Imagine the longest sport route you have ever done.
Now imagine that it is pretty hard, not at your absolute limit of endurance,
north face coat,but fairly close - so there is a good chance you may fall off.
Now make the bolts pretty spaced so you will take a bit of a whipper.
And then take out a few bolts in the crux section so you will take a BIG whipper if you fall here.
Replace all the bolts with micro wires, sliders and other tiny gear, and
pray to god that you have placed them in just the right spot or they
will be as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
Then just for kicks, imagine that the first bolt (or micro wire) is at
12m, above a terrible bouldery landing, and you have to do the crux of
the entire route to get there. This section alone is probably the most
psychologically intensive section of climbing you have ever done.Two
weeks after the 78km Swiss Alpine Davos, and one week after the Gondo
Event with its double marathon …. Friday I climbed the Nadelhorn (4327m)
between the Saas and Mattertal valleys in the Valais of Switzerland.
north face coats
, Then I sat on a bench waiting for the bus, and wondered if it was
too late to go to run Sierre-Zinal afterall. I had been invited to this
race - but the timing of the invitation came when I was still suffering
from my stress fracture and unsure about how the summer plans could work
out. With first a 78km race and then an 84 km race in the previous two
weeks, and a 4000m mountain just 2 days before (let alone all the other
running and walking) - perhaps this would be a step too far? Was it too
much to expect my legs to forget the miles in them and be fresh and fast
enough for a race of this stature?
Sierre-Zinal is one of the most respected mountain races internationally
with a well-established reputation. Highly regarded by both the
athletics community and the local population, it is a race that draws
elite international runners, and huge crowds of supporters. This was the
35th anniversary of this race of the Five Four Thousand Meter Peaks, a
true classic mountain race - which was created as an expression of the
real delight of running in the mountains. At a distance of 31km (leading
from the town of Sierre in the broad basin of the Rhone Valley to
Zinal) - it is ‘short’ for me - but it is a tough race with 2000m ascent
and nearly 1000m of descent, demanding high levels of endurance and
technical mountain running ability.
I will be back in The Shire for 3 days in early September.
the north face coats
,Hopefully the weather will play ball and the Fairies will be watching.Imagine the longest sport route you have ever done.
Now imagine that it is pretty hard, not at your absolute limit of endurance,
north face coat,but fairly close - so there is a good chance you may fall off.
Now make the bolts pretty spaced so you will take a bit of a whipper.
And then take out a few bolts in the crux section so you will take a BIG whipper if you fall here.
Replace all the bolts with micro wires, sliders and other tiny gear, and
pray to god that you have placed them in just the right spot or they
will be as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
Then just for kicks, imagine that the first bolt (or micro wire) is at
12m, above a terrible bouldery landing, and you have to do the crux of
the entire route to get there. This section alone is probably the most
psychologically intensive section of climbing you have ever done.Two
weeks after the 78km Swiss Alpine Davos, and one week after the Gondo
Event with its double marathon …. Friday I climbed the Nadelhorn (4327m)
between the Saas and Mattertal valleys in the Valais of Switzerland.
north face coats
, Then I sat on a bench waiting for the bus, and wondered if it was
too late to go to run Sierre-Zinal afterall. I had been invited to this
race - but the timing of the invitation came when I was still suffering
from my stress fracture and unsure about how the summer plans could work
out. With first a 78km race and then an 84 km race in the previous two
weeks, and a 4000m mountain just 2 days before (let alone all the other
running and walking) - perhaps this would be a step too far? Was it too
much to expect my legs to forget the miles in them and be fresh and fast
enough for a race of this stature?
Sierre-Zinal is one of the most respected mountain races internationally
with a well-established reputation. Highly regarded by both the
athletics community and the local population, it is a race that draws
elite international runners, and huge crowds of supporters. This was the
35th anniversary of this race of the Five Four Thousand Meter Peaks, a
true classic mountain race - which was created as an expression of the
real delight of running in the mountains. At a distance of 31km (leading
from the town of Sierre in the broad basin of the Rhone Valley to
Zinal) - it is ‘short’ for me - but it is a tough race with 2000m ascent
and nearly 1000m of descent, demanding high levels of endurance and
technical mountain running ability.
I will be back in The Shire for 3 days in early September.
the north face coats
,Hopefully the weather will play ball and the Fairies will be watching.