So the Alyeska Climbathon was two Saturdays ago but will serve as my first blog post. The event is a competition lasting 10 hours during which one climbs "the north face" hiking trail as many times as possible. The trail is about 2 miles long with approx. 2000ft of elevation gain. It starts at the tram base and ends at the roundhouse. At the top there is the tally board and aid station. Competitors would then ride the tram down and begin their subsequent laps.The day started out cool and the rest of the day the weather was perfect: mostly sunny with mild temps. The trail was in fairly good condition with just a bit of muddiness half way up. I didn't see too many people I knew but the vibe was more relaxed than I anticipated.
My goal was to run most of the first 3-4 laps and see how it goes from there. A few weeks earlier I had run 2 laps without issue and felt I could do more without going overboard. Things went as planned. I would run most of the lap but speed-hike the steep stuff above my threshold. At the top I would grab some food and water and get on the next tram down. My mental wall was much earlier than I expected, at lap 4, but after that the remaining 6 were much easier. My overall goal was 10 laps which I managed to do in 9.25hrs or so. There is no credit for partial laps and my lap times were in the low 50s at that point. Tack on a tram ride and there was no way I could negative-split it for an 11th so I called it a day. Maybe next year.
I would recommend this event to anyone up for a challenge. Really you could do this any day the tram is operating, but the organized event provided much needed motivational fuel. The event staff were great, very enthusiastic and encouraging, a good vibe. Aid stations were well-stocked, patrol was on the hill, fellow competitors provided company and motivation.
