Damn, I am going to be sore from that one! I am apparantly fully de-trained from my JMT attempt fitness levels of a month ago. The final results are in(unless there's someone out there planning an attempt this afternoon). Congratulations to Jed Porter for banging out a 2:52 roundtrip to take home the gold. Word on the street is that his sandy, scree chute descent choice was mighty fast. Chalk one W up for the climbers!
Cloudripper (13525') results (starting elevation appx. 9800' at South Lk T/H):
Gold Jed Porter(climber) 2:52
Silver Jeff Kozak(trail runner) 3:21
Bronze Vic Lawson(climber) 3:28
No post involving friendly competition would be complete without a little smack-talkin'. From what we hear Jed went to the well and back again on this one. Only a night with a bottle of Goldschlagger at a remote cabin could make him be illin' more. As for Vicles that Silver Medal just might be his had he not spent 7 minutes lazing like a marmot on the summit. As for me had I not waited until the first fall cold front of the season had swept through with a treacherous dusting of summit ridge snow and ice, temps in the teens and howling north winds (this marks the first time I have ever run in a down jacket) I might have been able to make a more respectable run at the top podium spot. Honestly though, the sad truth is that this little pre-work mission will probably make me more sore than I was after 180 miles on the JMT. Time to get off my ass and start training with a purpose again.
And, last but not least, where are the womenfolk on the results list? Only three took the inaugeral challenge and all were dud(e)s. Hopefully October's challenge will yield a deeper results page with some mountain goddesses in the mix to balance out this overabundance of Billy Goats hopped up on testosterone.
Enjoy the shoulder season (just remember to lift with your legs).