summer.

So, last Friday we did.  I'm working closely with Buzz and Peter (and Scott) on developing a series of new packs with Ultimate Direction, and one of them is dubbed the "Adventure Vest". Kieners would be a perfect line for testing the performance of this kind of pack.  Kieners is a classic mountaineering route on an even more classic mountain.  "Mountaineering" meaning that it isn't just a simple walk up a Class 2 trail, like most standard routes on 14ers around the state.  Instead, K offers a spicy and engaging mix of standard trail; talus and boulder hopping; the ascent of an almost 1000', 50 degree snow field; and then Class 4 & 5 scrambling along the edge of the Diamond before summiting and descending the 5th Class North Face. Kieners' consensus grade is 5.4, due mostly to some moderate crack-like climbing after the Broadway traverse.

Up the red, down the blue. Photo: summitpost.org

It can be a fairly long day (I think we were out for around 6hr on Friday) in an exposed and prone-to-quick-changes true alpine environment, so usually it's necessary to carry food, water, and an extra layer or two along with an ice axe, crampons, and--because our planned slabs descent on the North Face was still soaked with meltwater--a rope for rappelling.  As such, the packs would be tested doing exactly what they've been designed to do--mix running with mountaineering, or just carry a slightly larger-than-normal load.

Buzz's post re-capping the day is here, but from my perspective it was simply a joy to be with such experienced friends in such an exhilarating landscape.  So much so, that as we were negotiating the moves that Buzz and Peter deemed the crux, I pronounced that I was going to come back the next day and hit it all again.  The line is that good.

Peter works his way up Lambs Slide. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

Traversing Broadway. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

The crux move on Broadway. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

Climbing onto the Diamond Step, ~200' below the summit, with Chasm Lake almost 2000' below. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

Happy to share the summit with a pair of pioneers. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

So, I did, along with my oft-partner-in-crime for such alpine adventures, Joe Grant.  At the last second, Joe decided to bring his Go Pro Hero headcam for pics and video, which turned out to be a good idea; he got some good stuff, per usual.  On this particular outing--inspired by Buzz's stories about leaving behind the hardware and just scrambling the 3rd-4th Class ridge next to the Lambs Slide couloir instead of heading up the snow--we tried that ourselves and it worked out great.  There was a lot of stop and go on the day as there often is during a tandem adventure, and especially because of the digital documentation that Joe was performing.  However, I clocked my moving time from East trailhead to trailhead at only 2:38, so knew immediately that I would have to come back very soon to give it an honest, non-stop, FKT-style effort.  Why not the very next day?

A critical piece of beta that we'd taken advantage of the previous two days was that a climber working a project on the Diamond had fixed a rope on the North Face descent slabs.  This little fact meant that, even in the current water-slick conditions, I could do the route in nothing more than a pair of shorts and sticky shoes (with climbing rubber) and carrying only a 3oz shell (always a good idea in an alpine environment, even if you don't use it), one gel, and a pair of tent-pegs for crossing the snow-filled couloir.  A unique opportunity, indeed (at least until the Cables slabs dry out later this summer and I can just downclimb them).

Here is a quick synopsis of my day out looking to set an FKT, that I posted to the Satan's Minions listserv.

Just got back from Longs Peak (for the third day in a row :).   Worst conditions of the four times I've been up there, with crazy winds between treeline and Chasm Lake.

Today was a concerted see-how-fast-I-can-go effort on the up, but, unfortunately, my climbing legs were way flat today and then the wind above treeline was extremely discouraging/slowing.

At any rate, going up Kieners and down the Cables and taking every short-cut I know of, I went 2:28:31 car-to-car with a 1:41:37 ascent and a 46:54 descent.  I sat behind the summit rock catching my breath for ~20sec before leaving the summit at 1:42:00.

On the way down I ran into none other than Andy Anderson (the absolute RT record holder on Longs at 2:02:54, Cables up and down) hiking up the Jim Grove trail w/ another climbing ranger, and I stopped and chatted for 90sec-2min or so with him mostly because I didn't feel like I was actually on that quick of a descent pace (the wind had been throwing me around a lot whilst descending to and then crossing the Boulder Field); I really got after it, though, below treeline again (only a few navigational mistakes) and was really surprised to see my high-46min descent.  Just w/o the stop to chat, I think I would've been approaching Andy's 44min descent from his record run.  Of course, I batmanned down the still-there fixed rope on the Cables, which I imagine more than makes up for the ~2min I spent talking with Andy.

I also lost a couple minutes by absent-mindedly climbing too high on the Lambs Slide ridge before traversing the snow over to Broadway.  This put me at a wider part of Lambs Slide and also meant I didn't get to use the steps I'd kicked yesterday, as I'd planned.  I should've just dropped back down the ridge 100ft or so, but was stubborn about not losing any elevation, and I think it cost me as I got into some pretty slow icy snow and actually climbed up to the rocks for handholds before dropping back down to the Broadway entry.

Other than that, I look forward to coming back with fresh legs and a more calm day.  Also, getting the trail dialed in just below treeline and between the summit and the top of the Cables will yield another minute or two for sure.

              Splits:

              Goblin - 12:30

              Battle Mt CG sign - 26:45

              Chasm Lake (east end) - 47:30

              Bottom of Lambs Slide ridge - 59:40

              Start of snow traverse - 1:12:00 

              Entry to Broadway - 1:17

              Base of Notch Couloir - 1:23:10

              Diamond Step - 1:38:15

              Summit boulder - 1:41:37

              Left summit at 1:42:00

              Top of Cables rope - 1:48

              Chasm View - 1:50:40

              Crossing Keyhole trail below Granite Pass - 2:05:40

              Battle Mt Campground trail - 2:14:50

              Goblin sign - 2:22:25

              Trailhead - 2:28:31

Overall, I was proud of the effort, but I know it isn't my best, nor most focused, so I guess I'll be having to go back in the future.

Also, as per the above-mentioned run-in with Andy Anderson, I've become quite interested in the absolute roundtrip record on Longs (generally speaking, the shortest/fastest route involves ascending and descending the North Face slabs). Currently at 2:02:54, sub-2hr seems like a worthwhile goal.  In the meantime, I really look forward to continuing to deepen my relationship with this profoundly beautiful slice of Colorado.   

Week Summary: June 11 - 17

6/11/2012
Mon-AM: 1:34, 3500' ~ Quandary Peak (14,265')
First time I've ever done this peak in dry (non-winter) conditions.  57:30 from the trailhead. Lots of people on this route for a weekday.

6/12/2012
Tue-AM: 2:32, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert (14,433')
Pretty standard outing up and down the NE ridge from Halfmoon Creek.

6/13/2012
Wed-AM: 2:16, 4000' ~ South & North Arapaho Peaks (13,397' & 13,502')
Started from the 4th of July TH above Nederland, straight north up an avy chute to the ridge, and then out and back on the Class 3 traverse between the two peaks. Perfect morning weatherwise. Some fun, moderate exposure out on the traverse, 15min between peaks, in both directions.
PM: 0:51, 1500' ~ 2nd Flatiron
Quick evening ascent of the flattie w/ Joe. Downclimbed it, too, which was good practice.

6/14/2012
Thu-AM: 1:16, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access and down 1st Flatiron w/ Joe.  Missed the mountain, good to get back on it. Crazy how lush everything is down here on the Front Range.
PM: 1:00, 1500' ~ 2nd Flatiron
Evening ascent of the flattie w/ Marissa. Dropped my camera maybe 50ft off the deck and it exploded at the bottom. Big bummer. I like taking pictures.

6/15/2012
Fri-AM: 5:10, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Up Kieners and down the North Face (Cables). Got out with Buzz and Peter for some product testing during an introduction to the uber-classic Kieners Route on the East face of Longs. Snow conditions in the Lambs Slide couloir were perfect, and any snow on Broadway was easy to step around. Psyched to find a rope already fixed for the rappel down the Cables, but was sorta bummed to carry a 60m rope all day and never use it.

6/16/2012
Sat-AM: 2:38, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Up Kieners and down the Cables w/ Joe. Hiked all the way up the mountain, but found a nice groove on the way down below the Cables and ran back to the trailhead.  Did a fair bit of stopping for pics and video. Incredible day out w/ clouds and mist high on the mountain.

6/17/2012
Sun-AM: 2:28, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Up Kieners and down Cables. Went back yet again today to go for a quick time on this line, no stopping. After yesterday, I thought I could hit something decent. Unfortunately, today was extremely windy and my climbing legs were flat, no energy all-around.  I still had what I think is a solid time of 2:28:31 for the round-trip with a 1:41:37 ascent and a 46:54 descent.  I can definitely take that uphill under 1:40 with fresh legs and on the way down I bumped into Andy Anderson (absolute roundtrip record holder on Longs), so had to chat with him for a couple of minutes before continuing down. If I hadn't done that, I think I would've been close to his 44min descent from his record run last summer.  But, there was a fixed rope on the Cables slabs that he didn't have during the record, so the time probably evens out.  All in all, a great day out, but a bit low-energy. Hit one gel before the snow traverse, didn't carry any water.

For those interested, full splits:
Goblin sign - 12:30
Battle Mt sign - 26:45
Chasm turn-off - 37:50
Chasm Lake (east end) - 47:30
Bottom of Lambs Slide ridge - 59:40
Start of snow traverse - 1:12
Entry of Broadway - 1:17
Base of Notch Couloir - 1:23:10
Diamond Step - 1:38:15
Summit boulder - 1:41:37 (left summit at 1:42:00)

Top of Cables (fixed rope) - 1:48
Chasm View - 1:50:40
Crossing of standard trail (below Granite Pass) - 2:05:40
Crossing of Battle Mt CG trail - 2:14:50
Goblin sign - 2:22:25
Pavement - 2:28:31

Just like Saturday, I used every shortcut I know of below treeline, and instead of crampons and ice axe I scrambled the ridge just to the left of Lambs Slide before traversing the snow over to Broadway.  Credit goes to Buzz Burrell for this bit of beta; it's nice not carrying all that gear/metal.

Hours: 19h45
Vert: 33,000'

A solid week, but I made the decision this week to not run Hardrock.  I'm not willing to push my training to include 3+ hr runs and continually reaggravate my shin.  At this point, I'm planning on the Speedgoat 50K as my return to competition at the end of July.  Hopefully, by then, the shin will be strong enough to endure the long training runs needed to race 100mi at the end of the summer (Leadville).

South (left) and North Arapaho Peaks on Wednesday.

North Arapaho summit.

The LA Freeway: A term coined by Buzz Burrell to describe a journey from Longs Peak (high point, left-center horizon) to Arapaho Peak via the Continental Divide. The mother-of-all-traverses on the Front Range if one sticks to the ridge.

Topping out on Kieners on Longs Peak Friday morning. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

Traversing Lambs Slide high on Longs Peak, Saturday morning. Photo: Joe Grant.

No place quite like Broadway. Photo: Joe Grant.

Starting up the Crux Cracks at the base of the Notch Couloir. Photo: Joe Grant.

Photo: Joe Grant.

Heading up towards the Diamond Step. Photo: Joe Grant.

Ledges above the Diamond Step. Photo: Joe Grant.

Negotiating the wet Cables slabs on the North face with the help of a fixed rope. Photo: Joe Grant.

Week Summary: June 4 - 10

6/4/2012
Mon-AM: 2:21, 4500' ~ La Plata Peak (14,336')
Up and down NW ridge, with an extra 15min of warm-up. On the descent I punched through some snow and gashed my shin to the gleaming white bone on some talus underneath. Clean-up back at the Roost revealed a likely need for some stitches, but things seem to be healing up fine.

6/5/2012
Tue-AM: 2:35, 4000' ~ Huron Peak (14,003')
Up the West face trail from Winfield.  Descended the East face via a fun scree chute/boulder field before finding a surprisingly nice use trail that switchbacked down to Clohesy Lake. 1:49 from Winfield to Clohesy Lake (1:17 at summit). Ran back to Winfield via Rockdale. More Nolan's 14 scouting.

6/6/2012
Wed-AM: 7:38, 13500' ~ Massive (14,421'), Elbert (14,433'), La Plata (14,336')
Really fun day in the mountains.  Started at the Leadville Fish Hatchery with Gavin, headed up the Highline Trail for 40min before cutting cross-country directly up the East ridge to the summit. Hit the top at 1:43. Descended the SW slopes trail down to cross Halfmoon Creek on FS Rd 110J (2:27) before continuing up the road and up Elbert's West ridge to the summit at 3:49. Descended over Bull Hill from there to the Golden Fleece Mine and Echo Canyon, getting to Highway 82 at 4:50. Ascended standard NW ridge of La Plata in 1:39 from the highway (6:45 total on the summit) before descending La Plata's South ridge and getting to the Winfield campground at 7:38 total. Really strong on the first two peaks, but I bonked like a champ above treeline on La Plata (not enough gels). Felt great on the LP downhill, though more than nine gels for the run would've been ideal.  The enormity of the Nolan's 14 project is humbling.

6/7/2012
Thu-AM: 2:15, 4500' ~ Torreys (14,270') & Grays (14,267') Peaks
Parked at ~10,500' on the approach road to the summer TH and ran from there. Took the Kelso Ridge up Torreys. Really tired this morning after yesterday's long effort, but it was still great to get in a couple of peaks before making it down to Boulder by 9:30am for meetings with Ultimate Direction and New Balance.

6/8/2012
Fri-AM: 2:44, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,259')
Started from the East TH and took the standard Keyhole route to the summit and back. Went up the mountain in 1:41:58, spent 30min on the summit, then descended in 1:02:54. There was quite a bit of frozen snow still in the Trough, so I lost a lot of time there--especially on the descent--but I ran really hard below the Boulderfield on the descent. Stopped a couple of times to take some pictures when I was descending back through the Boulderfield---would've gone sub-1hr for sure on the way down if I hadn't done that, even with the ice-induced pussyfooting in the Trough.

6/9/2012
Sat-AM: 0:31 ~ All-day photo shoot with NB.  Sun-up to sundown. 4am wake-up call.

6/10/2012
Sun-AM: More photo shooting with NB, but no running.

Hours: 18hr04min
Vert: 31,500'

Another solid week in the high country, but I definitely needed the rest that the weekend's NB activities necessitated. The pounding downhill on Friday might've been a touch more than the shin was ready for, so it was good to take a couple days easy.  Still having such a blast tagging a different peak every day.

Huron summit.

The Three Apostles.

Looking back up at the scree and talus descent from Huron's northern saddle.

The Diamond, Longs Peak.

Week Summary: May 28 - June 3

05-28-2012
Mon-AM: 2:39, 5000' ~ Mt. Massive (14,421')
From the Halfmoon Creek Trailhead with Joe.  Ran up the CT before ascending the east face of Massive in quite blustery, windy conditions.  A bit frigid on the summit.  Descended the SW slopes trail before completing the ~14mi loop with a section of FS road.

05-29-2012
Tue-AM: 2:06, 4500' ~ La Plata Peak (14,336')
Up and down NW Ridge w/ Joe. Stubbornly stuck to a running cadence until hitting a small snowfield at 12,700' or so.  After some more jogging through the boulder field I was able to beeline it to the summit via some more frozen snow. Wanted to sneak under 1h20 for the climb, but missed it by 25 seconds. Perfect day on top with abundant sun and no wind.

05-30-2012
Wed-AM: 2:33, 5500' ~ Torreys (14,267') & Grays (14,270') Peaks via Kelso Ridge
Ran from Bakerville, 33min to the TH, 1:31 Torreys summit, 1:45 Grays summit, 2:14 back at the TH.  I was expecting the Kelso Ridge to be much more technical than it was; it's rated Class 3 but it felt like there were maybe two or three Class 3 moves on the whole thing, otherwise it was just hiking. Extra 500' of vert with all the bumps on the ridge, though. Really windy on both summits (and the ridge), otherwise my plan had been to tag Mt. Edwards and the McClellan-Ganley ridge on the way back. Another day.

05-31-2012
Thu-AM: 2:06, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert (14,433')
Up and down NE ridge. Just eased into the hill, planning on taking it easy, so was really surprised when I had a 45sec PR at the summit, especially with no warm-up. 1:53 round-trip, but jogged a couple extra miles on Halfmoon Rd to round out the time.

06-01-2012
Fri-AM: 6:15, 10500' ~ Missouri (14,067'), Belford (14,197'), Oxford (14,153'), Harvard (14,420') & Columbia (14,073')
Started from Rockdale with Homie, JV, and Joe for a little Nolan's scouting. Hit Clohesy Lake at :34, summit of Missouri at 1:29, Elkhead Pass in 1:53, Belford at 2:11, Oxford at 2:31, Pine Creek at 3:00, Harvard in 4:00, and Columbia at 4:56. The looong descent down Frenchman Creek was nice except for the 20+ minutes of bushwhacking through heinous windfall. I felt really strong all day, all of the uphill hiking and techy downhills left me way less beat up than a 6hr run usually would.

06-02-2012
Sat-AM: 2:47, 5500' ~ Mt. Massive (14,421')
Did an out and back to the summit from the Fish Hatchery, running up the Nature Trail to Highline before bushwhacking up to the NE ridge, scouting the Nolan's line. Tired from yesterday, 1:46 to the summit. Some extra vert from all the bumps on the ridge. This climb is a rough way to start the entire Nolan's link-up. Or maybe I was just tired.

06-03-2012
Sun-AM: 2:13, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert (14,433')
Up and down the NE ridge, pretty tired. Forgot it was the weekend, but was reminded by the hordes of hikers on the trail, seeking Colorado's highest point.

Hours: 20h39min
Vert: 40,000'

Well, I guess I'm back. Wow. Nothing like some thin air, some patches of ceramic and some French voodoo to set things right.  I would rank this up there with one of my best weeks of training ever, definitely from a mountain standpoint.  Thursday's PR on Elbert forced me to accept the fact that all of my hiking over the past nine months actually did some good for keeping me relatively physically fit, not just mentally sane.  There's still plenty of time for things to go sideways--I've only had two weeks of pain-free running on the shin--but if I can string together five more weeks like this I'll feel good about my chances when I line up for Hardrock next month.

La Plata (14,336') on Tuesday.

Snowfield descent on La Plata's NW ridge.

Descending Mt. Elbert on Thursday.

Summit of Columbia, Harvard behind, on Friday.

La Plata's Ellingwood Ridge with Elbert behind. Excited to tackle this line soon.

Week Summary: May 21 - 27

5/21/2012
Mon - off. Traveling back from Spain.

5/22/2012
Tue-AM: 1:01, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt. w/ Joe
Mostly running, except for the obvious scrambling bits. So good to be back on the mountain despite the jet lag.

5/23/2012
Wed-AM: 1:43, 5000' ~ Cameron Cone
Rallied down to COS w/ Joe after a jetlag-induced early rise and ran up and down what is becoming one of my favorite in-town peaks anywhere. Taking 1:06 from Hydro Street on Ruxton, it's a pleasingly direct way to get to nearly 11,000'. Shin felt great.

5/24/2012
Thu-AM: 1:23, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Took the 3rd access route up, but then descended Bear Canyon back to Chautauqua, with Joe. Was pretty disappointed to see the newly-rerouted trail down to Bear Canyon...if I wanted that kind of meandering, flat carpet I'd live in California...

5/25/2012
Fri-AM: 1:24, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Jetlag had me up at 4:30am, so I had to wait for it to get light before heading up the mountain. Descended Ranger and Flagstaff, which is the first time I've done that in ages; running is so fun.

5/26/2012
Sat-AM: 4:15, 8500' ~ Ten Mile Traverse
Parked at the Mt. Royal TH just off of I-70 in Frisco with Joe and ran the traverse north to south, tagging every peak along the way.  Really fun techy stuff from Peak 1-4 and then lots of open alpine meadow.  The final 1000' bop to 13,633' Peak 10 was a giant struggle up a talus slope, but worth it for the glissade off the east face.  Shin felt solid all day.

5/27/2012
Sun-AM: 2:25, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert
Joe and I ran from our campsite on Halfmoon Creek, very near the proper Elbert TH. Started off by running the 2mi+ west to the 110J forest road turn-off, crossed the creek and headed another 2.5mi uphill until reaching the cairn at ~11,400' and striking east directly uphill, gaining Elbert's West Ridge and taking it directly to the summit. This line is ~1.5mi and 3000'. Ouch. We were both quite haggard today (predictably), but it was :26 from Halfmoon Creek to the cairn and another :58 from the cairn to get to the summit.  Descended Elbert's NE ridge in :37 to finish off the morning. The first of hopefully many, many Nolan's 14 scouting outings. After doing a climb like that, though (3000' of talus and scree), the mind reels at linking 14 of those things together in one go...

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It's really good to be back in the high country.  The energy is different up here, for sure.  The turn-around in my shin was definitely promoted by my time in La Palma and Spain, though.  Salomon's team doctor was kind enough to see me a couple of times, and that, combined with the general positive energy of that trip, seems to have affected a more permanent improvement in my shin.  Things are still slightly precarious, though, and I think I'll have to carefully monitor things for some time still.

Though I suspect most have already seen it, I also recently wrote a post about some of my time abroad over on the Ultimate Direction blog.

Volcanic scree on La Palma. The Frenchies know how to have fun.  Photo: Jean-michel Faure-vincent.

Descending from Pico de Bejenado on La Palma. Photo: Joe Grant.

Proper steep in the National Park on La Palma. Photo: Joe Grant.

Mt. Royal and the rigs in Frisco.

Summit of Peak 1 with the rest of the line stretching out behind me.

Proper tech between Peaks 2 and 3. Photo: Joe Grant.

Summit of Elbert this morning.

Joe on the final pitch of the West Ridge of Elbert.

The Nolan's line descends over Bull Hill (right center) before ascending La Plata (high point on horizon). Intimidating.

Week Summary: April 30 - May 6

04-30-2012

Mon- off.  Last day in Missoula, MT for Unbreakable screening.  Really great turn-out last night, nearly 700 enthusiastic Montanans.

05-01-2012

Tue-AM: 1:06, 2500' ~ Green Mt.

Up and down 1st Saddle. All hiking, really nice to get back on the mountain after four days completely off in MT.

05-02-2012

Wed-AM: 1:32, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.

Up 2nd Flatiron, down 1st Saddle. 7:40 PR on the 2nd scramble, shin was noticeably improved from yesterday but then my stomach was completely off on the way down the mountain (hence the extra 20min or so of hiking) and I spent much of the rest of the morning with some sort of quickly-passing bug.

05-03-2012

Thu-AM: 1:14, 3000' ~ Green Mt.

Up 3rd, down 1st Saddle. All hiking, but shin felt encouragingly solid.

05-04-2012

Fri-AM: 2:22, 4500' ~ Cameron Cone

Parked below the Cog in Manitou Springs and then hiked up and down the mountain with Joe. Really great "in-town" mountain with the non-trivial summit altitude of 10,700'. Great mix of terrain with good trail in spots and all-fours scrambling in others. Massage for the shin with Elke Reese afterwards.

05-05-2012

Sat-AM: 1:17, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.

Up 2nd Flatiron, down 1st Saddle. Really great hike with a PR 6:45 scramble of the 2nd.

05-06-2012

Sun-AM: 2:06, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert

Up and down NE Ridge with Joe. Casual 10am start, but it was borderline summer conditions with only a few steps of snow the whole way. Summit was, unfortunately, clouded in and chilly, but otherwise a stellar morning. Can't wait to get back from Spain and move up there for the summer.

Hours: 9h37min

Vert: 20,500'

This morning Joe and I rallied up to Leadville for a high summit.  I had to get a taste of the high country before I move up there in two weeks (post-Canary Islands/Spain) for the summer.  Leadville as a summer base is an easy place to hate when one is presented with the completely open possibilities that I currently have (why not Silverton? Aspen? Telluride? Crested Butte?), but I have many intricate ties to the area and nostalgia and sentimentality is powerful.

So is thin air. Some people have trouble recovering, even sleeping, above 10,000' but I've always felt I've thrived at the higher altitudes, gaining as much psychic and emotional strength as physical from the alpine environment.  Plus, there's a just-right coffeehouse, no condos, a community that fully embraces all manner of mountain endurance sport and plenty of free camping.  And only two hours from the more civilized environs of Boulder.

This morning's ascent of Elbert included only a smattering of steps of snow just below treeline and as-ideal-as-can-be-expected early May summit conditions.  I took the liberty of some running on the descent (painfree!), but am committed to returning to primarily hiking for the next couple of weeks overseas; I want to be able to run the next time I'm back up there in a couple of weeks.

 

All photos: Joe Grant.

Week Summary: April 16 - 22

4-16-2012
Mon-AM: 1:25, 3000' ~ SoBo Peak
Up and down South Mesa/Shadow (Towhee was really muddy); still a few inches of snow the last few hundred feet to the top.

4-17-2012
Tue-AM: 1:33, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Kind of a convoluted start to the morning. At the last second, Joe and I decided to head up the Saddle Rock trail to try and scramble the Gregory Flatironette to the top of the Amphitheater trail. On our first attempt we were on a rib of rock too far west; dropped all the way back down to Gregory and then negotiated a rib that was too far east. Finally worked our way over to the actual GF for the last hundred feet or so. Looks like a nice line if you get on at the bottom.  From there, Joe ran down Amphi (tapering for Zane Grey 50) while I ran to the summit, heading up SR-Gman and descending the 1st Saddle before running back down to Pearl.

4-18-2012
Wed-AM: 1:07, 3000' ~ Green Mt+barefoot
Up and down 3rd access. 36:30 PR from Chat to the summit, which was weird as I wasn't putting in a particularly focused effort and had a sluggish start being almost a minute slow to the base of the 2nd Flatiron. Round-tripped in 57:28, after which I put in 10min of barefoot on the Chautauqua lawn.

4-19-2012
Thu-AM: 1:18, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Up 2nd, down 3rd access. Mostly stuck to hiking today. Snuck in the odd running-like step here and there on the way down.

4-20-2012
Fri-AM: 1:00, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Up 2nd, down 3rd access. Met Dakota at Chat and headed up. Running when the terrain allowed. Afterwards, headed to Eldorado Canyon for some climbing. Dakota led like a champ while I flailed on top-rope.

4-21-2012
Sat- off.

4-22-2012
Sun-AM: 1:21, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Up the 2nd and down 1st Saddle. Continued perfect weather.

Hours: 8h54
Vert: 20,800'

I'm really looking forward to getting an in-depth gait analysis at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine this week, as I think my mechanics (along with my admittedly undisciplined enthusiasm, i.e. boneheadedness) are the root cause of the frustration with my shin.  Hopefully something is picked up on there, and I can come away with a specific plan of action for correcting some strength/flexibility imbalances.

Meanwhile, it feels more like summer every day here in Boulder:

Base of the 2nd Flatiron: start of my usual scramble en route to the summit.

Green Summit #100 of 2012.

Week Summary: April 9 - 15

04-09-2012
Mon-AM: 1:00, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 3rd access. Biked to Chat and mixed hiking and running to the summit before running all the way back down. Rolled my left ankle hard (it audibly popped) a couple minutes away from Chat. Minor swelling, didn't seem too bad. Shin felt very solid.

04-10-2012
Tue-AM: 1:31, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Ran to Chat and the base of the 2nd with Joe. Scrambled the 2nd before continuing to the summit and descending Gman-SR-Amphi and running all the way back to Pearl St. The 1010s were fantastic on the scrambling--surprisingly sticky outsole, almost like some approach shoes. Really solid outing but my ankle was a total liability on tech trail and I actually kinda re-rolled it a bit on Greenman which was really not ideal. Totally fine on smooth trail or pavement but I have zero technical descending ability right now with it. Soaked it in the creek afterwards for 10min; yesterday was definitely the worst I've ever rolled an ankle.
PM: 1:15, 2200' ~ 2 x 2nd Flatiron
Hiked from Chat w/ Joe before scrambling two laps on Flattie2 in the 1010s.  We downclimbed the face in between before heading down the trail after the second one.  Not true summits because we didn't scale the Pullman Car either time--not skilled enough to solo that.

04-11-2012
Wed-AM: 1:48, 3500' ~ SoBo & Bear Peak
Started in Eldo with Joe, up the back way to Fowler and Eldo Canyon trail before cutting up the backside of SoBo via some fellcrossing/goat action. Popped out a bit south of the ultimate summit, which made for some spicy scrambling to reach the apex.  Tagged Bear before descending Shadow Canyon and Old Mesa back to Eldo. All running except for the 32min of interpretive route to the SoBo summit. Hugely encouraging outing for the shin.
PM:  1:12, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Hiking from Chat with Joe, up and down the 3rd access. Little rollers on this route add a couple hundred feet of vert apparently. Quite a hard effort on the uphill.

04-12-2012
Thu-AM: 1:07, 3000' ~ Green Mt.+9min barefoot
Up 3rd access, down 1st Saddle with Joe. All running except for the obvious stuff on the way up. Overnight precip precluded any Flattie scrambling, so I put in a solid but fatigued 36:49 effort to the summit. After waiting for Joe on top we descended to Gregory in 17:08 before jogging back over to Chat for a 57:50 roundtrip (obviously not including our time sitting on the summit).  My gimpy ankle was cause for some significant caution on the descent, so the roundtrip can definitely go much more quickly with healthy limbs and a sprint back across the Chautauqua meadow.
PM: 1:02, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Ran/hiked from Chat to the base of the 2nd, scrambled the 2nd (to the walk-off) in 9:20, then continued on to the summit at a hard pace for a 39min ascent. Was feeling some good flow on the way down and made it back to Chat with a 23min descent by coming down the same way (but taking the trail down instead of downclimbing the 2nd). My altimeter shows this (and this morning's) run as 3100' efforts, but an even 3000' seems fair.

04-13-2012
Fri-AM: 1:18, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up 1st Saddle, down GSA. Ran from Pearl St and only hiked from the top of Amphi to the summit. 18:30 descent on the standard trails, but still need to be a bit careful with the ankle.
PM: 1:02, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Very nice evening outing, scrambled the 2nd in 8:55; pushed pretty hard hiking on the uphill (38min from Chat) but didn't have a ton of energy.

04-14-2012
Sat-AM: 1:35, 3500' ~ SoBo & Bear Peaks
From the South Mesa TH I went up Towhee and Shadow before descending Fern and Bluestem. Lethargic 49min ascent of SoBo but then I had a snappy 12:10 descent of Fern (summitpost to canyon mouth posts); it's been a reeeeaally long time since I've run down Fern in dry conditions.
PM: 1:07, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Was quite tired this evening, so I just took it easy up the hill and on the scramble, 42min from Chat. Chilly on the summit with snow visible above 8800' or so. Descended Greenman-SR-Amphi.

04-15-2012
Sun-AM: 1:36, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up Gregory-Ranger and down 2nd Flatiron from Pearl Street. Legs were less tired but the 3-4" of fresh snow up high slowed things down considerably. Nice to take today easy, consolidate some fitness/health gains.

Hours: 15h33
Vert: 35,800'

This week was the most healthy the shin has felt in over a year. More on that here. The goal/hope for the rest of April will just be to basically repeat this past week, but with maybe mixing in more real running on the uphills (I feel like I've lost some strength/efficiency there). There's no need for an increase in volume. Especially not an increase in vert.

Sunday morning spring snow:

Chautauqua.

Ranger Trail.

#92 this year, #623 all-time.

Third Flatiron and Jaws.

Week Summary: April 2 - 8

04-02-2012
Mon-AM: 1:09, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Drizzle and graupel means I had the trails to myself. Only 4hr of sleep due to jet lag. Hiking.

04-03-2012
Tue-PM: 1:20, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle with Scott. Afternoon ascent because jet lag caused me to frustratingly sleep in this morning. Weather was a rain/snow mix and there was 3-4" of snow on the summit. Casual pace, hiking.

04-04-2012
Wed-AM: 1:19, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Snappy legs, but the snow slowed me down on the top half of the mountain. Ran to the trailhead, hiked up the mountain, then ran all the way home.  Shin cooperated, which was fantastic.

04-05-2012
Thu-AM: 1:16, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access, down 1st Saddle. All running except for from the base of the 2nd Flatiron to the summit (most of which I wouldn't be able to run even if healthy). Shin was solid.

04-06-2012
Fri-AM: 1:17, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 3rd access. 36:55 ascent from Chat, which I think is quite close to my PR on this line, but this didn't feel that focused. Ran everything again, except for the goat sections on the way up.
PM: 1:04, 2000' ~ 2nd Flatiron-Flagstaff Mt.
Biked to Chat and then ran to the base of the 2nd with Buzz Burrell, Dave, and Dan Brillon.  Scrambled the 2nd with Buzz and Dave, met back up with Dan, and then made our way over to the summit of Flagstaff. Met back down in Chat for Caballo's memorial. Really quality evening in the hills with good people even though I knew I was overstepping the capabilities of my shin a bit.

04-07-2012
Sat-AM: 1:09, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. I knew my shin would be tweaked after yesterday, and it was, but not terrible. Biked to Chat and just limited myself to hiking.

04-08-2012
Sun-AM: 1:25, 3000' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Biked to Chat with Joe (running beside), hiked to the base of the 2nd, scrambled straight up the face, and bumped into Andy Ames and Bernie Boettcher (a pair of mountain racing icons) before heading to the summit. Shin was noticeably better today but I kept it to mostly hiking on the downhill, too, where we crossed paths with Dave and Jeff heading up.  Glorious day on the mountain.

Hours: 10hr (about half of which was actual running)
Vert: 21,000'

After 10 days off and four days of hiking, I tried very hard this week to not get over-ambitious in the spectacular spring weather Boulder has been experiencing, but Friday evening's outing was inevitable with the gathering of friends. I think I was able to avoid a serious setback with the shin, though. My plan/hope now is to abandon any immediate competitive ambitions and just listen very closely to the shin.  I need to remain content with 60-90min outings for a long time, even if the shin is feeling great.  I know I still have time to get ready for Hardrock if things fall into place (I'm not in terrible shape right now), but I'm mentally preparing myself for having to sit out that classic, if need be.  I won't race Hardrock if it means re-injuring the shin; I still have faith that it can happen, though.

At the First Flatiron saddle with Mr. Mackey, Dan, and Buzz (behind the camera) Friday evening.

This video gives a great overview of the Tarawera Ultramarathon down in New Zealand--fantastic people, flawless organization, unique and high quality trails; I definitely plan on being back next year.  Also, a big congratulations to Kiwi Vajin Armstrong for a convincing and impressive win at the American River 50 this past weekend. Vajin is one of the nicest dudes I've met on the circuit, and I think it's awesome that an international runner came over to win one of North America's spring ultra classics.

Anyone who has seen the Manitou Incline knows how impressive Ed's mission there on Saturday was. 1mi/2000' ascents (and descents! ouch!) with most in the 27-33min range.  Pure nails and super inspiring no matter what age, let alone 58.

I've listened to this dozens and dozens of times already (new song starts at 3:45). Can't wait for their new album to come out in June!