Flagstaff Sky Race And US Skyrunning Series

Flagstaff Sky Race and US Skyrunning Series


Last week I raced in the US Skyrunning Championships held outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. The final race in the US Skyrunning Ultra Series, I was excited to try and race against some of the best runners in the country and check out some new mountains. I knew the course had some serious climbs, as well as a long running section which worried me, so I was not sure how I would do. My right foot and ankle had been wonky since the Tushar 93K race in Utah, and although it had been improving on a daily basis, I had basically only been able to speed hike since the beginning of August. No worries, hopefully I would make up all the time I knew I would lose on the rolling flat section on the big monster climbs - especially the Vertical K in the last 3 miles of the course.

So the week before, in an effort to "rest" as much as possible, I went bouldering, skateboarding, and read books - as well as worked a ton. 

 These are two poems I found in a book of Chinese Poetry published in 1919. These were written by Po Chu-i, who lived between 772-846. Although I'm not the biggest reader of poetry - or really any reader of poetry - they struck me when I read them. 

 Some bouldering up at Guanella Pass on the local granite. Good problems up there, with a wide diversity of grades. Love Matters Low (V8?) was a fun problem, although the amount of excavation work on the boulder is slightly disturbing. I'm psyched to go back when it is a tad cooler to try the slopy arete on the boulder below - looks hard and temperature dependent.

 

Blasting down a mountain road on the board - I need to get some better wheels and tighten up the back truck a bit. Still a great way to check out the aspens.

 Some of the topography around Flagstaff, Arizona.

 The start of the race. At 6am, the sun was just peaking above the horizon, so we didn't need headlamps, which was great, since I forgot to bring mine! I felt OK, but my legs really didn't seem to respond for the first couple miles which was frustrating.

 This is coming down off the second big climb. We ascended a peak, then dropped down off the backside to the valley floor before running around and then ascending it again via a different route. Two big climbs done in the first 13 miles - now for 15 miles of rolling, sandy Ponderosa forest running. I was still doing good here, but over the next 15 miles I once again became discourage and lacked the necessary energy to keep pace. I do really well when it is up-down-up-down, but throw in some rolling terrain, and I get dropped by those who can crank out 7:30ish miles. Of course, if I'm lucky, I catch back up on the next big climb... but not this time.

 

Still up high. The mountain in the background is where we were headed, and was the final climb up to 11,500' after 31 miles of running. It kicked pretty much everyone's ass.

 At the finish! I had to really fight on this race, as I was really discourage during the long rolling section about my place and overall performance. However, I just kept pushing and ended up finishing 19th overall, 2nd master. I was pretty happy with that, as I thought I was somewhere in the 30s in terms of place.

What really made it sweet, however, was that I ended up with 7th place overall for the series, and 1st master. I'm pretty happy with how it all worked out, and after only really running for 4 years (my first race ever was in 2012) I've come a long way. However, I know I can still improve, and that keeps my fire burning. The learning curve has been pretty steep when it comes to racing, running, and ultras, but it's starting to come around and I'm only going to keep working and improving (or so I tell myself ;))

G & T 41, Bergen Peak, New FKT On Hood, Bouldering

G & T 41, Bergen Peak, New FKT on Mt. Hood, Bouldering


On Friday I did my weekly run up Grays and Torreys. The weather was really unsettled that day, and it was sprinkling as I drove up. I had gotten up pretty early because I had to be at work by 1:00pm and I was not sure how slow the snow would be. There were already some storm clouds around the peaks when I started, and of the four other parties on the mountain that day, three turned around before reaching either summit due to the blackening clouds and possible torrential rain/lightning storms. The snow was really soft, as it is not freezing at night, making it necessary for me once again to use snowshoes above the summer trailhead to the big sign. The road to the summer trailhead is all melted out and runnable, but the section between the trailhead through the willows and to the big sign is a postholing nightmare unless you have some floatation. After that, it is fairly straight forward.

The following day I ran up Bergen Peak just outside of Evergreen. A fun 13 mile loop with 2,300' of gain, I wanted to see how hard of an effort I could put in following G&T. I ran the race course, and clocked 2:07 with some stops for pictures and a bit of off trail exploration near the summit. I was certainly tired by the end, but the wildflowers that are in bloom kept me going.

 I scrambled up some of this stuff near the summit.

 Pikes Peak way off in the distance.

I ran Mt. Hood way back in 1999, leaving Timberline Lodge at 10:00pm and doing a solo run under the full moon to the summit and back. I was not in the best of shape, and it took me a little over 3 hours roundtrip. I've always thought of getting back there for a solid effort, but have never found the chance. Jason Dorais recently put up a stout time on skis of 1:44:03. I don't know what the running FKT is, but 1:27:46 for the ascent is pretty good.

Shot of the Morning Watchman from my window.

Had a great bouldering session on Flagstaff the other afternoon. I hadn't been up there in a bit, but was excited to revisit the "Dark Side" and re-do all of my FAs that I put up about 10 years ago. Most are in the V2-V6 range, but they have some fun movements and this little area has a great set of boulders allowing for some peaceful climbing in the shade on hotter days.

I've also managed to get out to Morrison a couple times and work on my long-term summer project. The moves are starting to come together, but I need to stay focused and not try and link up the entire Lobby from right to left, which just pumps me out for any serious efforts.

The real climber of the area...

Full Skyline

Full Skyline


Cruzed the Skyline traverse with William again. Such a good line, with several climbs and descents. I always find it hard to re-start my heart rate coming off of one of the descents and into the next climb. This traverse works that weakness really well. We made good time up to SoBo and then over to Bear, as the peaks were quiet and empty. Put in a solid effort up to Green, where we ran into Scott Jurek. Really great guy - chatted, exchanged trail beta, etc. After the uninspiring summit of Flag, we ran into Kendrick on the backside. Obviously our motivation was waning as we again stopped and talked. By the time we got over to Sanitas, it was hot and every person in Boulder and their dog were out. We tried to cruz up, but there were so many people we just sorta had to go with the flow. I can see Kendrick's argument for doing the traverse the other direction, as you end away from the crowds. However, putting in Sanitas and its stair-step climbing at the end adds a little kick. Stopped taking photos after Bear for some reason...

 William cruzing through the burn zone...

 Bear from SoBo...

 The Divide...

Boulder Skyline Traverse Trail Run: All the Peaks

In another attempt to get our legs into full mountain running shape, Tara and I decided to hit the Boulder Skyline Traverse. This is perhaps one of the most classic trail running traverse routes along the Colorado front range, and will easily test the leg endurance of any avid trail runner.

The objective is easy: traverse all of the peaks along the Boulder skyline from Boulder Canyon to Eldorado Canyon. This includes Flagstaff, Green Mountain, Bear Mountain, and South Boulder Peak.

The method: Getting a late start (10:20ish AM), we parked the car at Chautaqua and started up the Flagstaff Trail. From the top of Flagstaff, you cruz over to Green Mountain and run up the Saddle Rock/E.M. Greenman trail to the top. From there, you drop down the west side on the Green Bear trail and pick up the Bear Peak West Ridge trail to the summit of Bear. From there, you can traverse south and over to South Boulder Peak. We opted to go back over Bear and down Fern Canyon, then run the Mesa Trail back to the car. Some like to have a second car parked at Eldorado so they don't have to make it an entire loop, but I prefer doing the entire loop.

The scene: The day started off cold and cloudy. We thought it was going to rain; little did we know that by the end of the run it would be blue skies and sunshine. The only people we encountered were on the summit of Bear and on the way down Fern. Otherwise, it was an amazing way to see the city of Boulder and the plains beyond as you run over 5 peaks in a spectacular setting.

The Stats: As with most trail runs, the numbers don't do it justice. From what I can gather, the route we did is only around 12 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing. Your quads will think you did double...

Don't Touch The Glass: Flagstaff Boulder Problem Goes

Flagstaff is the local bouldering gym for many a Boulder climber. With over 600 different boulder problems, the place can keep any hardman busy for some time. Traverses, link-ups, elimination problems, sit starts, and the like, Flagstaff has something for everyone. Well, almost everyone...

Although Flagstaff is great, it often gets overrun by CU students, drunk highschool kids, and noobs by early afternoon. Morning is the time to go. Quite, cold, and empty are the qualities of Flag on a good day.

The other morning I finally sent a really good project called "Don't Touch the Glass." Called V8, it is really hard to judge in terms of grades simply because it involves three moves. The first is pulling off the ground. The second is throwing for the lip. The third is sticking the lip, matching, and then pulling over. Simple right? Not so. As far as I know, it's been done 3 or 4 times: Will Lemare, Peter Beal, and Peter Jones.

Located on the backside of Nook's Rock, it is right next to Window Shopper, a V11. The Nook's area has one of the higher concentration of hard problems on Flag: Don't Touch the Glass (V8), Window Shopper (V11), Butt Slammer (V?), Valhalla (V7), Nooks Traverse (V8/9), Battaglia's Bottom (V7/8), Cryptic Magician (V7), and others.

The fall and winter months are great for climbing in the Flatirons: dry, cold, and not many people. Next up, some cool routes I found deep in Eldorado...