Running the AT for ALS

“ALS has been speaking to me through the death of friends,” said Ben Davis on the eve of his attempt to complete the Appalachian Trail in 62 days to draw attention to the disease. “A man I worked with contracted the disease, and I watched as he gradually just wasted away. And it happened to a marathoner I used to run with as well. I felt like I needed to do something to raise awareness.”

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A Hike Below the Eiger with John Harlin

Still looking boyish at 49, John Harlin speaks with intimate knowledge—and a sense of pride--as he points out on a map the direct  route on the North Wall of the Eiger that his father and Scottish climber Dougal Haston attempted together in 1966. The two of us are on a Swiss train headed up to the base of the Eiger two years after the younger Harlin made his own climb of the mountain's North Face. For me, it’s my first visit to the Eiger, so I’m excited to see the legendary Alpine face up close. 

Harlin’s father, also named John Harlin, had been the first American to do the standard route on Europe’s most feared big wall in 1962. He went back four years later with Haston to try a direct line up the face—in winter. The attempt, which pushed the limits of alpine climbing at the time, ended in tragedy. The elder Harlin was killed while jumaring up to a bivouac in an ice cave during the long siege. The climbing rope suddenly broke, sending him plummeting thousands of feet to his death. 

Now, more than 40 years later, I’ve come back with John Harlin to see the Eiger for myself, and to feel it’s powerful presence. We made the journey in September, often a month for stable—if cool—Alpine weather. While only a handful of climbers, such as Harlin, are motivated to take on the daunting objective of the Eiger, this is the Swiss Alps, where any fit hiker can stroll under and among these famous peaks. Hiking among these mountains and glaciers reveals the Alps' tremendous drawing power that has been bringing hikers and climbers here for more than a century. 

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Images from the North

“I spend every possible minute immersed in the natural wilderness of Canada's Yukon Territory and Alaska. I work as a hiking, canoeing and dogsledding guide and, whenever I have a day off, I'm outdoors skiing, snowshoeing, fishing or cycling. Whenever I'm out, I have a camera with me. The Yukon offers so many extraordinary panoramas, its light shifts in such incredible ways, and its seasons change so fast and are so different that I always feel I might miss something if I'm stuck indoors. Both in my guiding and in my photography, I'm attempting to capture something of this northern land and its wildlife - - so I can share my fascination with others.”  --Stefan Wackerhagen

Across the Alps on Skis

GreatOutdoors.com staffer Gordy Skoog spends more time outdoors than he does at home, and luckily we can all follow along on some of his adventures via his blog. Check out his gripping story of crossing the Alps on skis, a blog entry he dubs, The Tale of Two Haute Routes.

And follow along as he and his brother Lowell make yet another first ascent in the remote North Cascades of Washington in a post he calls A Magical First Ascent. The two brothers, sadly missing the company of their brother Carl, who was killed in a climbing accident in South America, venture into one of the wildest parts of the range to put up a new route on Natal.

GreatOutdoors.com staffer Mike Rougeux and a partner took a wild trip down to the Northern California Coast for some boulder and crag climbing in an entry he calls Climbing on California’s Lost Coast. The pair, engaged in the mythical search for  what they call Chester Copperpot and One Eyed Willy’s Treasure, find secret camp sites and stellar bouldering within site of gray whales just beyond  in the surf. 

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Mountains of my Dreams "A Magical First Ascent"

 As Louis L'Amour sings in my ears, "The thing to remember when traveling is that the trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for." I pole tap in quick step to keep pace as Lowell takes deceptively long strides. It seems ages since my brother and I have partnered on a mountain adventure together. At one time we were so in tune that each others next move was anticipated, and the mental vibrations were felt on the other end of the rope. As we chat non-stop up the Easy Pass Trail time flies by, and then seemingly we are teleported to one of our favorite Cascade vistas. It never disappoints, and instantly we are engrossed in the spiritual spender of a varied expanse soaked in brilliant color accented by crisp shadows. During our youth every weekend the mountains were our church; filling us up with awe, inspiration, and self learning. Looking out beyond the reaches of Easy Pass towards alluring Mt. Logan, it feels good. Like time has stood still.

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Sastre Wins 95thTour de France

GreatOutdoors.com cycling correspondent Beth Schneider wrapped up her two week coverage of the 2008 Tour de France yesterday with more stunning photos from the final day of the race as the cyclists finished up in Paris on a perfect day.

Here's Beth's report:

Finally! Everyone must have been tired.  The race was about 45 minutes later than expected.  Usually there’s a break that’s exciting but today there was just a small one with Vogondy and Barredo.  They were swallowed by the peloton and the stage ended in a sprint with Belgian Steegmans winning.

 Carlos Sastre won the race.  He had his kids on the podium and I think his son stole the show, making lots of faces and cheering.

 Tomorrow it’s up at 5 am for the long flight home. 

See all of Beth's daily dispatches, and check out her pre-race commentary.

Stage 21: Paris

Stage 21: Paris

Finally! Everyone must have been tired.  The race was about 45 minutes later than expected.  Usually there’s a break that’s exciting but today there was just a small one with Vogondy and Barredo.  They were swallowed by the peloton and the stage ended in a sprint with Belgian Steegmans winning.

Carlos Sastre won the race.  He had his kids on the podium and I think his son stole the show, making lots of faces and cheering.

Tomorrow it’s up at 5 am for the long flight home. 

Stage 20: Cerilly - St Amand Montrond Time Trial

 Stage 20: Cerilly – St Amand Montrond TT

Christian Vandevelde rode like crazy today and made up a minute and a half but he’s still  behind by 3’12”.  Cadel Evans also rode like crazy and made it up to second place.  Stefan Schumacher from Gerolsteiner won the stage and Carlos Sastre retained the yellow jersey.  The Paris podium will be Sastre, Evans and Kohl.

Stage19: Roanne-Montlucon

 Stage 19: Roanne- Montlucon

I stopped in a small town, Chatel Montagne, to shoot.  At that point, there was a break with Schumacher, Fedrigo, Martinez and Ballan. The peloton came by quickly behind.

It then took 2-1/2 hours to get to the finish and I’m surprised I made it.  Sylvain Chavanel finally won a stage today in Montlucon.

Tomorrow is the last time trial and then a long drive to Paris for the finish on Sunday.

Stage 18: St Etienne

Stage 18: Bourg d’Oisans – St Etienne

Today was a tough day to shoot the race in a car.  The route from Bourg d’Oisans was a two lane road with no room to pass.  I’m exhausted so I just drove to the finish. 

The peloton mostly stayed together except for a break with Astarloza, Burghardt and Barredo.  Burghardt and Borredo duked it out the last kilometer with Burghardt winning the stage.

Tomorrow is another sprinters’ day and then the time trial on Saturday which will probably determine the race.

Stage 17: Alpe d'Huez

 Stage 17: Alpe d’Huez

Alpe d’Huez is always exciting.  I drove up last night, through hordes of drunk partying fans.  It’s great not to have to spend 5 or more hours in traffic trying to get down the mountain after this stage.

Everything changed again in the race today.  Carlos Sastre from CSC attacked on Alpe d’Huez and managed to stay away the whole mountain, win the stage and the yellow jersey.  He’s enough ahead of his nearest rivals that if he has a good time trial on Saturday will win the Tour.  Frank Schleck is 1’24” behind, Bernard Kohl 1’33” and Cadel Evans 1’34”.  It will be exciting to see if any of them can make up that much time.  Christian Vandevelde was with the chase group up the mountain but has dropped back to 6^th place and is now 4’41” behind and unlikely to make the podium in Paris.

Stage 16: Cuneo - Jausiers

Stage 16: Cuneo – Jausiers

Today we left Italy after a much needed rest day.  The route was practically empty until the base of the first climb, the Col de Lombard, where it was packed with Italian racing fans, better known as tifosi.  I continued on ahead to the Col de la Bonette-Restafond which is the highest road in Europe.

Schumacher from Gerolsteiner attacked on the Col de Lombard and stayed away with a lead of 4’40” but was caught by a group which included Evans, Vandevelde, Hincapie, Valverde, Menchov, Sastre, Sanchez, Schleck and Kohl.  Frenchman Dessel and his group were ahead and he won the stage.  Frank Schleck is still in yellow.  Kohl and Evans are 07 and 08 seconds behind so depending upon what happens tomorrow at Alpe d’Huez, it could all come down to the time trial.  Christian Vandevelde lost a lot of time and is now 3’15” behind.

Stage 15: Embrun - Prato Nevoso

Stage 15: Embrun – Prato Nevoso

Today was cool and wet, totally the opposite from yesterday which was sunny and blistering hot.  I left early, so I wouldn’t have to negotiate around the publicity caravan on the Col d’Agnel.  The weather when I drove over the pass was miserable, but apparently eased up when the race crossed.  I waited at Prato Nevoso in Italy, a ski resort. 

Everything changed today in the race.  Cadel Evans lost the yellow jersey to Frank Schleck and another Australian, Simon Gerrans won the stage.  American Danny Pate was in the group of 3 with Gerrans and Martinez first to the finish.

Tomorrow is a rest day in Italy.

Stage 14: Nimes - Dignes-les-Bain

Stage 14: Nimes – Digne-les-Bains

About 30 minutes before the race start today, a local photographer canceled his day on the motorcycle so I got a bonus day.  The course was really uninteresting and we spent way too much time looking for lavender.  But at least we finally found some.  We had to stay behind and couldn’t pass to the finish but were able to get a few shots on the way in. 

Tomorrow is Italy and some big mountains.  I’ll be surprised if things aren’t more disorganized there; in the past that’s how it’s been.  But a lot of people are looking forward to it – good coffee and good food!

Stage 13 : Narbonne - Nimes

Stage 13: Nimes-Narbonne

Today was a pretty flat, uninteresting stage.  It was really hot, at least 100 degrees.  The peloton was mostly together and there was a bunch sprint at the finish with Mark Cavendish winning again.

Yesterday morning the entire Saunier Duval team was thrown out of the race because of a positive test from Riccardo Ricco.  It was pretty obvious when he was on the podium-he had been really nervous, never smiled and didn’t seem happy to be there.  Today the gossip is that his teammate Piepoli was almost positive-internal controls showed some irregularities, so he was fired from his team.  And so, it continues….

Stage 12: Lavelanet ? Narbonne

Today was my stage on the motorcycle.  It was a hilly day with tight roads and difficult to pass.  We were able to make a couple of passes but then at around 100k we got stuck behind the peloton for around 40 kilometers, until it was time to speed to the finish.

The morning was scandal time.  Apparently Riccardo Ricco was doping, so he and his whole team were thrown out of the race.  Hopefully that's the end of it, but who knows.  I guess they never got the memos.

Stage 11 - Col de Portel

Stage 11: Lannemezan – Foix 

Today was a pretty unexciting day in the race.  There was an early break of 12 guys.  The peloton didn’t expend much energy chasing as the weather has finally stopped raining and it’s beginning to get hot.  There was a cat 1 climb, the Col du Portel.  The first guy over the top was Moinard from the Cofidis team but he was passed on the descent to the finish.  The stage was won by Arvesen from CSC and Cadel Evans is still in yellow. 

I’m on the moto tomorrow and hope there will be some scenery and good opportunities for photos.

2008 STP wrap-up

The Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic... check.

The ride was a blast, the company was great, the weather was perfect (nope, not too hot!) and blogging about it here was my pleasure.

Will I come back and do it in one day instead of two? Doubt it. But I am inspired to ride more, ride farther, and ride faster because of my STP experience.

Here are a few more photos, just for the heck of it.

Stage 10 - Montee du Hautacam

What a great stage.  Lots of Spanish fans and lots of energy.  Juan Jose Cobo Acebo and Leonardo Piepoli came up the Hautacam together and Piepoli won the stage.  Cadel Evans is now in yellow.  He was really emotional stepping on the podium and receiving it.  He was fighting back tears of emotion and ended up kissing the stuffed lion really hard!  Christian Vandevelde is still in third place and gained about 6 seconds from yesterday.  He’s the only American in contention.

Stage 9 - Col d'Aspin

Stage 9: Toulouse-Bagneres-de-Bigorre 

The race is finally beginning to take shape.  Cadel Evans crashed at 105k, changed his bike and continued.  The doctors said he might have some problems climbing but that remains to be seen.  He’s still in second place in GC. 

Sebastien Lang came over the top of the Col d’Aspin ahead of the eventual winner, Riccardo Ricco.  Kim Kirchen finished 9^th and he now has the yellow jersey. 

The weather is beginning to ease up and tomorrow may actually be the first day without rain.

Stage 8 - Figeac-Toulouse

Today was an incredibly miserable day. It rained all day long.  It was too dangerous to drive as fast as needed to get ahead of the peloton, so I waited at the finish.  There were some breaks that didn’t hold and non-serious crashes.  This is the last day for the sprinters until after the Pyrenees, which start tomorrow.  Steegmans of Quickstep was expecting to win but he was eclipsed by Mark Cavendish who managed to get around him and win the stage.

Stage 7 - Brioude - Aurillac

Today was kind of a gloomy day.  It threatened rain all day and actually rained a little bit.  On top of the biggest climb of the day it was so foggy that you could see only about 1 car ahead.  This region, the Massif Central, is very hilly and lots of tight, windy roads.  There were some attacks today, including one by some of the stronger riders-Evans, Sastre, the Schlecks,  Vandevelde and several others.  Lampre was the main force that reeled them back in.  At 4 k from  the finish, Luis Sanchez from Caisse d’Epargne broke away and won the stage.  Kim Kirchen still has the yellow jersey.

Stage 6 - Super Besse

Today began some climbing with tow cat 4 climbs and two cat 2 and a climb to the finish.  There were several breaks that all were reeled in by the time the reached the climb to the finish.  En route to the finish line, Schumacher crashed by himself and Riccardo Ricco made it to the finish first.  Kim Kirchen from Team Columbia is now in both the yellow leader jersey and the green sprint jersey. 

I’ve just arrived from the US after traveling all the way across the country, across the Atlantic Ocean and having had to drive more than 500 kilometers to get here.  I made it through the police barricades without my yet having gotten my credentials, but was so worried about getting through early enough, I didn’t stop for gas and am worried that I’m going to run out during the traffic jam on the way down. If you don’t hear from me tomorrow, you’ll know why!

Dave Hahn Nominated for ESPY Award

Dave Hahn, GreatOutdoors.com Everest correspondent, has been nominated as one of the top athletes of the year in next week’s upcoming ESPY Awards. Hosted by Justin Timberlake, the 16^th Annual ESPY award show will be televised at 9 p.m. ET on /ESPN. Athletes ranging from golfer Tiger Woods to stock car driver Jimmie Johnson have been nominated  in 37 categories. Voting is open the public at www.espys.tv.

Hahn, who made an historic 10^th ascent of Mount Everest May 25 while reporting live for GreatOutdoors.com,  was nominated in the category of Best Outdoor Athlete of the year. Other nominees in the Outdoor category include Captain Scott Smiley, who climbed Mount Rainier after being blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, Lance Mackey, a dog musher who won both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest in the same year, and fisherman Skeet Reese, a winner of fishing tournaments.

While attempting to reach Dave Hahn for comment, he answered the phone at 14,000 feet on Mount McKinley, where he is currently guiding a group of would be summiteers to the top of the highest peak in Alaska.

"I admit to being a little suprised by the nomination," Hahn said from Denali, "because I never really thought of climbing as a sport. But I'm glad  at ESPN they are paying attention to what we are doing in the mountains. It shows that people are genuinely interested in that form of human endeavor."

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Stage 5 - Yellow Jersey Unchanged

British rider Mark Cavendish, of American Team Columbia, won the fifth stage of the 2008 Tour de France on Wednesday. It was his first stage victory in cycling's premier race. Cavendish was behind  a three rider breakway that led almost the entire way on the Tour's longest leg, but the British racer caught them within sight of the finish line.

STP - Just a nice, long ride

 Follow along all weekend as Kais pedals to Portland July  12 and 13th and blogs along the way

The 2008 Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic takes place this upcoming weekend, July 12 (and 13th for the slackers), marking the 29th year of what has been described to me as a "nice long ride with a big hill." Funny, I thought it was a 204-mile grueling obstacle course through small town Washington with hazards like stale peanut butter sandwiches and all the chocolate milk you can drink?  I'm sure it is somewhere in between those two extremes, but for this slacker who has never ridden the STP before, a double century over two days sounds like an excellent way to kick off the summer.

OK, where do I sign up? Anyone else want to go?

Thankfully, I asked these questions months ago, and beat the 9500 rider cut-off without issue. As it turns out, a few friends also thought it would be a good idea to ride this year, so no cajoling was required to get a team together. I use the word "team" loosely, as the only concrete plans made were to meet Sunday night at the sparkly Doug Fir Lounge & Jupiter Hotel and celebrate our triumphant vanquishing of the STP beast. I guess that's what text messaging was invented for... everyone taking their phone, right?

Speaking of which, I have rigged this here blog to accept posts from my phone (including ghetto-fabulous photos!) so look for more posts from the road starting, oh, at about 5 am this Saturday!

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Stage 4 - Cholet Time Trial

The race is finally starting to shape up. The course was 29.5 kilometers around Cholet.

Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher won the stage in a time of 35.44 minutes and also took over the yellow jersey.  As expected, Cadel Evans moved up and now sits just 21 seconds behind the leader.  David Millar of the Garmin-Chipotle team finished second.  Americans Christian Vandevelde finished in 6^th place and George Hincapie finished 7^th place.  They’re now in 8^th and 9^th place.  Tomorrow will be a flatter day and then Thursday will be a hilltop finish at Super Besse.

Frenchman Dumoulin wins in Nantes

Stage 3: St Malo – Nantes

The race headed slightly inland today, away from Brittany into the Vendee region.  At 2k from the start a group of four riders broke away from the peloton and stayed away all day.  In the break were William Frischkorn from Boulder, Colorado on the Garmin/Chipotle team, Romain Feilleu from AGR, Paolo Longo Borghini, and Samuel Dumoulin.  It was a very flat stage, 208k and raining most of the day.  Some protesters tried to use the race to get attention for their cause, but the race managed to continue around them.  Samuel Dumoulin won the stage and Feilleu is now in the yellow jersey.  Tomorrow is a time trial so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Stage 2 Hushovd sprints to win

Stage 2 was won in a sprint by Norwegian Thor Hushovd  of the Credit Agricole team.  Valverde is still in yellow.  Soler Hernandez is suffering badly from the crash yesterday and may have to drop out.  He’s now 7 minutes behind.  The day was cloudy and threatening rain, kind of gloomy.

Valverde wins Stage 1

This is the first year since 1967 that the Tour de France has not started with a Prologue.  New Tour organizer Christian Prudhomme is trying new things in an attempt to reinvigorate the race. 

Brittany is typically very hilly and often windy.  Today’s course from Brest to Plumelec was no exception.  As is typical, Jimmy Casper was involved in a crash on Stage 1.  Later in the race Colombian mountain climber Juan Soler Hernandez was involved in another crash and it’s not known at this point how serious.  There were some minor breakaways during the stage with the peloton eventually catching up.  The finish sprint was won by Alejandro Valverde of Murcia, Spain on the Caisse d’Epargne team.   

The top placed American cyclists were Christian Vandevelde in 18^th place and George Hincapie in 29^th.  My Tour favorite, Cadel Evans, finished in 6^th.