One of my main goals for 2018 was to finish a 100 kilometer trail race. I knew if I were to have any realistic aspirations of completing a 100-miler someday, the 100k distance would be a major and necessary stepping stone. And no local Colorado race seemed to fit the bill better than the Never Summer 100k up near Cameron Pass.
This year was the race’s 4th running, and as the years have passed it has continued to garner more attention and fill up earlier. And for good reason – the course is challenging and spectacular – “a mountain race in the truest sense of the term, with extended periods of high alpine ridge running, two alpine peaks, and five alpine lakes visited along the way”. Racking up 64 miles and over 13,000 ft of elevation gain through the Never Summer and Medicine Bow Mountains, it’s considered one of the tougher 100k races out there. Keep reading…
For the past year or so, Ben has been telling me about the Golden Gate Dirty 30 ultra marathon in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. He had a really good experience last year during his race, and he knew I would like this race given my running and trail running background. I kept it loosely on the radar throughout the year, but never too seriously. 32.2 miles on single track is a big commitment to train for. Keep Reading…
Time in the mountains has been difficult to come by for me so far this year. Between selling and buying a pair of homes, preparing for Anna-Lisa and I’s move out of Denver, and training for a series of trail races in June/July, it’s been a thin year for ski descents. I haven’t been particularly broken up about it though, because it’s also been a thin year for the Colorado snowpack. Conditions have seemed rough up high for the better part of a month now, not helped by the fact that our base was disappointing to begin with. Keep Reading…
Longs Peak is a special mountain. That’s obvious to say, but every time I go up there, I’m reminded of why this one is the big poppa in Colorado. It’s only two hours from Denver. It’s the peak biggest in the Park, by far. It has over a hundred routes to the summit; many of those are Colorado classics. It has enough variations to keep climbers, skiers, hikers, and mountaineers busy for years. Its legacy is about as rich as any mountain in the US. And of course, The Diamond is a world class wall that is worth every penny (or at least, so I’m told). Keep Reading….
