50 Peaks, 50 States, 50 Days

A few weeks back I posted a story about a new Mountain Hardwear sponsored athlete by the name of Matt Moniz, who at the age of 12 has already summitted some big peaks, including Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and Elbrus. At the time of that story, he had also recently climbed Denali, Mt. Whitney, and Mt. Elbert, all in a span of just 8 days. It turns out, that was just part of his plan to climb the 50 highest points, in all 50 states, in just 50 days. Matt, and his father Mike, have been knocking off those high points in rapid succession, and now have a chance of setting a new record for completing that feat.

According to the 50-50-50 Climb website, the father and son climbing team have now finished 48 of the 50 states. The last update came yesterday, July 12th, at the 38th day of the trip. According to the Hardwear Sessions Blog, Mike and Matt are currently in Montana, where they are taking on Granite Peak, the tallest mountain in that state. If they summit successfully, they'll catch a flight in the next day or two for Hawaii, where they'll climb Mauna Kea, the final obstacle in their path. If the can manage to do that in less than 45 days, 19 hours, and 2 minutes, they'll break the 50 high points in 50 states record, currently held by Mike Haugen, who set the mark back in 2008. 


Good luck guys!

The 2010 Badwater Ultra is Underway!

The first competitors in this year's Badwater Ultramarathon have hit the trail this morning and are already running through the early morning heat of Death Valley. Ahead of them is one of the toughest, most challenging courses in all of endurance sports, and most will spend the next two days completing the event.

The Badwater is one of the biggest races in all of the ultra endurance events. It is 135 miles of suffering, beginning in Badwater, California, located in the heart of Death Valley. Competitors begin at 280 feet below sea level, and will run mostly non-stop until they reach the Mt. Whitney Portals, located at 8300 feet up that mountain. Along the way, they'll pass over three different mountain ranges, and gain more than 13,000 feet of elevation.

As if all of that wasn't bad enough, they'll also have to endure the blast furnace temperatures that Death Valley is famous for. Over the next few days, temperatures are expected to hover around the 100ºF mark, although it is not uncommon in July for the temps to climb above 120ºF.

For most of the racers, it will take around 40 hours or so to complete, although the fastest runners will complete the entire 135 mile course in just 24 hours. That's more than 5.6 miles per hour, over a full day, in extreme heat and conditions. Very impressive stuff!

The Badwater is once again doing a webcast of the race, but it sometimes offers spotty coverage of what is going on. For instance, at the moment, it appears to be someone's empty hotel room. Hopefully we'll get better coverage as the race continues.

Another Young Mountaineer Climbs For A Cause

We've all marveled at the stories of Jordan Romero, who at the age of 13 became the youngest to summit Everest last month. Last week, Mountain Hardware introduced their newest, and youngest, sponsored athlete, in the form of 12-year old climber Matt Moniz. Even at that tender age, Matt has already managed to successfully summit Denali, Whitney, and Mt. Elbert, the tallest peak in the Rocky Mountains. Even more amazing, he did all three of those in just eight days!  He has also been up Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and Elbrus, and made the trek to Everest Base Camp as well.

While Matt clearly loves to climb, and doesn't lack skills in that department either, he also is climbing for a cause. He hopes to raise funds for research on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. Matt's best friend, Iain Hess, suffers from PAH, and the young climber hoped to dedicate his expeditions toward helping his pal in any way that he could. 


Last year in July, Matt set out to climb 14 of Colorado's 14ers in just 14 days, and in the process he raised $20,000 for his cause. It helped to establish the Iain Hess Breathe Easy Fund. Turns out, it only took Matt and his team, 8 days to bag those peaks. 


This is a great example of a young adventurer who seems to love what he is doing, and has a good cause that he is trying to support. I loved this story when I read it, and thought it was worth sharing here too. Great story!