Friday, September 21, 2012

Mountain Psyche



Today’s Psyche is friggin’ awesome. Killian Jornet going nuts in the mountains and, basically, changing the game of mountaineering. But most it’s just mountains. I love them and have hardly spent any time up there in the last few years. It simply has to change.

Here’s a bit about Jornet from Rock & Ice:

...one of the world's great endurance runners, has speed soloed the long, technical and exposed Innominata on the Italian side of Mont Blanc in a scant 6:17. The time is amazing on many levels. While technically the climb is easier than the north faces of the Eiger or the Matterhorn, the scale is much greater and the objective dangers are higher. Jornet, who is not even known as a climber, started from the church in Courmayeur at roughly 3,300 feet and ran the 12,000 feet to the summit of Mont Blanc, then ran over 12,000 feet down the French side arriving at the church in Chamonix in a total time of 8:43.

He covered over 24,000 vertical feet, climbing and running roughly 20 miles over glaciers, loose rock faces and miles of snow and ice slopes, all solo.

This is another great video of Killian and Anton Krupicka running a super fast time on the Grand Teton. I used to spend a huge portion of my life doing stuff like this. Slower (who isn't?) but it was the same deal. Running up mountains with no gear, no water, passing people all day who acted like you were crazy. Ticking off "week long" hikes and climbs according to the guidebooks in a single push. So psyched. So. Psyched. I’ve got to get out more!



10 comments:

  1. Yeah, I read about this yesterday. This is so off the charts that I think most people can't even understand how ridiculous this is. Truly amazing.

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  2. John Perlin3:56 PM

    I tried something like this years ago. (Car to the top of Mt. Whitney and back to the car). The goal was to do it in 8-10 hours - I failed. I Turned back at Iceberg Lake. Oh and I brought water and power bars. Video’s like this make me want to train hard and try again! Thanks for sharing Steve.

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  3. John Perlin4:00 PM

    I tried something like this years ago. (Car to the top of Mt. Whitney and back to the car). The goal was to do it in 8-10 hours - I failed. I Turned back at Iceberg Lake. Oh and I brought water and power bars. Video’s like this make me want to train hard and try again! Thanks for sharing Steve.

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  4. Anonymous6:08 PM

    Wow! Amazing! Sunscreen?

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  5. Hey Steve, Sorry I haven't being following your blog for a while. Any way you can customize P90X for climbing or is it better to go back to good ole fashioned workout from hell? My mass craze days are over, been there done it, and I rather prefer semi-big but athletically fit and not a walking block.

    Thanks,
    Hassan

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  6. Trail run tomorrow. Across the Angeles Crest getting in 5 to 10 Tops. Who's IN?

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  7. Totally in. Wait for me at the trailhead.

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  8. Hassan,

    I'd go with X2. I'd also dig back (this month) to my latest DPM article and it's supplemental posts and get on a board. If you still have a lot of your mass it will help you get stronger as you leave it. A lot of bodybuilders become good climbers because weighing so much has a power training effect all the time. When they lose the weight their strength to weight ratio is off the charts.

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  9. wonder how new balance feels about Anton wearing La Spotivas.

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  10. I devised a plan to just train with compound lifts just 3 days a week to maintain mass, and climb the rest of the days, with weekends being incorporated by exploring different X2 workouts, before actually devising a strict plan. I had a question regarding coffee, recently I put heavy emphasis on my academics, due to my goal of going into Investment Banking, and with constant studying I have started to consume way to much coffee. Around 2-4 cups a day, is there any adverse side effect to this? Should I taper off or is coffee fine to use? I have grown so fond of the taste of just black coffee, that sometimes it can be a craving.

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