Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Sportgastein is the highest ski resort in the ski-intensive Gastein valley in Austria.
In the Summer it’s a lovely place to hike or bike. The best destination out of the alpine town of Bad Gastein.
A few pics from my two days there.
It was more work than I expected climbing up to Nidersachsenhaus. Great views though.
more of my Sportgastein photos on flickr
everyone’s Sportgastein photos on flickr
Wow.
I was shocked to see Kraig’s headline on the official blog:
Robyn Benincasa and Team Nike Out of Primal Quest Badlands
… the withdrawl of defending PQ champs Nike. Last week, team captain Mike Kloser suffered a crash while mountain biking, which left him with a broken collarbone, a collapsed lung, and five broken ribs, and while he is already on the mend, the injuried will obviously keep him out of the race. The rest of Team Nike reluctantly decided to pull out of Primal Quest rather than look for a replacement on short notice. …
Benincasa was captain of Team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure …
To rest my feet between hikes, I rented a mountain bike for an “easy” day in the mountains of North Italy.
I did a good chunk of this loop. The bus delivers you to a high pass. And you roll generally downhill.
The Rails to Trails sections were awesome. But at times I was pushed out into astonishingly dangerous holiday traffic. I can’t believe they don’t have several deaths a day.
The cycling was brilliant. So much fun that I ended up cycling about 120km. Probably the longest day in the saddle I’ve ever done.
(There was some chaffing.)
My 19 Euro / day bike was great. The company – Noleggio – does a very professional job. I could drop the bike anywhere around the loop.
Check this out … a custom water bottle holder for a 1.5 litre Coke Lite.
Brilliant!
UPDATE – Team Nike Beaver Creek won the first annual Adventure Sports Week 2-day Adventure Race.
For this race the team was made up of Mike Kloser, Gretchen Reeves and Jay Henry. Congratulations.
The win was far from easy, however. Nike was pushed hard by Team Life Cycle: Jared Hanly, Roger Viollette and Ian Hoag.
=== Original post posted after day 1:
We were thrilled that a Team Nike was willing to race in our first annual Adventure Sports Week. They instantly became the favourites.
But the team, led by Mike Kloser, seemed on day 1 to be cursed. (Or sabotaged, as I joked.)
Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
They had far too much Adventure, not enough Race.
Happily, The Crux and The Crucible Adventure Race this weekend in gorgeous northern Idaho is 2 long days of 13-14hrs.
Nike got out to a better start this morning, day 2, at 6AM. Trail run, lake swim, portage, kayak …
No disasters, so far.
I suspect by late Sunday night they will have found a way to win. Despite all the setbacks.
I’ll update this post with results after the race.
Just added 20 new pics from our sprawling Adventure Sports Week event in Idaho.
see more on flickr
The Crux and The Crucible Adventure Race starts tomorrow early. Teams hope to finish each of the next 2 days within 14hrs.
Hints from event organizer David Adlard lead us to understand it’s going to be a difficult, particularly grueling course. Best strategy might be to go for only the mandatory check points, and finish safely within regulation time.
Me?
… I’ll be a comfortable volunteer, cheering on the serious athletes.
… On Saturday, at Idaho’s Farragut State Park, the second phase of the inaugural Adventure Sports Week will kick off with adventure races for athletes of many calibers. Some of the sport’s top athletes will be there, including five-time world champion Mike Kloser and two-time world champion Danelle Ballengee, who made national news in 2006 when she fell during a Utah trail run and might have died if her dog hadn’t gone for help.
But the weekend is designed to offer something to everyone. Short-course adventure races are available to amateur athletes interested in sampling the sport, said Todd Jackson, one of the co-founders.
“All you need is yourself and a partner and a mountain bike. …
Seattle Times – World-class adventure racers to compete in Idaho
The Adventure Life caught my eye with this compelling photo.
That article links to this important advice:
Timing Your Visit
Ski Touring : March – May 1
Road Biking : May – October
Mtn Biking : June – October
Trail Running : June – October
Hiking : June – OctoberSo much in the Dolomites depends on the huts being open. To come to the Region and have the huts all closed would mean missing out on a lot of the culture, it would also mean a heavier pack. May and June can have periods of great weather for cycling, and the roads are empty. But, it can be quite wet as well. Again, the huts are closed from late April to 20 June.
The time frames above are not fixed, only general references. Also, for the off season you can visit lower, nearby areas and hit the Dolomites in periods of perfect weather. The Lake Garda area is a fantastic escape when the weather is bad, or the perfect spot to base yourself off season.
An interesting thing occurs in Italy each August. The majority of the country goes on holiday. Literally. Unless you live in a holiday area (like the Dolomites), you go on vacation. The interesting thing is that Italians like to stay in Italy, they see little reason to leave, they know it is about the best place on the planet. Why risk leaving where the food is bad and the coffee terrible (good point)?
So, they pack nearly everything they own into their tiny cars and head to either the Dolomites or the beach. At about the same time, the Germans, who love the German speaking Sud Tirol Region, arrive en masse in campers, big Audi’s and motorcycles.
Given the option – do not come to the Dolomites in August – steer clear. The roads are frightening, the trails have traffic problems, the huts are full and the locals are somewhat grumpy. …
read more – DolomiteSport
Just started to upload my best photos of our big Adventure Sports Week event in Idaho.
see more on flickr
Good FUN so far. Not much sleep.
I was a “leader” for a kid’s Adventure Race, Saturday. (My team finished last after 4.5hrs. But we had a GREAT day.)
It was an honour to assist arguably the greatest Adventure Racer of all time, Mike Kloser (PDF), in the children’s clinic before the race.
… I’ll be sure to pack some GU for the run and mtb leg, as well as some of GU’s new Chomps, which are like gummy bears, but with lots of calories as we’ll need. …
Gear Junkie – Athlete Interview: Mike Kloser
GU Chomps utilize GU Energy Gel’s proven blend of carbohydrates, amino acids, antioxidants and electrolytes
in a chewable form. …
My big AR event is right around the corner – Adventure Sports Week. Contact me if you can come down with me.
May 24, 2009
For Immediate Release…
Danelle Ballangee is scheduled to compete in the “Crux and the Crucible” at Adventure Sports Week 2009!
Adventure Sports Week is a 10 day long festival of 24 outdoor races, contests, clinics and social events taking place at Farragut State Park, 30 miles north of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, June 5—14, 2009.
One of the racing world’s greatest stars and most inspirational stories is coming to compete at Adventure Sports Week in Coeur d’ Alene, June 12—14.
Danelle Ballangee is perhaps the World’s most decorated female Adventure Racer, having won Primal Quest, the Raid, the Adventure Racing World Championships, as well as dozens of other equally impressive competitions. She has also been named “US Athlete of the Year” an unprecedented six times in four different sports.
Despite her impressive resume, it was an unlikely slip that has Danelle—Nellie—to national prominence.
In December of 2006, while on a routine training run with her dog Taz, she slipped on some black ice and fell nearly 60 feet down the cliffs at Hurrah Pass, Utah, near Moab, breaking her pelvis completely in half, and leaving her bleeding internally and unable to walk. She managed to crawl over a quarter of a mile to a puddle where she could drink, and she spent over 50 hours in sub- freezing temperatures as her dog tried to keep her warm. On the third day, Taz left her, eventually making his way to the trailhead, where he was seen by the search and rescue team, who followed him back to Danelle.
After major surgery, where she received a titanium plate to hold her pelvis together, she was in a wheelchair for several months, and doctors speculated she would be unable to walk for as long as a year.
As a tribute to her strength and tenacity, Danelle competed in a solo 12 hour adven- ture race less than 6 months after her fall, finishing as top female.
Danelle will be competing at ASW representing Project Athena— http://www.projectathena.org – whose mission is to help women with breast cancer and other medical traumatic setbacks live their athletic and adventurous dreams by providing coaching, equipment, travel, entry fees and encouragement.
She will also be teaching part of the Adventure Racing Clinic, along with other super- stars such as Mike Kloser, captain of Team Nike, and AR World Champion.
source – Mind Over Mountain
My FARTS Adventure Racing teammate is an advocate of bikes with only one gear ratio.
That’s NUTS.
Or is it?
From an Adventure Racer, Mike:
A single speed will not only make you a stronger rider, it will improve your peddle stroke, improve your bike handling skills and teach you how to use momentum. Over all, your riding will improve in many ways. However, the most important thing is that it’s just plain fun.
Riding a single speed is more a frame of mind then a piece of equipment. I ride a Gary Fisher Rig with 29 inch wheels. I never use an odometer or heart rate monitor when I ride it. I call it pure riding – the effort is measured by feel not electronics. The direct power, from peddle to the rear tire is the difference.
Single speeds, especially with disk brakes are the only way to go in the winter. Geared bikes just get destroyed in the mud and wet. The single speed doesn’t have any of those problems and clean up is simple – just hose it down. Repairs also are simple.
When you first start on a single speed, it may take a while to determine the gear ratio that is best for you. This will depend on your fitness, skill level and the terrain. I started with a 32 X 18 but now normally ride a 33X16. When you first start, you may have trouble keeping up with your geared friends. Over time, you will find that they have trouble keeping up with you. The only place I feel at a disadvantage is on a downhill road section. Then I have to really work on drafting and high peddle cadence, another bonus. …
larger version – flickr – Baum Cycles
besthike.com 