29029 - EVERESTING Aug 2023

Augu

st 8-13, 2023

We left Camp Paxson, Montana in the early morning on Tuesday to embark on our 8-hour drive to Huntsville, Utah (just west of Ogden). It was an uneventful drive, and we saw new territory traveling south out of MT, across a bit of Idaho and into Utah. We stopped to load up on groceries in Ogden, then drove to our VRBO to get settled and make dinner for the 7pm arrive of San, Mary and Geo. We had a nice dinner, did a lot of laundry, and played dominoes. After many nights of camping for those three, and then 3 nights together in the camp cabin, it was luxurious to spread out in the large house!

Wednesday am San and I did yoga on the front deck – looking out at Snowbasin Mountain. Jeff and Geo ventured back into Ogden for more supplies, getting lost twice in the process! I took a walk through the neighborhood. It was hot and I felt the altitude, but I hoped an easy walk would help with my conditioning. In the afternoon, we all piled into the Audi and drove to Snowbasin to check out the layout. It was good for me to have a visual of the layout. San and I walked up the start of the course - steep, but I’m confident I can do it 13 times!!

We had a nice dinner, played some cards and early to bed. Jeff had been having some abdominal/GI issues since we left home and about midnight, he decided he needed to go to an ER and woke me to tell me he was driving himself there. I quickly woke up and said “I’ll take you.” We arrived at a hospital in Ogden about 1am, where they took blood, did X-rays, and gave him something to relax. He was able to doze, while I spent hours on my phone on Facebook and playing Suduko. At 4am, they discharged him having ruled out blockage and infection – probably more of a stomach issue so they suggested OTC Prilosec (he’d been on that before). Off to find a CVS, and then back to the house to bed. I was mostly relieved that there wasn’t anything majorly wrong, and that my event wouldn’t be impacted – having got this close!!

Thursday am – slept in a bit, then up to tell our housemates why we were clunking around at midnight and 4am. San and I did another yoga session, and I took a nap and had a shower.

29029 - “Everesting”

When I first heard of this hiking challenge, I knew I needed to try it, and talked my sister into doing it with me. We entered the Snowbasin Utah challenge, where you hike up the mountain 13 times (2310 feet of elevation and 2.3 miles each assent) - with 36 hours to complete the challenge. It’s only possible as you get to ride the gondola down! Jeff dropped us off Thursday afternoon where we checked in and got settled into our glamping tent and prepared to tackle the mountain with 257 participants (half women) ranging from 16-75 years old.

There were great motivational speeches that afternoon, recaps of the training and support the 29029 staff had offered over the past 9 months. There was nutritional information (fuel and hydration will be critical), Trish, a “breathing coach,” led us through breathing exercises, and coaches Brent and Chris offered motivational speeches as good as any keynote address I’d ever heard at the many conference I’ve attended!! We learned that “suffering (of this sort) is a privilege” and events like 29029 are “frustratingly doable!” I also learned a new term: Type Two Fun: which is described as “miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect.” I had so many examples in my own life already to draw from: marathons, cross-country cycling, paddling the Mississippi, Kilimanjaro, even backpacking in Glacier last month!

All pumped up, we joined a small group on a short hike, and then spent some time until dinner getting settled in our tent and getting to know our tent-mate, Mary. Mary was back for her “redemption.” Last year she only managed 10 assents and that didn’t sit well with her, so she was back to finish. We enjoyed chatting with her, but like the feeling before a race or a big test – you really don’t feel like talking at all, you just want to get it over with!

We headed to the lodge for dinner and sat with a woman from Erie Pennsylvania, but again we didn’t like that feeling of everyone sizing each other up and comparing what they did for training (and stressing over “did I do enough?”)! We hustled back to our tent, brushed our teeth, put in our earplugs and read for a bit before drifting off to sleep. The cots were extremely comfortable, and we slept well.

We were up at 4am Friday. We quickly dressed and headed to the lodge. We tried to eat breakfast even though we were too nervous to eat. We went outside for some group stretching and another peptalk but Trish the breathing coach, and by 6am we were on our way. The first assent was exhilarating! Eighty minutes to the top and a 10-minute gondola ride down. I was also excited to reach the top as I knew Jeff would be there working at the aid station. I burst into tears when I saw him as I felt so good about that first assent and I could see he was proud of me.

The second assent was about the same time, but it felt like a little more work. There were 2 aide stations on the mountain, and one on the top. We tried to stay in front of nutrition and hydration concerns. I grabbed a coke and potato chips for my ride down, and after eating I laid down with my legs up the side of the gondola. Assents three and four were slower, and San was still charging up the steep parts and waiting for me. I told her she should go ahead, but she wanted to stay with me.

It was impossible to not keep doing the math on how long this challenge would take, and I’m still not certain if that helped me or hurt me mentally. I knew down to my core that I could complete this challenge. I just hadn’t quite pushed my body this hard for this long and didn’t know how my body would react! I figured we’d get 4 assents in by lunch, and we finished our 4th just after noon. Jeff’s shift was 5am-noon, so he was just finishing and rode the gondola down with us - he had to go back to our Airbnb and rest up for his overnight volunteer shift!

After lunch it was 79 degrees, and I was feeling the heat. San was still bounding up the mountain like a mountain goat so I told her to go ahead while I slogged it out. She’s always been very physically tough, and she trained for this event by hiking long distances on hot days wearing her oxygen deprivation mask – worked very well for her, I’d say!!

I did 3 more assents on my own (my assents were averaging 110 minutes by then), and ran into Sandra as she was coming out of the lodge after dinner. She’d made me a dinner plate, and I went inside and tried to eat. Hard to believe that I had no appetite. I plugged my phone and watch into the charger and laid on the floor with my feet up. I was beyond exhausted, but I knew I had to keep hiking now that it had cooled off. I did my 8th assent and Jeff was just arriving at the top of the gondola for his 11pm volunteer shift. I knew I had to go back to my tent to sleep, but I also wanted to hike at night to take advantage of the cooler temps, but by then I could hardly function. At the top, someone handed me a cup of raman noodles and that was much easier to eat and drink the broth. I felt better then, and Jeff rode the gondola down with me and walked me to my tent. The big unknown here for me what “how will I feel after resting?” Would it revive me, or would I get all cramped up?

I slept from 11:30p til 2:30a. San came in sometime during that and told me to sleep longer, but I was nervous with 5 more assents to be completed and I wanted to get at least 2 more in before it was hot again.

By 3am I was making my way up the mountain - a little eerie being all alone. San joined me for one more assent at 5a, and we met Jeff at the top and rode down together and had breakfast in the lodge. I was still struggling with eating.

That left me with 3 more assents and 10 hours to complete them. I knew I’d do it, but it was brutal. It quickly warmed up and I dug deep and thought about every tough thing I’d ever done in my life - marathons, Kilimanjaro, extended paddle and cycle trip. I was starting to have some nausea and stomach cramping. I kept forcing in the electrolyte drinks and water, and trying to choke down some food. Other than that, I felt fine physically. Nothing hurt, but moving was just so much work. I started taking longer at the aid stops, dunking my head in cold water and trying to eat.

San finished her 12th assent and got her red bib which tells everyone on the mountain that a hiker is “Everesting.” Jeff and my parents rode the gondola to the top and were there to greet us as she got her red hat for completing the challenge.

We all rode back down, and I got my red bib and started my final slog up the mountain - crying with so many different emotions during my first few steps. Jeff and Sandra went to pack up our tent, then rode back to the top. San started walking back down to meet me and we held hands while I walked up to the red carpet to get my red hat.

52% of the participants completed all 13 assents, so we’re proud of our accomplishment and what fun to do it together! For me, total time was 32 hours (including my 3 hours of sleep and meal/break time). My fastest assent was 1:20, my slowest was 2:20.

Assent Stats

We drove back to the rental house where we took quick showers and naps. I woke up before my alarm went off – my stomach had finally settled and I was ravenous. At 6pm, Jeff, Sandra and I drove back to Snowbasin for the closing program. We had the option to spend the last night in the glamping tent, but declined. When we walked onto the patio, I spotted Mary in a red hat! We hadn’t seen her during the whole challenge. We hugged her and she told us her story – she’d hiked most of the night but fell asleep in the lodge until someone woke her up. She finished at 5:40pm – just twenty minutes to spare!! We had a drink and a burger and enjoyed the closing program – leaving there feeling really good about ourselves. 29029 was a great challenge, but I’ll be sticking to leisure travel going forward.

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