My full written trip report is in various 24 Hours of Sunlight blog posts prior to this post, continued here with a photo album. Said again, this wonderful event was a fund raiser for the Heuga Center for MS, which gave it some extra umph in the positive attitude department. About 100 people participated, and I’ve never seen a happier more easy going group of folks at a ski race — must be the combination of going up and down, keeps everyone mentally balanced or something like that. It was an amazing experience climbing up that hill at 2:00 AM, with the full moon glowing above, a few glow sticks on the trees to keep you from getting lost, and a couple of friendly skiers ahead and behind with their headlamps bobbing.
(For those who land on this page and are wondering what this is: A muscle powered endurance racing event where people climb up and ski down a course on a ski area, and do it as many times as possible in 24 Hours. This one in 2006 was the first, the race was held for a few years after, with the last one in 2009. Use the paging links at the bottom of this post to read back through our event blogs, and of course you can always search WildSnow using our search box.)
Polly McLean finishing her last lap after skiing up and down for 24 hours straight. She did twenty laps, 31,000 vertical feet for what we were sure was a women’s world record. Soon after, the Europeans began having more of these sorts of events and who knows where the record is now. Poly was really a pioneer in this.
Winners Greg Hill and Jimmy Faust (tie), and Steve Romeo (3rd, to right).
Pre-race meeting, -4 degrees F. The cold temperatures would be a challenge for the athletes.
Generation Gap team member Noelle Larson begins her second lap.
Noelle Larson and Polly McLean.
eThe late Steve Romeo making a transition. Having fun, he fooled around with putting his climbing skins on without taking his skis off.
Romeo launching, he ended up 3rd in Men’s Solo class.
Inside the start/finish tent.
Andrew McLean., after going all night.
Generation Gap team member Luke Caudill on left, his dad Boone to right.
Crested Butte’s pit.
Lisa Dawson makes a lap.
Andrew around midnight.
Team Crested Butte in the dark hours.
Andrew showing the wear and tear. At this point he’d easily exceed his personal best.
Typical scene in our support room.
Luke gets some carbs.
The sun finally rises.
Our team, ‘Generation Gap.’
Solo Men’s racer Dave Penny.
Polly and Andrew McLean after Polly’s finish.
The McLean boot tribe.
Winner Polly McLean on the podium. She went for 20 laps and made her goal.
Greg Hill’s altimeter watch after the race.
Greg Hill’s altimeter watch at 24 Hours of Sunlight 2006.
Lou, Andrew and Greg Hill. It was terrific to finally meet Greg Hill in person, and get passed by him.
Lou after doing the last lap of team Generation Gap’s participation in the race.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
