Sky Pilot Race Recap
From reading some of our past posts you may have realized that the Sky Pilot is one of our favorite mountains around Squamish. It’s a spectacular alpine area where backcountry adventure is around every corner. So when we heard that the Coast Mountain Trail Series was bringing a trail race to this area, we knew we had to run it! The inaugural race was scheduled for September 21, which could mean beautiful fall weather or torrential rain; it could go either way here on the west coast. With the race being set in such a rugged area there was a lot of trail building happening weeks before the race. Everyone involved in creating this race wanted to make it a unique mountain running experience. The excitement was building when there was talk of roped sections, boulder fields and ridge running. However,days before the race, the endless summer sunshine we had been experiencing changed to the autumnal rains, which meant all of the fresh new trail became streams of mud. The steep trails were now too wet to run and it would be too risky to send all of the runners out onto this terrain. But if I have learnt anything about the Coast Mountain Trail Series races, it’s that they do not disappoint, and with literally hours before the start of the race, a change of route was put in place. They were going to make sure everyone got the mountain running experience they promised! This was some of the rugged mountain trail. Mt. Habrich from the summit point of the race. Checking out the view from the summit. We showed up to the starting line, on a sunny blue bird day at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola, not totally sure of the new route and curious where exactly it was going to take us. Leigh and I were running this one together and decided to run it as a fun run. No need to race, just enjoy the new course, take a few photos along the way and revel in the scenery. As usual the starting area was buzzing with the energy of runners antsy to start, one of my favorite parts of racing. Just feeding off of that energy can carry you for miles! And we needed that energy to carry us. This course was unforgiving in its ascent. Starting on the tame and gentle uphill Sky Pilot ridge trail, we would eventually be taken straight up to a ridge that connected to Mt. Habrich. Running or rather power hiking up steep, loose, duff covered forest trail, straight onto a boulder field. Crossing the...
Arc’teryx Squamish Hoody Review
Bottom Line: The Arc’teryx Squamish Hoody is the perfect lightweight shell to take on a summer mutli-pitch climb when you think it might get a little windy on the wall and it also makes an excellent Alpine running jacket for the cool days or as a windshell on the descent. First Impressions and Observations: I was looking for a jacket that was versatile to use in a lot of different scenarios, but still light enough that I could stuff it in my running pack or attach it to a harness without being too heavy or bulky. This is a basic shell jacket and I love just how basic it is. There is only 1 pocket on the jacket which serves as its own stuff sack. Inside the pocket is a webbing loop to attach a carabiner to enable you clip to your harness. There is the standard Arc’teryx die-cut velcro cuff adjusters, adjustable hem and adjustable hood. That’s all there is to this jacket and I love its simplicity. When you’re up on a multi-pitch climb in the summer and a cool breeze comes in this is the perfect wind resistant shell. It also has a DWR coating so is able to resist light rain. However, don’t expect much from this jacket in a downpour as it’s wets through pretty quickly with consistent rain. When trail running I found this to be a great jacket in cool conditions. Especially when briefly stopping for a snack and I didn’t want to cool down too much. I also ended up wearing it on the descent as I wasn’t working up as much of a sweat and found it too chilly without the extra layer. Starting the next pitch in my Squamish Hoody On the descent on a cool alpine run. Early summer alpine snow. Photo: Adam Ciuk Pros: Ultra lightweight Packable & Compressible (packs inside it’s own pocket) Great colors Water resistant Wind resistant Cons: Not waterproof Beating the chill in my Squamish Hoody. Photo: Adam Ciuk Running in the Squamish Hoody Buy it if: You are looking for a super light, compressible jacket that can attach to your harness as an emergency shell or fit inside your running pack. This jacket is the perfect windbreaker for a gusty late summer day on a multi-pitch climb, trail running in the cool breezes of the alpine or just a lightweight summer shell jacket around town. Places to Buy: Women’s Arc’teryx Squamish Hoody Men’s Arc’teryx Squamish Hoody...
Running the Squamish 50 - 50 Mile
So I actually did it. It still feels a little bit like a dream really. The months of physical preparation, the mental anguish I put myself through, were finally put to the test on August 16th when I got to run the Squamish 50 (50mile/80km) trail race. There was so much trepidation leading up to this day, unsure I would actually be able to complete the full distance. The longest run I had done leading up to race day was 50km and I just hoped that race day endorphins would pull me through the extra 30km that my legs would need to carry me that day. But how exactly did the day unfold? My good friend and fellow racer Sarah toed the line with me that Saturday morning for the 5:30am start. We hugged each other, wished each other a strong race and didn’t see each other until the end. In my mind that morning, I had Sarah’s advice floating through my mind, “for your first 50 miler go uncomfortably slow for the first half”, hopefully this would help me reserve energy for the second half of the race. Coming into AS #2. Re-fuel Getting words of wisdom from Leigh The first 10 km was flat and despite the easy start to the race I forced myself to keep the pace I knew I wanted to hold. ALOT of people passed me and I tried to not let it bother me as I knew there was a good chance I could catch some of them on the second half and it also gave me a chance to find a rhythm; pacing is an art that I was hoping to master that day. The first aid station was 10 km in. Here I saw Solana & Jay, cheery as always, manning the station and cheering the runners on. This is when I first saw my personal crew, my favorite person and better half, Leigh. He was there with a “How are you feeling” “What do you need?” and with a few clicks of the camera and a kiss, I was off. The next 10km had a hilly and technical middle portion. Sarah and I had actually discussed the previous night how we were not looking forward to this particular section as it seemed so brutally steep on the last training run. But this day it didn’t feel as bad as I had remembered, maybe because I knew there was so much more ahead of me that day. It was still steep, dry and dusty so there was some hard power hiking happening. Climbing is something I have the long gait...
Squamish 50 Orientation Run
June 22nd was the last of the orientation runs for the Squamish 50. I knew I wanted/had to run the 47km for peace of mind. I woke up that morning tired, unsure of being able to run the full distance. I actually thought to myself I would cop out and probably choose the 37km halfway through, as there is a point in the run where the 47 and 37 runners split. Anyway, I had my good running friends Adam and Sarah(both wanting to run the 37km) with me, so with their combined stoke we walked and laughed our way to Escape Route, the start of the run. I started off nice and easy, I wanted this to be a long slow run for endurance training. Adam took off like a shot and within after about 3km I didn’t see him anymore. Sarah and I yo-yo’d a bit but were generally always in eyesight of each other. I knew I wanted to keep it really slow and forced myself to take it easy. I arrived at the 18km aid station to find Sarah fueling up on coke, cookies and other ultra type foods that one only eats during an ultra (Scott Jurek dies a little inside at reading this). Adam was already gone as Sarah told me that they were goth going for the 37 distance. I wasn’t too excited for the additional 10km loop but the thought of getting to hit the aid station after the loop was pretty enticing and when asked what distance I was doing, they keep track of all runners for safety reasons, I immediately said 47km. I chugged a bit of coke, had a few salty chips and a Hammer Bar and then told Sarah I was off. However during the time spent at the aid station Sarah succumbed to a bit of peer pressure from other runners at the station and she was shamed into running the 47km. So off we went.Not going to lie, this worked to my advantage as it was nice to have company on that extra 10km. Not a bad view. Going UP! The theme of the race. Another lovely view en route. I think it may have been a mix of the coke, the calories from the hammer bar and just starting to get my second wind but i was starting to feel good again. The 10km loop was beautiful, with one steep uphill section and the rest classic flowy squamish bike trail. Only the last few km’s were on logging road and I forced myself to run until I seen the aid station. Most times on logging...
