50 Peaks, 50 States, 50 Days

A few weeks back I posted a story about a new Mountain Hardwear sponsored athlete by the name of Matt Moniz, who at the age of 12 has already summitted some big peaks, including Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and Elbrus. At the time of that story, he had also recently climbed Denali, Mt. Whitney, and Mt. Elbert, all in a span of just 8 days. It turns out, that was just part of his plan to climb the 50 highest points, in all 50 states, in just 50 days. Matt, and his father Mike, have been knocking off those high points in rapid succession, and now have a chance of setting a new record for completing that feat.

According to the 50-50-50 Climb website, the father and son climbing team have now finished 48 of the 50 states. The last update came yesterday, July 12th, at the 38th day of the trip. According to the Hardwear Sessions Blog, Mike and Matt are currently in Montana, where they are taking on Granite Peak, the tallest mountain in that state. If they summit successfully, they'll catch a flight in the next day or two for Hawaii, where they'll climb Mauna Kea, the final obstacle in their path. If the can manage to do that in less than 45 days, 19 hours, and 2 minutes, they'll break the 50 high points in 50 states record, currently held by Mike Haugen, who set the mark back in 2008. 


Good luck guys!

The 2010 Badwater Ultra is Underway!

The first competitors in this year's Badwater Ultramarathon have hit the trail this morning and are already running through the early morning heat of Death Valley. Ahead of them is one of the toughest, most challenging courses in all of endurance sports, and most will spend the next two days completing the event.

The Badwater is one of the biggest races in all of the ultra endurance events. It is 135 miles of suffering, beginning in Badwater, California, located in the heart of Death Valley. Competitors begin at 280 feet below sea level, and will run mostly non-stop until they reach the Mt. Whitney Portals, located at 8300 feet up that mountain. Along the way, they'll pass over three different mountain ranges, and gain more than 13,000 feet of elevation.

As if all of that wasn't bad enough, they'll also have to endure the blast furnace temperatures that Death Valley is famous for. Over the next few days, temperatures are expected to hover around the 100ºF mark, although it is not uncommon in July for the temps to climb above 120ºF.

For most of the racers, it will take around 40 hours or so to complete, although the fastest runners will complete the entire 135 mile course in just 24 hours. That's more than 5.6 miles per hour, over a full day, in extreme heat and conditions. Very impressive stuff!

The Badwater is once again doing a webcast of the race, but it sometimes offers spotty coverage of what is going on. For instance, at the moment, it appears to be someone's empty hotel room. Hopefully we'll get better coverage as the race continues.

Another Young Mountaineer Climbs For A Cause

We've all marveled at the stories of Jordan Romero, who at the age of 13 became the youngest to summit Everest last month. Last week, Mountain Hardware introduced their newest, and youngest, sponsored athlete, in the form of 12-year old climber Matt Moniz. Even at that tender age, Matt has already managed to successfully summit Denali, Whitney, and Mt. Elbert, the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains. Even more amazing, he did all three of those in just eight days!  He has also been up Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and Elbrus, and made the trek to Everest Base Camp as well.

While Matt clearly loves to climb, and doesn't lack skills in that department either, he also is climbing for a cause. He hopes to raise funds for research on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. Matt's best friend, Iain Hess, suffers from PAH, and the young climber hoped to dedicate his expeditions toward helping his pal in any way that he could. 


Last year in July, Matt set out to climb 14 of Colorado's 14ers in just 14 days, and in the process he raised $20,000 for his cause. It helped to establish the Iain Hess Breathe Easy Fund. Turns out, it only took Matt and his team, 8 days to bag those peaks. 


This is a great example of a young adventurer who seems to love what he is doing, and has a good cause that he is trying to support. I loved this story when I read it, and thought it was worth sharing here too. Great story!

Climbing For Kids

Steve Sergeant from The Wildebeat posted about Climbing For Kids in the comments section on the Summit For Someone post I made last week, and I've been meaning to follow up on it ever since.

Much like Summit For Someone this is another organization that organizes climbs to raise money for at-risk youth. Sponsored by Bay Area Wilderness Training the Climbing For Kids Organization will send you out some impressive climbs including Rainier, Whitney, Hood, Shasta, and even Mt. Orizaba in Mexico.

The amount of fundraising you'll have to do to join the climbs varies by each mountain, but generally falls into the $3200-$3800 range, with the exception of Orizaba, which clocks in at $7500. For your efforts, you'll get to join one heck of a great adventure and get the satisfaction of knowing that you helped raise money for underprivileged at-risk youth. Oh, and did I mention you'll also get to go home with $1500 worth of gear?

This is another great cause, and one that is well worth your time. If you were already considering one of these climbs in the near future, why not join the group? The gear alone is well worth it.

Special Thanks to Steve for sending this my way. And be sure to check out his WildeBeat Podcast. It's excellent stuff with great tips for backcountry exploration and timely topics ranging from the environment, changing policies in our national parks, and a host of others. I highly recommend it.

Pack Your Sh*t Out! - Literally!

This next story follows in the wake of my Leave No Trace post from a few days back. The New York Times is reporting that the highest outhouse in the U.S. has been removed from Mt. Whitney.

Citing increasing dangers, and expenses, for managing wastes, the Forest Service made the move to remove the high altitude latrine from Whitney, and a number of other mountains as well. In the past, a helicopter had to be used to fly to the site to pick up the waste, which was then returned to be disposed of by workers wearing hazmat suits. Flying the helicopter through the canyons and that close to the mountain, was inherently dangerous, and expensive.

Now, hikers and climbers will be issued WAG (Waste Alleviation and Gelling) bags to use instead. The bags, which are already being used in the John Muir Wilderness area and the Grand Canyon, offer a means for us to "leave no trace" by packing out our waste products. As many of you know, other methods such as burying the waste are ineffective on mountains like Whitney do to heavy traffic and not a lot of soil. The wagbags are designed to biodegrade over six to nine months, and are a safe way to keep the environment clean.

While the proposition of carrying around a bag of waste doesn't seem that appealing, I think it's for the best. We want our natural resources to remain as pristine as possible, and since the old outhouses have become a difficult thing to maintain these seems like a good alternative. Plus, it makes us more responsible people, which can only be a good thing. Obvioiusly this is a touchy subject, but a very important one.

By the way. Should I be concerned that we have a local chain of convenience stores here in Austin, Texas called Wag-a-Bags? Hmm... I may decide to shop elsewhere the next time I need my Mountain Dew fix.

Update: The WildeBeat outdoor podcast did two episodes on this very topic last year with more informaiton. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Weekly Podcast Round-Up

My favorite podcasts updated with new episodes once again. Endurance Planet brings us an interview with Ben Greenfield who discusses training for triathlons using a holistic approach that involves "lifestyle, nutrition and training. "

When you're finished listening to that, head over to Wildebeat.net to download their latest episode, The Poop on Mount Whitney, part 2, which continues from last weeks episode that looked at the environmental impact of all the people that visit Whitney each year. (On a personal note, thanks to fine folks at Wilde Beat for giving my blog a mention!)

Finally, it's time for another episode of The Rest of Everest. This week it's Episode 25: Back To Basecamp. Following an acclimatization climb, the team returns to ABC for some thicker oxygen and a much needed rest.

As always, these podcasts can be downloaded from their respective sites, or subscribed to in iTunes for automatic syncing with your iPod. (My preferred method!) Am I missing a great outdoor/adventure podcast? Drop me an e-mail or post a comment to tell me what I need to add to my list.

Weekly Podcast Round-Up

It's a new week, and a new set of podcasts have been released for our listening pleasure. First we have the latest from Endurance Planet who spend some time chatting with Eddie O'Dea this week. Eddie is a mountain biker who offers thoughts on training for events, nutrition leading up to a race, and more. If you're into competitive mountain biking, it's a very good episode to listen to.

Meanwhile, the good folks over at The Wildebeat have released a new podcast entitled The Poop on Mount Whitney (part 1). This episode takes a look at the environmental impact of having 20,000+ hikers on Mount Whitney every year, and how the "Leave No Trace" program just wasn't enough to keep the area clean, and healthy. This is an important issue that all of us who are outdoor enthusiasts need to concern ourselves with, ad I've run similar posts about efforts on Mount Blanc and Mount Everest itself.

Weekly Podcast Updates

Some of my favorite podcasts have released new episodes that you might find interesting. First up, Endurance Planet has conducted an interview with Jon Gould a successful attorney and mountain biker, who discusses training methods, nutrition, and some of his bigger races.

Next up, The Wildebeat has an excellent episode this week entitled Mount Whitney For Beginners which gives advice and tips on climbing the highest peak in the continental United States. Whitney is considered one of the classic climbs for Norther American climbers, and is an excellent place for working on your mountaineering skills.

Finally, The Rest of Everest has posted Episode 23: Climbing The North Col. This is a video podcast that always has great footage, and strives to give you a behind the scenes peek at everything that goes into a big mountain climb like Everest. I've finally managed to catch up on all the back episodes, and now I look forward to each of the new ones. If you're interested in mountaineering, or want to learn more about climbing Everest, I highly recommend watching these episodes.

As always, these podcasts are available on the websites and the links I provided, or in iTunes, where you can subscribe to them and have them downloaded automatically.

70 Year Old Adventurer Summits Mt. Whitney!

Jane Dods, of Springfield, Oregon, is leading a life of adventure that we'd all envy. Jane has recently summited Mount Whitney , after she completed an end to end solo hike of the Pacific Coast Trail, which she did in segments over the past ten years. On top of all that, Jane still runs 30-40 miles a week, kayaks, swims, and rides her bike. It's awesome to see someone at the age of 70 who is still this active and adventerous. I hope I'm still doing all the things I love when I hit 70. Keep it up Jane! You're an inspiration to all of us.