Well, it's the end of the very first quarter of Summit for Something and the time has come for my first Summit Statement! Watching this project come to fruition the past few months has been more rewarding than I thought possible. I am proud of this symbiotic process I have created to encourage my own growth while helping the places and communities I love.
I want to thank everyone who has followed along with me in the creation of S4S, encouraged me, donated as part of my Support Crew, or shared adventures with me in the mountains. It was a bit scary to begin sharing my personal goals, thoughts, and experiences so openly, but this has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. So THANK YOU.
Q2 in review:
April and May brought a few fun days skiing in Tuckerman Ravine despite the seeming lack of spring conditions. With that said it was nice to get back into the old stomping grounds (which I had been somewhat avoiding) and I had some wonderful days playing tour guide for some friends and just generally having a relaxed approach to round out the season. If you are interested in knowing more about my ski season you can read my season recap here.
In April I had a chance to do my first running race in Arizona (while visiting my dad) - I had a total blast despite the harsh transition from winter on Washington to 90-degree desert heat. Since then I have been mainly focused on my newfound love of trail and mountain running. I've been greatly enjoying the steep and positive learning curve that comes with picking up a new sport and pushing my mileage, technique, and comfort level a bit more with each passing week has been extremely rewarding. I feel like I am on the way to building a great endurance base for all of my mountain pursuits, and have found some great running partners along the way.
Come June the skis got put away and the climbing ropes got pulled out. It was nice to return to Steve & I's regular schedule of Rumney weekends camping in the trailer and it was really nice to be back on the rock again. I also broke out the wetsuit and got in the water for some surfing which is the final sign that Summer is here- and I'm here for it!
Summit Total: 16
Skiing Summits
I was able to tick off 3 new lines in the Presidentials in a few days on Washington this spring. These were mostly in the form of lines I had skied before but not necessary in full including Right Gully and the southeast snowfields. I also got to repeat some classic spring lines like Left Gully- some things just never get old!
Despite the quickly melting snow I managed to sneak in 2 new ski tours. Unfortunately the low snowpack and quick melt this spring was not this goal's friend and this was probably the most skiing I've accessed in my trail running shoes in a single season yet!
Climbing Summits
Climbing has definitely been on the back burner for me for a while, and though I was able to get out on ice climbing this season I only snuck in 1 day on the rock in June at Rumney. I did manage to tick off a few new climbs at Upper Vader wall but didn't finish any crags on the whole.
As far as 5.12's go, this really isn't in my "out of climbing shape"
wheelhouse right now, however, I can't say I don't have a bit of a hit list of 12's I'm excited to jump on again once it is. I've been dealing with a wrist issue for the past few years which has made climbing the more difficult grades hard but I'm happy to report that thanks to Hilary McCloy I am beginning to see improvement!
Trail Running Summits
I was able to able to snag 2 new FKT's this quarter, including the 3x Green and the Sunapee. Both of these required multiple summits of the same mountain (trail runner or masochist?) and Sunapee even treated me to my first bonk! More details on each of these can be found on the FKT site.
I updated my Southern NH trace goal for the brand new 5th edition of the Southern NH guidebook which added 168 more miles of trails than the 4th, because who doesn't like a moving target, ha. Even still I managed to complete 38 miles of new trails and am getting close to completing the Seacoast on the whole!
Accumulative Summits
Ticking off some peaks of the 48 was probably my most fruitful effort as it was a logical way to begin pushing myself mountain running. In total, I was able to tick off 7 new 4,000 footers, including the more isolated Carrigain, as well as Jackson, Tom, Field, Wiley, and the Osceolas.
I've eco-commuted about 57 miles in the last 3 months and have learned a lot about the best methods for me to do so (spoiler: it's on foot, not bike!).
Fundraising:
I kick-started this quarter with a total pledge amount of $13 per summit, as well as $440 in one-time donations. With my total of 16 summits this quarter, that means I raised almost $650 for the causes I believe in. The breakdown of how this money is distributed by each cause can be found below.
To date I have raised $2148 for causes I believe in (2% of my $100,000 goal).
Looking Forward:
Looking forward to Q3 I see much more climbing and trail running in my future. July and August may prove a bit warm for trying hard on the rock but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things at Rumney, get some mileage in, and start ticking off crags for my 5.10 and under goals. Hopefully, this will also lead to a good climbing fitness base to start trying harder on 5.12's come fall.
On the trail running side, I'm excited to start pushing myself on vertical feet and mileage in Q3. I will continue to be careful with adding too much stress at once and to avoid overuse injuries, but I think it's time to start testing the waters of what I can do. Running my first Presi traverse is definitely high on my list, as well as some other longer FKT's. I'm also excited to get my butt kicked at the Kismet Cliff Run Half Marathon in September (for a great cause)!
On the day-to-day side, I'd like to get more consistent with my eco-commuting in Q3. This will mean making myself get up a bit earlier to get to the office in town, but I think the added benefits of starting and ending the day actively and sneaking in a few more training miles will make it more than worth it.
A reminder that if you want to follow my day to day training and adventures my Strava or Instagram are the best places :)
That's it for now! Thank you for your support and for sharing this journey with me.
Keep following along for my adventures to come and I hope to see you out there!