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Live from my life - Badwater to Whitney Summit Record/New FKT 13:56:16 I was hesitant to go after this, this year after losing 2 months of training time to knee injury, but I still thought I could do it and I really wanted a good go! I went 47 minutes faster than my first attempt, taking back the record at this moment as the fastest man to go from the lowest to highest points in the lower 48 on my own power! I'm wrecked, couch bound, not functional! #grateful I started out very strong, but this challenge gradually wears you down layer by layer till you are inevitably so humbled & vulnerable. I didn't know I had it up till even at the end - climbing mostly on rocks off the sides of the Mountaineer's Gully to use my remaining arm and larger leg muscles to forcefully push & pull myself up the mountain one move at a time because my cardio system was already maxed! I sprinted for the finish and have never been so glad to lay down flat splayed on a hard wood floor as the summit box cabin! Not a soul up there, but me - it was a surreal moment of self reflection and a 30 minute attempt to eat half a PB & J sandwich! Thanks to Benjamin Charles Mitchell for excellent pacing and support on this effort! I'm DONE with Mt Whitney for a while.... oh so worn out! Such a tough and inspiring challenge ~

Lone Pine to Whitney Summit to Big Pine up to Ancient Bristlecone Pines Forest and on to mountain bikes up White Mountain was a wild adventure, and COLD day! 25 hours 40 min on the go via hike and biking! Gnarly wind and a low of 19 degrees amongst 23.5K of climbing and 116 miles is one of the steepest overall elevation profile adventures I've attempted and with a great riding buddy all along #sufferfest. Wow! New blog post up. Linked to bio for the curious! 😉 @peteclarkphotography 📸

#retro Climbing on some fun new boulder problem adventures at Split Rock Wyoming. Good times! Photo 📸 @davide_anderson

Back on the weekly long 🚴‍♂️ ride...

Fun day 👌 climbing the old classic 5.10 crack route on the back of Eichorn Pinnacle with my buddy Daniel that used to run teen climbing summer camps in Yosemite with me. That's 4 days of climbing this week! 📸 @shesheroma (at Tuolumne Meadows)

Jesse on the classic Buttermilk Stem... spending late summer evenings climbing at Buttermilks after the sun 🌞 goes down on the horizon are a favorite Bishop local past time ~ (at Buttermilk Boulders)

Fun on the North Six Shooter this week with an old favorite climbing partner - My first true desert tower outside of the classic sand castles in Sedona or a fun jaunt from camp up a few summits on the Bridger Jacks BITD! 🙉 (at Indian Creek)

Rosa demonstrating advanced mantle technique on the beak today at Ancient Art.. After a late night (midnight) rousing grumpy bivy kick out in Moab from a local climber house (I imagined this is how it might feel to get kicked out of the Zoo late night by Vic back home), Rosa insisted we still rally & get up at 4 AM for this classic this morning. Ugh.... Coffee yes please!! Luckily it worked though- of 14 people attempting this route today we ended up in the very front which was sweet! I've always wanted to do this one eventually. Pretty cool little adventure & so wild exposure! After 8 days climbing in the desert I'm feeling pretty worked too, but I have 5 more left to go. This is the second tower this week after North Six Shooter yesterday with Josh Cross. It was pretty nice to get done by 10 AM today- at least physically it feels like a rest day in comparison to the always humbling experiences I've received at the Creek this week. Times are good, people are quality, & and I'm still not out of cold California IPA though👌. Not sure what I'm going to do the rest of this week - meeting some Bishop friends camping in Moab tonight then probably back to the Creek or perhaps another tower classic if I find a good partner! Enjoying some chilling time (at least one rest day!) & off to showers. It feels pretty good to have some short traveling adventures again for a change and remember I still dig climbing all these years! Nice to get out of the snow too. 🌞 (at Fisher Towers)

Cotton candy - One of my favorite sunset photos from the Buttermilks. I miss my quiet post climbing evenings sipping on one beer 🍺 watching the sunset at my favorite secret spots off the dirt roads back behind the boulders now that I'm a little bit further away in Mammoth Lakes... it just happen as often this year! 🙄 (at Buttermilk Boulders)

#tbt My first experience sea cliff climbing ☻

Went to a #skimo race for the first time with some friends this weekend. I've been heavy weights training focused more recently, but this was sure a system shocker!! Cool to try something new and good to support! I dont think my HR was under 180 during most of the first half... I set a new one hour lactate threshold PR of 175 that beats out all my previous bike trials and even my experiments running straight up hills max out with a summer pack filled with water jugs. Maybe this is the toughest sporting cardio challenge! I also learned it's pretty important to freshly re-wax your skins the night before or carry a spare set or block of wax at least. I was lucky to borrow some halfway through after feeling like I was skiing against a velcro escalator. #rookiemoves haha! Can't say I can remember the last time I've sweat so much this recently either. Maybe at 48 hour Race Across Oregon on a road bike when it was summer 109 F out? Seriously sweating like crazy enough I might go wide open chest bike Jersey and running shorts on any kind of sunny CA winter day if allowed! Also most importantly I'd carry at least 2 - probably 3 honestly - separate pairs of sunglasses and a towel for the sweat on my face. My glasses were fogging up so bad I had to take them off during most the uphills and squint eyes closed against the bright sun + wiping the burning sweat out of my eyes with mostly my fingers... The other half I'd look ahead to point my skis at the next trail marker or yell off randomly at other skiers & then try keeping them on and it was like looking through a foggy kaleidoscope windshield while marching on up the skinning track. Luckily on the last lap it got overcast and things felt and went much better!!! Anyhow probably went out too hard, but hard to gauge if my HR threshold really is 30 beats higher than on a bike and not doing this before. It feels like a max out event which is great high intensity training for us enduro runners and cyclists. I learned a few good lessons, and finished feeling strong. Pretty fun going with a great group of local friends too! We should have a couple events like this officially or unofficially on the Eastside soon! (at Sugar Bowl Resort)

Dede climbing up onto the Kuna Crest over Lost Lake on our tour from Mammoth to Yosemite this week. I love this picture. (at Kuna Peak)

Sunset over Cathedral Peak - Tuolumne Meadows a few nights ago from our camp near 11k. Ski/backpacking trip. 🙄 (at Yosemite National Park-Tuolumne Meadows)

Dreams of Mountains today. New challenge, friends, and adventure to look forward to this year! ~ (at Bishop, California)

Backyard fun. Always wanted to do this from a house I actually lived at! ⛷ (at Mammoth Lakes, California)

Merry Christmas🎄from my family to yours~

"What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first steps to something better." -Wendell Phillips. Pushing hard through despairing low moments on my first speed record attempt on Mt Whitney. (at Mount Whitney)