We had just spent the last 4 hours speed walking, jogging, searching, on a moonless night for targets marked on our map, and hidden as only Army Rangers can hide them. It was 0230 (thats 2:30 am for you Mickey Mouse watch wearers) and we were beat. We took a gamble on racing back and earning an hour or two more rest than our closest competition, so we would be better rested come morning run and OPT Challenge. Little did we know that 'morning OPT challenge' would begin as soon as we finished Night Navigation.
We had a few minutes to grab grub and down drink before a spot opened and we began our timed Optimum Physical Testing phase. This was where the winners were separated from the whiners. This test was broken down into three sections.
First was the Jump and Throw. Competitors were to establish their max broad jump, max 16# throw (toss a shot overhead) and max "L" sit (sit in a "L" position for as long as possible, legs extended off the ground)
Next came the Share event. Each team had to share 40 box jumps / step ups on to a 24" box, share 40 hand release pushups, and share the joy of carrying that same RXR tie from Feats of Strength, 50 yards. As many rounds as possible in :20 minutes or five rounds max.
The final OPT challenge was the Run and Hop. 5 rounds or as many as possible in the remaining time (all events must be completed in :60 minutes or less.)The Run and Hop involved the Suicide Sprint where you ran / jogged / sprinted down to the 15 yd mark and back, down to the 25 yd mark and back, then down to the 35 yd mark and back. Once back to start line the same competitor began doing Broad Jump Burpees down to the 25 yd mark and back. After both teammates completed their turn that was one round.
As I may have mentioned we were beat. Jack had bonked, I was pretty tired, but I figured so was every other team was coming in behind us. Lets get this over with and go lay down. We took the max amount of time on the first events, trying to catch our breath and trying to let our legs and body recover. Jack being the better jumper jumped first. He hit and held a 6'9" distance. Maybe the best of the night. On my first attempt I hit 5'9". I knew I could do better than my height so I opted to go again. My second jump was a beaut, but I didn't hold my position, so I tried again. On my third jump I looked up and saw all the stars aligned, my breathing and timing were in sync. Three, Two, One, rock and sproing! I flew, I soared, I landed, I stuck my landing. 6' 3". A new personal record! When you get over 40 years old you discover it's not the jumping that is so bothersome, It's the landing. OOOW. Oh well I was about done with my knees for the night anyway...
On the overhead throw Jack had already tossed his shot. This was a collegiate size shot put shot, 16 pounds. Women tossed an 8 pound shot. Jack still had his gloves on from the night hike, He doesn't like to be cold. Having the gloves on helped his toss. 20' 3". This toss you turn your back to the direction you want to throw, then bend and heave the shot backwards over your head. I stepped up for my toss. I gripped, I breathed, I bent, I swayed, I exploded. The shot went basically straight up and landed about 12 feet away. What? I could do better than that. With no gloves on hand for me I did the next best thing. I linked my fingers into a loose sling for the shot. I figure it worked for David vs Goliath it might work for me. Again I gripped, I breathed, I swung and swayed, looking for some timing, I exploded up and back. Yes! that felt much better. I was not ducking and looking for cover. My toss went 20' 3". The same as Jacks. Should I try one more to beat him or...No we were teammates a tie was fine.
Next came the L sit. Jack was just finishing his hold when I walked up. 19.6 seconds. OOh that was good. In my practicing I had the hardest time beating 16 - 17 seconds and that was over two weeks ago. I sat, I breathed, I posed over the handles, I lifted my legs and sat, suspended by my arms. I counted in my head...13, 14, 15 Ok ease them down like it's no big deal... I was happy with :15 seconds. No need to prolong the pain, we had step ups and push ups ahead of us.
At the Shared event we opted for the tandem step up routine. Some teams jumped up, 10 per, then rested as the other one jumped or stepped up for 10... We went Jack, me, Jack, me, Jack, me... doing our next step up as the the other was coming down. It looked faster to us, than waiting for the other to finish. Once we completed our 40 step ups, (actually the first round was 41 because one of us didn't quite stand all the way straight up at the top of the box) we immediately dropped for the hand release push ups. This time we opted for ten each before giving over the pushing to the other. On a hand release push up you must lay all the way flat down, remove your hands from contacting the ground and then push back up. This ensures you go all the way down plus gives added effort in the pushing up phase, over coming static weight at the bottom. (Back to body in motion, body at rest...) We completed our 20 pushups each and went to carry that rail road tie down around the 25 yard marker and back. No problem. We completed all 5 rounds in about :15 minutes. Ever onward to Run and Hop.
I went first. Jack was beat. He needed as much time as possible before pushing on. The sprint was easy (ish). I knew the Broadjump burpees would not be. For a broad jump Burpee (also known as a Squat Thrust if you've been around as long as I have) You first jumped out as far as you could, then dropped down, prone on the ground, feet thrust back behind you. Then you reverse that motion, bring your legs back towards your hands, shift weight on to them and jump forward again. Sounds easy? Try it. Try 50 or 60 of them, in a row. Let me know... we had :25 minutes remaining on our :60 minute cycle when we began this event. It took us about :09 minutes for each of the first two rounds. There was no way we could go faster on the last round as we only had less than 8 minutes left when Jack finished his 2nd round.
We Give.
Lets go find a place to sleep and hope we did well enough...
As it turned out we did quite well. for old guys, for any guys. Second overall in the OPT. I think Jack had the longest jump, period. Not bad. Most teams did bare minimum to not get eliminated, which was one round of each team challenge... Good for us for not quite understanding the rules... If we had known we might have opted for bare minimum also... (I doubt it though....)
The team that won this event was the third place finishing team overall. Another older than most team of 40+ year olds. They heard we "crushed it" and were hell bent on beating us. They did. Congrats to them. It wasn't easy stuff.
Special thanks to the midnight volunteers out there counting and judging our efforts during those long, cold, lonely morning hours... Lauren, Vicky, Tim I know in particular, but all of them.. Thank You.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
EndeavorTeamChallenge, The Challenges, Night Navigation
In typical Army fashion our hurry up and wait mode had us sitting around watching the stragglers change clothes, try to heat something for dinner, relax and unwind before Night Navigation began. These were the back of the middle of the pack competitors. The cut off time had come and gone, the race directors made the choice to let all athletes compete, as that is what they had paid big bucks for and most of them had traveled some distance to get there. I had sympathy for them as that is where I normally would be in a "normal" race. This 30 hour, multiple specialty, endurance type event suited me. We were in the lead pack, setting standards, enjoying ourselves.
It was getting to be time to load the bus and head out to start our night time event. The shivers had left , or at least they had become controllable. They were handing out maps with our different targets to find, most of us turned on our headlamps trying to come up with a strategy for the night. There were 14 targets in total. Spread out over about 10 miles. Time limit, 6 hours. Each team had one of 4 different maps that located 7 different targets that could be found. We opted for picking only 5, all on the most direct route back to BV. We also noticed a cross country short cut that would / could potentially cut off about a half mile. We were ready.
Three, Two, One. we were off.
We speed walked our way to the front of the lead group. When Jack said now, at his 250 pace count, we cut off from the group and hit the woods. I kept my compass out and headed off in at the proper heading. Jack was sort of following but kept veering off to the right, the south, following his inner compass. One last yell, "Jack, over here" and we came out on the road a couple hundred yards ahead of the rest of the lead group. Our gamble paid off, sort of. I don; think they knew we were ahead of them, as we kept our headlights on low and had no back lights. We jogged a bit to get even farther ahead. This was my territory, I knew this road and these hills better than anyone else in the race. I believed I could get us in and out before they knew we where there. I screwed up. I kept checking the map, looking for the spot where I needed to head in a westerly direction. I missed it by a quarter of a mile. On the map I knew I had to look for the spot between the lily pond and the neck of the lake that fed the lily pond. In the dark and with my tri-focaled eyes, I missed the turn off on the map. In my defense it was partially covered by the 'bubble' surrounding target number 2, but no excuse I blew it. Rather than back track we opted to just head in a south westerly direction hoping to intercept the target right where we knew it to be. Yeah Right. Good Luck. Traveling in the dark climbing up and down boulders and rocks, weaving in and out of trees, losing count of how many paces we traveled, we were lucky we didn't end up in the lake ourselves. We knew we were fairly close when we started seeing other head lamps searching the same area we believed held the target. Climb up, scramble down, over there, check that, what about there... nothing. Forty five minutes of search and we had nothing. But then again neither did anybody else. Teams were giving up on this target. other teams were joining in on the hunt. At an hour we decided to fold our hand and try for better luck on the next target. I was headed over to Jacks location, sweeping my handheld light ahead of me when There. What was that?
I swept it past again, making sure not to move an inch. A dull green glow just ahead no more than 50 to 100 yards ahead.
"Jack you see that?"
"Where?"
"Right there, follow my light"
We were on to something. No sudden moves, No yelling just walk ahead and find the target, pack up the brick and give up like we had no business being there to begin with...No one else the wiser.
Oh yeah, at each target as well as marking the target on our card we had to find and carry out a matching brick, stenciled with that target number. An added bonus for playing these reindeer games...
After spending 90 minutes searching for this one brick we decided to cut our losses and skip the next target, trying to gain lost ground and by finding the next three, settle for the fastest time finding four. (This turned out to be a factor in the "Lone Survivor Run the following morning....) We jogged, speed walked our way past a few teams on our way to the next marked location. Again we sped right on past the appropriate contour marking and had to back track again. But this one was a bit easier to find. It only took us 30 minutes. We believed there were only a couple teams ahead of us and they were not ones that we were worried about. Not that we were worried about any one team, but these were teams that had skipped these targets and were mainly interested in getting back with the bare minimum . We had bigger plans.
We loaded our booty in my pack this time and hit the trail again. We fast waked past 3 more teams, maybe the same teams we past earlier, who know. In the dark on a new moon night everybody looks the same. Except for that one team that had reflective striping everywhere.. But they were not our concern. We needed to be at the next target, 2 miles away, before the next team got there. We continued up SlickRock Road, actually more of a jeep trail than a road, but a well defined trail none the less. We left the river right where the map said we should, continued on for another half a mile, all up hill, and found the Emigrant Trail turnoff just a few meters beyond where it should have been, according to the map. Right at this junction of Jeep Trail and single track trail is where the next target would be located. I headed north on the trail, keeping my eyes peeled for a green glow stick marking the target. Nothing. Again we went too far. Heading back in a ESE direction we spotted the target a hundred meters ahead. Angling off, over rock and stump and downed tree we were on a direct path to intercept the target. But Lo, just there were a couple other teams, not the ones we passed we found out..., but other teams nonetheless. Thats alright. This was our third brick. We already knew where the fourth one was. We were golden. Grab the brick, hand carry it, make a show of knowing what we were doing. Head back to base.
But Wait. Something wasn't right. Jack was lagging. I was the one waiting for Jack now. I think we had just found Jacks limit. Right around 19 - 20 hours. It was my turn to be the hero. I had been munching on GORP and Clif Bars all night. I still had some in my pocket. Here drink some of this diluted 5 hour energy water, eat a few nuts. "S'alright, I'm better. Not so dizzy anymore. Lets go."
We were off at a fast shamble again. Looking for the correct barbed wire fence to cut behind, then the dry creek bed, who knew that all dry creek beds look the same at 0200... Head East for 25 paces and bazinga there it is. Marker #1 just like we left it 7 hours ago. Four bricks less than4 hours in to the challenge, only a mile back to the check in tent and we would have about 4 hours of rest before we needed to be up for the final challenge of the event. We arrived at the check in tent. They asked how we did. We each dropped our hand carried bricks on the table. The staff was pleased. we met the minimum. We could go. But wait, what was this? Oh we just so happened to have another brick apiece. We were the first team to arrive with 4 bricks. YES. Now off to find our resting location in the dark. But wait. "You need to go see Kent at that tent and get he will inform you of the next step." What??? It's 2:30 in the morning, we've been busting our hump for the last 2 hours to get here faster than anyone else. We had nothing left in our tank. Or so we thought.
Were we in for a surprise? Ya I think so. So was the rest of the competitor field.
More to come on OPT surprise Challenge.
It was getting to be time to load the bus and head out to start our night time event. The shivers had left , or at least they had become controllable. They were handing out maps with our different targets to find, most of us turned on our headlamps trying to come up with a strategy for the night. There were 14 targets in total. Spread out over about 10 miles. Time limit, 6 hours. Each team had one of 4 different maps that located 7 different targets that could be found. We opted for picking only 5, all on the most direct route back to BV. We also noticed a cross country short cut that would / could potentially cut off about a half mile. We were ready.
Three, Two, One. we were off.
We speed walked our way to the front of the lead group. When Jack said now, at his 250 pace count, we cut off from the group and hit the woods. I kept my compass out and headed off in at the proper heading. Jack was sort of following but kept veering off to the right, the south, following his inner compass. One last yell, "Jack, over here" and we came out on the road a couple hundred yards ahead of the rest of the lead group. Our gamble paid off, sort of. I don; think they knew we were ahead of them, as we kept our headlights on low and had no back lights. We jogged a bit to get even farther ahead. This was my territory, I knew this road and these hills better than anyone else in the race. I believed I could get us in and out before they knew we where there. I screwed up. I kept checking the map, looking for the spot where I needed to head in a westerly direction. I missed it by a quarter of a mile. On the map I knew I had to look for the spot between the lily pond and the neck of the lake that fed the lily pond. In the dark and with my tri-focaled eyes, I missed the turn off on the map. In my defense it was partially covered by the 'bubble' surrounding target number 2, but no excuse I blew it. Rather than back track we opted to just head in a south westerly direction hoping to intercept the target right where we knew it to be. Yeah Right. Good Luck. Traveling in the dark climbing up and down boulders and rocks, weaving in and out of trees, losing count of how many paces we traveled, we were lucky we didn't end up in the lake ourselves. We knew we were fairly close when we started seeing other head lamps searching the same area we believed held the target. Climb up, scramble down, over there, check that, what about there... nothing. Forty five minutes of search and we had nothing. But then again neither did anybody else. Teams were giving up on this target. other teams were joining in on the hunt. At an hour we decided to fold our hand and try for better luck on the next target. I was headed over to Jacks location, sweeping my handheld light ahead of me when There. What was that?
I swept it past again, making sure not to move an inch. A dull green glow just ahead no more than 50 to 100 yards ahead.
"Jack you see that?"
"Where?"
"Right there, follow my light"
We were on to something. No sudden moves, No yelling just walk ahead and find the target, pack up the brick and give up like we had no business being there to begin with...No one else the wiser.
Oh yeah, at each target as well as marking the target on our card we had to find and carry out a matching brick, stenciled with that target number. An added bonus for playing these reindeer games...
After spending 90 minutes searching for this one brick we decided to cut our losses and skip the next target, trying to gain lost ground and by finding the next three, settle for the fastest time finding four. (This turned out to be a factor in the "Lone Survivor Run the following morning....) We jogged, speed walked our way past a few teams on our way to the next marked location. Again we sped right on past the appropriate contour marking and had to back track again. But this one was a bit easier to find. It only took us 30 minutes. We believed there were only a couple teams ahead of us and they were not ones that we were worried about. Not that we were worried about any one team, but these were teams that had skipped these targets and were mainly interested in getting back with the bare minimum . We had bigger plans.
We loaded our booty in my pack this time and hit the trail again. We fast waked past 3 more teams, maybe the same teams we past earlier, who know. In the dark on a new moon night everybody looks the same. Except for that one team that had reflective striping everywhere.. But they were not our concern. We needed to be at the next target, 2 miles away, before the next team got there. We continued up SlickRock Road, actually more of a jeep trail than a road, but a well defined trail none the less. We left the river right where the map said we should, continued on for another half a mile, all up hill, and found the Emigrant Trail turnoff just a few meters beyond where it should have been, according to the map. Right at this junction of Jeep Trail and single track trail is where the next target would be located. I headed north on the trail, keeping my eyes peeled for a green glow stick marking the target. Nothing. Again we went too far. Heading back in a ESE direction we spotted the target a hundred meters ahead. Angling off, over rock and stump and downed tree we were on a direct path to intercept the target. But Lo, just there were a couple other teams, not the ones we passed we found out..., but other teams nonetheless. Thats alright. This was our third brick. We already knew where the fourth one was. We were golden. Grab the brick, hand carry it, make a show of knowing what we were doing. Head back to base.
But Wait. Something wasn't right. Jack was lagging. I was the one waiting for Jack now. I think we had just found Jacks limit. Right around 19 - 20 hours. It was my turn to be the hero. I had been munching on GORP and Clif Bars all night. I still had some in my pocket. Here drink some of this diluted 5 hour energy water, eat a few nuts. "S'alright, I'm better. Not so dizzy anymore. Lets go."
We were off at a fast shamble again. Looking for the correct barbed wire fence to cut behind, then the dry creek bed, who knew that all dry creek beds look the same at 0200... Head East for 25 paces and bazinga there it is. Marker #1 just like we left it 7 hours ago. Four bricks less than4 hours in to the challenge, only a mile back to the check in tent and we would have about 4 hours of rest before we needed to be up for the final challenge of the event. We arrived at the check in tent. They asked how we did. We each dropped our hand carried bricks on the table. The staff was pleased. we met the minimum. We could go. But wait, what was this? Oh we just so happened to have another brick apiece. We were the first team to arrive with 4 bricks. YES. Now off to find our resting location in the dark. But wait. "You need to go see Kent at that tent and get he will inform you of the next step." What??? It's 2:30 in the morning, we've been busting our hump for the last 2 hours to get here faster than anyone else. We had nothing left in our tank. Or so we thought.
Were we in for a surprise? Ya I think so. So was the rest of the competitor field.
More to come on OPT surprise Challenge.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
ENdeavorTeamChallenge. The challenges, Day Nav, Night Nav
As we understood it, we had until 1900 (7 PM) to get all of our challenges completed. The daytime Navigation challenge was capped off at a two hours. It was now 1630 and we had just finished eating a bit of yummy MRE and were on our way to check in for Datime Navigation. After recievng our instructions and map we headed out to find as many targets as possible in two hour.
Orienteering or Map and Compass navigating are both simple and difficult to the extreme at the same time. You need to know where you are on the map, within a few meters, at any given time. You also need to know that the trails pictured on the map may or may not be where they are in actuality. Somehow you need to clear your mind of the marked trail factor and rely only on the contour lines and 'given' natural geographic locations on the map. ( a little known fact. One would assume all maps are created equal, when in fact older maps may have an advantage over newer maps. Older maps were drawn with north / south grip on them. easy to locate yourself. Newer maps have foregone N /S grids and began using Township, Section and Range grids which may or may not be actually on a N / S heading... But then declination has changed since the older maps were printed. So information may or may not be acurate on those maps also...)
So with all this in mind we checked our map for which targets we be searching for and headed out. We found the appropriate bend in the trail and headed directly west, 120 paces. We didn't expect to trip over the target but we did expect to be within a stones throw of it. Nothing. fifty paces North, 50 paces East, 100 paces South, 50 paces West. Nothing. No Target. After almost :45 minutes of searching we decided to re-group and go after one of the other targets we knew exactly where it was. On the final leg of our morning Crucible Hike we (OK Jack) noticed a bright orange marker on a post jsut a few yards off the trail with a number 4 on it. It just so happened we had the #4 target on our map. Lets GO! Once we captured #4 we knew that less than a mile uphill was the top of Osbourne Hill and that beside it was located target #9. Up hill we went. Of course we had our map in hand and our compass securely fastened to us so nothing would get lost. Once at the top of the hill, Jack scouting the west side of the hill, like the map directed, noticed yet again, an orange marker on a post about 50 paces away, on the side of the hill, the steep side of the hill, surrounded by loose scree.
After yelling to me that he found it, he made his approach. He only slipped and fell once. Where as I was coming down from the top of the hill and had farther to go, I only fell twice, but once I fell for about 20 feet. When we convened at the target, Jack pocketed his compass and unfolded his map, looking for our target / marking sheet. Not there. "Check your pockets" Nothing. In my mind Panic. "how can you lose that?" "What were you thinking?" "Of all the imbecilic..." "Mastermind my ass"
In Jacks mind, "Uh Oh" "I must of dropped it when I fell". He immediately scrambled back to where the scree was still dribbling down the hill, noticed a white piece of paper sticking out from under the pile and scrambled back with a sheepish grin on his face. " I guess I dropped when that rock about took off my arm". (OK slight exageration, but the sheepish grin was real...). Two targets down, :50 minutes to go until 2 hour deadline.
After checking our exact location on the map and checking our heading, we chose to travel the 250 paces due West to run in to our next target. The only problem was due west was straight down the hill of scree for 50 yards, maybe more if we slid just right. We shot a heading on an approriate looking tree and headed for it. Figuring we couldn't miss THAT pine tree in the middle of the forest we spent most our downhill slide making sure we didn;t exceed the speed limit, we sort of forgot to keep checking on THAT tree. When we got there, or close to there, we couldn't tell if this was THAT tree or that was THAT tree over there. "Oh well, lets keep heading west and we'll cross the trail and find it from there" I said smartly.
We hit the trail, found our exact location, or at least a pretty close location, and headed on a WNW heading to run into the target. Nothing. OH, but what about that middle part, where you can not necessarily rely on the trails printed on the map... We regrouped, again. (Can two people be a group?) WE found the natural dip and dive in the earth that matched the contours on the map and headed off in the appropriate heading form there. Bazinga. there it was. Three targets in hand and :20 minutes to go. We figured we were about 1.5 miles from the check in location and we had to pass target # 1 to get there so with our newfound knowledge, (ignore the trail markings...) we would spend a few more minutes searching for that target on our way back. A sharp contour cut in signifies a steep banked creek or gully. Bazinga. there was one, and a target 25 paces up it. Four targets in hand and 14 minutes to get back, all downhill, on paved road (if you noticed the highway just few yards over there...). We took off at a fast shamble, Jack slowed and waited for me upon our approach to the Checkin tent, so we would look like a team that knew what they were doing, and presented our 4 targets, doubling the total of what most other teams had presented, with :05 minutes to spare. Time for a short break before Night Time Orienteering...
We had a little over an hour before we figured we had to load up on the bus for transport to the start of the next challenge. We decided to use that time to gather our wits, eat a little, use the sanitary facilities (army lingo I guess), and try to recover physically. I laid down and began to shiver uncontrollably. I was a bit dehydrated. My body was trying to tell my mind to shut up and get out of here. "This was crazy. We had been on the go for 13 hours so far and all you've given me a handful of Clif Bars and a dosen Gu Chomps. Oh, and that scrumptious, nuitrisious Chicen Pesto Pasta. Yeah, I know where a Subway is just 25 miles down the road. Oh and they have beer right next door." But my mind being the steel trap that it is said "Oh shut up and get warm, we still have 18 hours to go, get used to it." For once my mind won. I ate a bit, drank a bit, and walked to warm myself. 2000, (8:00p) we were ready. But wait, there were still some teams straggling in to the team area. I guess 8:00 was merely a guidline, we would be delayed by an hour or so. No problem. We would be ready whenever it happened, or at least be the best ones at pretending we were ready....
Ok I am typing blind again. On to the next Blog page.
Orienteering or Map and Compass navigating are both simple and difficult to the extreme at the same time. You need to know where you are on the map, within a few meters, at any given time. You also need to know that the trails pictured on the map may or may not be where they are in actuality. Somehow you need to clear your mind of the marked trail factor and rely only on the contour lines and 'given' natural geographic locations on the map. ( a little known fact. One would assume all maps are created equal, when in fact older maps may have an advantage over newer maps. Older maps were drawn with north / south grip on them. easy to locate yourself. Newer maps have foregone N /S grids and began using Township, Section and Range grids which may or may not be actually on a N / S heading... But then declination has changed since the older maps were printed. So information may or may not be acurate on those maps also...)
So with all this in mind we checked our map for which targets we be searching for and headed out. We found the appropriate bend in the trail and headed directly west, 120 paces. We didn't expect to trip over the target but we did expect to be within a stones throw of it. Nothing. fifty paces North, 50 paces East, 100 paces South, 50 paces West. Nothing. No Target. After almost :45 minutes of searching we decided to re-group and go after one of the other targets we knew exactly where it was. On the final leg of our morning Crucible Hike we (OK Jack) noticed a bright orange marker on a post jsut a few yards off the trail with a number 4 on it. It just so happened we had the #4 target on our map. Lets GO! Once we captured #4 we knew that less than a mile uphill was the top of Osbourne Hill and that beside it was located target #9. Up hill we went. Of course we had our map in hand and our compass securely fastened to us so nothing would get lost. Once at the top of the hill, Jack scouting the west side of the hill, like the map directed, noticed yet again, an orange marker on a post about 50 paces away, on the side of the hill, the steep side of the hill, surrounded by loose scree.
After yelling to me that he found it, he made his approach. He only slipped and fell once. Where as I was coming down from the top of the hill and had farther to go, I only fell twice, but once I fell for about 20 feet. When we convened at the target, Jack pocketed his compass and unfolded his map, looking for our target / marking sheet. Not there. "Check your pockets" Nothing. In my mind Panic. "how can you lose that?" "What were you thinking?" "Of all the imbecilic..." "Mastermind my ass"
In Jacks mind, "Uh Oh" "I must of dropped it when I fell". He immediately scrambled back to where the scree was still dribbling down the hill, noticed a white piece of paper sticking out from under the pile and scrambled back with a sheepish grin on his face. " I guess I dropped when that rock about took off my arm". (OK slight exageration, but the sheepish grin was real...). Two targets down, :50 minutes to go until 2 hour deadline.
After checking our exact location on the map and checking our heading, we chose to travel the 250 paces due West to run in to our next target. The only problem was due west was straight down the hill of scree for 50 yards, maybe more if we slid just right. We shot a heading on an approriate looking tree and headed for it. Figuring we couldn't miss THAT pine tree in the middle of the forest we spent most our downhill slide making sure we didn;t exceed the speed limit, we sort of forgot to keep checking on THAT tree. When we got there, or close to there, we couldn't tell if this was THAT tree or that was THAT tree over there. "Oh well, lets keep heading west and we'll cross the trail and find it from there" I said smartly.
We hit the trail, found our exact location, or at least a pretty close location, and headed on a WNW heading to run into the target. Nothing. OH, but what about that middle part, where you can not necessarily rely on the trails printed on the map... We regrouped, again. (Can two people be a group?) WE found the natural dip and dive in the earth that matched the contours on the map and headed off in the appropriate heading form there. Bazinga. there it was. Three targets in hand and :20 minutes to go. We figured we were about 1.5 miles from the check in location and we had to pass target # 1 to get there so with our newfound knowledge, (ignore the trail markings...) we would spend a few more minutes searching for that target on our way back. A sharp contour cut in signifies a steep banked creek or gully. Bazinga. there was one, and a target 25 paces up it. Four targets in hand and 14 minutes to get back, all downhill, on paved road (if you noticed the highway just few yards over there...). We took off at a fast shamble, Jack slowed and waited for me upon our approach to the Checkin tent, so we would look like a team that knew what they were doing, and presented our 4 targets, doubling the total of what most other teams had presented, with :05 minutes to spare. Time for a short break before Night Time Orienteering...
We had a little over an hour before we figured we had to load up on the bus for transport to the start of the next challenge. We decided to use that time to gather our wits, eat a little, use the sanitary facilities (army lingo I guess), and try to recover physically. I laid down and began to shiver uncontrollably. I was a bit dehydrated. My body was trying to tell my mind to shut up and get out of here. "This was crazy. We had been on the go for 13 hours so far and all you've given me a handful of Clif Bars and a dosen Gu Chomps. Oh, and that scrumptious, nuitrisious Chicen Pesto Pasta. Yeah, I know where a Subway is just 25 miles down the road. Oh and they have beer right next door." But my mind being the steel trap that it is said "Oh shut up and get warm, we still have 18 hours to go, get used to it." For once my mind won. I ate a bit, drank a bit, and walked to warm myself. 2000, (8:00p) we were ready. But wait, there were still some teams straggling in to the team area. I guess 8:00 was merely a guidline, we would be delayed by an hour or so. No problem. We would be ready whenever it happened, or at least be the best ones at pretending we were ready....
Ok I am typing blind again. On to the next Blog page.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
EndeavorTeamChallenge, the challenge, understanding blog writing...?
I am trying, I am really trying. Trying to understand these dang computers and these stupid websights. Frustrating me to no end. I can only write so far on a blog page then the page disappears on me and I am writing blind. Writing blind is not the problem, it is typing blind that throws me off. Anyway, I posted the last accounting of our attempt at the Obstacle Course without being able to finish editing it. I am sure there are typos aplenty and I am hoping you understood enough so that the idea behind the story made sense.
so as far as I can tell
Audrey had finished her slog over the mountains and was manning a position at the end of the swim. Jack and I were in our life jackets managing a weat attempt at swimming toward her and the sound of cowbells. When we finally got our 4 feet out of the water, time was called for us and we were allowed to walk the 1/2 mile back to the start line and head off to the next challenge.
TRC Team Reaction Challenge
We were the first team through TRC. I had a vauge idea what was ahead of us, seeing as I had heard a few hints about what this challenge might include (local knowledge). At the start line we saw a pile of logs and a stack of rope, a locked tool box, and ahead of us about 10 yards a stack of hay bales and beyond that about 20 yards a ten foot hight solid wall. With only minimal instructions on what to expect such as "you may or may not need any of this equipment in front of you" and " you will need to find the final number to solve the math equation in front of you" we set off. As is went the final number was taped inside a bucket hanging about 12 - 13 feet off the ground beyond the 10 foot wall. we needed to lash together the logs to make a ladder to scale and cross the cubicle, then use it again to reach the bucket. Our bucket was on the high end of the line, and we probably did not have enough eye strength to read the number that far away just by tipping the bucket upside down while hanging there even if we could reach it with one of the poles. We chose to rebuild our ladder with the final two rungs high enough for Jack to reach the bucket while I posed as the the other two legs of a step ladder. Once we successfully crossed the cubicle and on our second attempt, managed to read the number inside the bucket, we hustled back to the start line so Jack could do the math to give us the combination to open the tool box.
While ignoring a few bits of advice from our loving and peanut gallery brother we set the standard for the next 30+ teams to come on this event. We did not set the standard very high but did manage to complete the task in under 30 minutes.
Before heading to our next and final day time challenge we chose to pull a picnic table to a shady spot and learned all about heating and eating MRE's. It was getting to be 4:00 in the afternoon and we needed to be done with all the challenges by 7:00p. We figured we had a few minutes to spare before our next challenge that was set with a 2 hour max time limit. Well we most likely did not learn not ALL about eating MREs just enough to heat and eat a few morsels. I chose my Chicken Pesto Pasta, while Jack opted for Imitation boneless, pork ribs, w imitation bbq sauce. MMmm Mmm. boy they were filling. I can hardly wait for our next meal, (which turned out to be 0600 the next morning.)
Once we finished our heated meals and tossed our trash, we headed back across the street to the competitor fields once again for our next challenge, Daytime Navigation.
See I am learning to keep these posts short so I don't get so frustrated trying to type and edit them in the dark. I may be skipping on a few details but then a few details may be skipping out on me. It's been a long week recovering and some things are better left forgotten, or so I'm told...
so as far as I can tell
Audrey had finished her slog over the mountains and was manning a position at the end of the swim. Jack and I were in our life jackets managing a weat attempt at swimming toward her and the sound of cowbells. When we finally got our 4 feet out of the water, time was called for us and we were allowed to walk the 1/2 mile back to the start line and head off to the next challenge.
TRC Team Reaction Challenge
We were the first team through TRC. I had a vauge idea what was ahead of us, seeing as I had heard a few hints about what this challenge might include (local knowledge). At the start line we saw a pile of logs and a stack of rope, a locked tool box, and ahead of us about 10 yards a stack of hay bales and beyond that about 20 yards a ten foot hight solid wall. With only minimal instructions on what to expect such as "you may or may not need any of this equipment in front of you" and " you will need to find the final number to solve the math equation in front of you" we set off. As is went the final number was taped inside a bucket hanging about 12 - 13 feet off the ground beyond the 10 foot wall. we needed to lash together the logs to make a ladder to scale and cross the cubicle, then use it again to reach the bucket. Our bucket was on the high end of the line, and we probably did not have enough eye strength to read the number that far away just by tipping the bucket upside down while hanging there even if we could reach it with one of the poles. We chose to rebuild our ladder with the final two rungs high enough for Jack to reach the bucket while I posed as the the other two legs of a step ladder. Once we successfully crossed the cubicle and on our second attempt, managed to read the number inside the bucket, we hustled back to the start line so Jack could do the math to give us the combination to open the tool box.
While ignoring a few bits of advice from our loving and peanut gallery brother we set the standard for the next 30+ teams to come on this event. We did not set the standard very high but did manage to complete the task in under 30 minutes.
Before heading to our next and final day time challenge we chose to pull a picnic table to a shady spot and learned all about heating and eating MRE's. It was getting to be 4:00 in the afternoon and we needed to be done with all the challenges by 7:00p. We figured we had a few minutes to spare before our next challenge that was set with a 2 hour max time limit. Well we most likely did not learn not ALL about eating MREs just enough to heat and eat a few morsels. I chose my Chicken Pesto Pasta, while Jack opted for Imitation boneless, pork ribs, w imitation bbq sauce. MMmm Mmm. boy they were filling. I can hardly wait for our next meal, (which turned out to be 0600 the next morning.)
Once we finished our heated meals and tossed our trash, we headed back across the street to the competitor fields once again for our next challenge, Daytime Navigation.
See I am learning to keep these posts short so I don't get so frustrated trying to type and edit them in the dark. I may be skipping on a few details but then a few details may be skipping out on me. It's been a long week recovering and some things are better left forgotten, or so I'm told...
EndeavorTeamChallenge, The challenges, The O Course.
We had finished the Feats Strength and managed to find a little time to grab another bite to eat and bottle to drink. More electrolytes weren't exactly the best tasting drink of the day but they were what was needed to finish a 30 hour event. and we were only about 8 hours in to it. Our fan crew had headed across the street to their viewing location of the Obstacle Course. They were set up in a shady spot where they could view and annoy the competitors on the first three obstacles. Cowbells, annoying or motivating? We liked them, thats all we cared about that day...
It were called up to start. we were to take the left lane. No one had been on the left lane yet this morning, and most likely, ever. we would be breaking it in. A good thing and, we were to find, out a not so good thing. These obstacles were designed to be modular. Each was basicaly a 10' x 10' cubicle with different means of scaling and crossing them. Some required teamwork, unless you could jump and reach 10 feet high, from an uneven surface, after 10 hours of phyisical strain. some required upper body strength, some required timing, some required all three...
The first obstacle was a half wall, the top half, starting 5 feet up. Jack boosted me up, I grabbed the top, hoisted my feet onto the 1 inch ledge at 5', set myself and reached down to grab Jacks hand and help hoist him from above. Sort of a top belay manuever. He jumped, I pulled. He made it up. On top we had 3 4x4 beams to cross, about 3' apart, to get to the other side. To get down we had to slither over another beam, grab a rope and sort of slide / rappel down. One down, 5 to go!
The second obstacle was three 6 inch logs spread and staggered out which we were able to jump up on to without any assistance, the crossing on top was a downhill tyrolean traverse, which we crossed by sliding over on our belly. To descend, we had to reach up to the top of the wall, climb up and over and jump down off a 1" ledge at the 5 foot level. Sort of the same as the Obstacle One but in reverse..
On the 3rd obstacle we were to meet a 'real' challenge. The access to the top of the 10' wall was to be gained by ascending a short, steep ramp, made out of formica, or linoleum, or some other ype of slick material. During our practice run on this obstacle a week earlier, (It pays to be local sometimes...) we were each able to run / scramble up this ramp with minimal effort. Unfortunately we had practiced on the right lane when practicing. No one had been up the left lane yet. We knew this as a fact when we looked at the un-tracked layer of dust, soot and ash still covering that side. On my first attempt I attacked the ramp wirh gusto, took the first of my planned 3 steps up the ramp, and promptly lost all traction, felt my knee, then hip, then my face smash in to the ramp barely half way up. Very Very slick. I wiped down the ramp with my hand as best I could then Jack took a turn at the ramp. He made it to his second step before foregoing the knee and hip warning and sending his face to within milimeters of needing surgery. I felt rather than saw his failure. I was headed back for my second attempt as Jacks wipeout had wiped down another couple feet of ramp. I believed I could make it on this attempt. I started another couple feet farther back, figuring more momentum would either get me up and over or maybe through the ramp. I ran, I leaped, I slipped, but only a little, my other foot hit, it stuck, it pushed, I reached, I looked up and found my fingers just over the ledge. YES. I made it! I heaved my body up and over the top, found a veritble spider webbing across the top, and set my self to assist Jack on his next attempt. I was reaching, Jack was approching, Jack was leaping, I was stretching. He made it up to my arms. We grasped wrists and I help pull him up the last few inches to the top. We turned and squiggled our way across the 5 horizontal ropes across the top, a one way spider web if you will, and swung down the rope on the far side. With Cowbells still ringing in our ears we proceeded through the woods to the next obstacle.
We approached the next obstacle, a minimal cubicle. A short 6 foot rope ladder hanging from the top. We had to reach up, grab ahold of the webbing, hoist ourselves, and try to place our foot on the barely 6" wide rung. We both amnaged to get up on our first attempt. Another Tyrolean bridge to crawl across, a one and half inch rope spanning the 10' gap. We inched our way on to the rope, maintaining balance by hanging one leg off and hooking the ankle of the other, while pulling our way across. Up and over the far side, an easy climb down and we were through 4 of the 6 challenges. Next up "feel like a monkey?"
As we approached the next cubicle we wove through the trees and down along a creek bottom. This obstacle would involve rope, rings and bars, monkey bars that is. We had to climb 10 feet up a rope then switch over to monkey bars. Once across the monkey bars we swung across to a lone ring. This ring was a challenge as we had to hit the small ring and then swing across to the remaining monkey bars on one try. We both made it on the first try, finished up the remaining bars, transfered to the dismount rope and swung off. Once again we were on foot headed to the last cubicle.
At theis last obstacle we had to jump up on to a platfor 5 feet high, grab a hold of a ring and tha surrounded a 2' pipe. The pipe ran the entire ten foot width of the cubicle. We had to hang out over space, then throw ourselves toward the other side and slide across while holding the ring. We bot mananged to make it across on one swing and were quickly on our way ton foot ttoward the lake.
We ran a along a single track trail, up hill, of course, to Bear Lake. Once up there, we each grabbed a life jacket for the 200 meter swim back across the lake. I heard a familiar voice and the unending ring of cowbells as we swam along. My daughter Audrey, was the target we were swimming towards. She had signed up to volunteer for this event and found as many volunteers jobs as she could during the day. She After she finished her 10 mile slog as sweep / or sag for the Crucuble hike, she was directed to help out athe swim portion of the O course.
It were called up to start. we were to take the left lane. No one had been on the left lane yet this morning, and most likely, ever. we would be breaking it in. A good thing and, we were to find, out a not so good thing. These obstacles were designed to be modular. Each was basicaly a 10' x 10' cubicle with different means of scaling and crossing them. Some required teamwork, unless you could jump and reach 10 feet high, from an uneven surface, after 10 hours of phyisical strain. some required upper body strength, some required timing, some required all three...
The first obstacle was a half wall, the top half, starting 5 feet up. Jack boosted me up, I grabbed the top, hoisted my feet onto the 1 inch ledge at 5', set myself and reached down to grab Jacks hand and help hoist him from above. Sort of a top belay manuever. He jumped, I pulled. He made it up. On top we had 3 4x4 beams to cross, about 3' apart, to get to the other side. To get down we had to slither over another beam, grab a rope and sort of slide / rappel down. One down, 5 to go!
The second obstacle was three 6 inch logs spread and staggered out which we were able to jump up on to without any assistance, the crossing on top was a downhill tyrolean traverse, which we crossed by sliding over on our belly. To descend, we had to reach up to the top of the wall, climb up and over and jump down off a 1" ledge at the 5 foot level. Sort of the same as the Obstacle One but in reverse..
On the 3rd obstacle we were to meet a 'real' challenge. The access to the top of the 10' wall was to be gained by ascending a short, steep ramp, made out of formica, or linoleum, or some other ype of slick material. During our practice run on this obstacle a week earlier, (It pays to be local sometimes...) we were each able to run / scramble up this ramp with minimal effort. Unfortunately we had practiced on the right lane when practicing. No one had been up the left lane yet. We knew this as a fact when we looked at the un-tracked layer of dust, soot and ash still covering that side. On my first attempt I attacked the ramp wirh gusto, took the first of my planned 3 steps up the ramp, and promptly lost all traction, felt my knee, then hip, then my face smash in to the ramp barely half way up. Very Very slick. I wiped down the ramp with my hand as best I could then Jack took a turn at the ramp. He made it to his second step before foregoing the knee and hip warning and sending his face to within milimeters of needing surgery. I felt rather than saw his failure. I was headed back for my second attempt as Jacks wipeout had wiped down another couple feet of ramp. I believed I could make it on this attempt. I started another couple feet farther back, figuring more momentum would either get me up and over or maybe through the ramp. I ran, I leaped, I slipped, but only a little, my other foot hit, it stuck, it pushed, I reached, I looked up and found my fingers just over the ledge. YES. I made it! I heaved my body up and over the top, found a veritble spider webbing across the top, and set my self to assist Jack on his next attempt. I was reaching, Jack was approching, Jack was leaping, I was stretching. He made it up to my arms. We grasped wrists and I help pull him up the last few inches to the top. We turned and squiggled our way across the 5 horizontal ropes across the top, a one way spider web if you will, and swung down the rope on the far side. With Cowbells still ringing in our ears we proceeded through the woods to the next obstacle.
We approached the next obstacle, a minimal cubicle. A short 6 foot rope ladder hanging from the top. We had to reach up, grab ahold of the webbing, hoist ourselves, and try to place our foot on the barely 6" wide rung. We both amnaged to get up on our first attempt. Another Tyrolean bridge to crawl across, a one and half inch rope spanning the 10' gap. We inched our way on to the rope, maintaining balance by hanging one leg off and hooking the ankle of the other, while pulling our way across. Up and over the far side, an easy climb down and we were through 4 of the 6 challenges. Next up "feel like a monkey?"
As we approached the next cubicle we wove through the trees and down along a creek bottom. This obstacle would involve rope, rings and bars, monkey bars that is. We had to climb 10 feet up a rope then switch over to monkey bars. Once across the monkey bars we swung across to a lone ring. This ring was a challenge as we had to hit the small ring and then swing across to the remaining monkey bars on one try. We both made it on the first try, finished up the remaining bars, transfered to the dismount rope and swung off. Once again we were on foot headed to the last cubicle.
At theis last obstacle we had to jump up on to a platfor 5 feet high, grab a hold of a ring and tha surrounded a 2' pipe. The pipe ran the entire ten foot width of the cubicle. We had to hang out over space, then throw ourselves toward the other side and slide across while holding the ring. We bot mananged to make it across on one swing and were quickly on our way ton foot ttoward the lake.
We ran a along a single track trail, up hill, of course, to Bear Lake. Once up there, we each grabbed a life jacket for the 200 meter swim back across the lake. I heard a familiar voice and the unending ring of cowbells as we swam along. My daughter Audrey, was the target we were swimming towards. She had signed up to volunteer for this event and found as many volunteers jobs as she could during the day. She After she finished her 10 mile slog as sweep / or sag for the Crucuble hike, she was directed to help out athe swim portion of the O course.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
EndeavorteamChallenge; the challenges, Feats of Strength
We encountered Keith and Laura on our short 1/2 mile hike back to the competitor fields. I had a feeling Keith didn't just happen by, seeing as we were well away from where motorized vehicles were allowed. But Keith being Keith, rules were merely guidelines and he was on a motorcycle and who cared anyway...?
Once we got within sight of the competitor fields we heard them before we saw them. CowBells. "I got a fever, and the only cure is more CowBells..." Cowbells only could mean one thing. OK two things, either we were in Europe for Tour de France or the Edney clan was in town. Bear Team supporters in full regalia. Everyone had their own Bear Team shirt and most everyone was ringing some form of CowBell. It was great! The other competitors didn't know what to make of it. That was even better! We were destined for greatness! Among our spectator fans were My wife Nancy, Jacks friend Laura, (Her boys were off playing the the second round of 18 holes of disc golf of the day. They eventually completed over six 18 hole games that weekend..)Bear valley has an amazing disc golf course). I digress... Keith drove down from Folsom to be with us, My parents came up from Pleasanton for the weekend, and our good friends Mike and Jeni came up the hill, braving the smoke from the Rim Fire, to watch and cheer us on. (I think they have a crush on Jack...) Thank You all!
We hugged and kissed our brief hellos, and went to report in for Feats of Strength. As we were checking in we noticed a couple other teams struggling across the soccer field carrying or dragging or pushing various pieces of weight. (Not to be confused with pieces of eight which some people would gladly carry off. Arrgh) While waiting we managed to chomp down a few calories and drink a few ounces of electrolytes (alcohol is banned during this event.). When our turn was called we had a cheering section to rival any european soccer match during a 0-0 tie with :05 minutes to go in the game...OK maybe they weren't singing but they were cheering and ringing them bells...
Keith chose to cross yet another line and came on to the field with us as official photographer and personal coach. I guess as long as you have a camera out you are allowed... As we surveyed the various items to be moved we came up with a game plan. Carry the only two man weight first then "grab and go" with the others. We saw nothing else either one of us couldn't carry alone and one item (ok actually two items, weighted pulley wheels, about 50lb each) that could be rolled together. Along with the wheels were a 8 ft length of RXR tie, a rock, a rolled up bundle of sod netting, two ski lift chairs and a 24"x 24" box jump box. None of these were overly heavy but most of them were cumbersome and difficult to handle. Each item had to be moved the length of the soccer field, deposited there until all pieces were on the north end, then returned to their original location on the south end. No Problem.
Three, Two, One, we were off. Keith was a great photog and coach except we totally ignored him.(another reason I chose Jack over Keith, you can only ignore Keith for so long. It's when you start to listen to him that the trouble begins...) I can hardly wait to see the videos of this event as we chose to compete here in our cut off sleeve Hawaiian shirts. The way the crowd was cheering I can only imagine our muscles were bulging and drawing fans from afar...Was I dreaming or did it really happen?
We made it through this event with a personal record. The crowd was on their feet when we came off the field. They had left all their chairs over at the Obstacle Course where we were headed to next.
Once we got within sight of the competitor fields we heard them before we saw them. CowBells. "I got a fever, and the only cure is more CowBells..." Cowbells only could mean one thing. OK two things, either we were in Europe for Tour de France or the Edney clan was in town. Bear Team supporters in full regalia. Everyone had their own Bear Team shirt and most everyone was ringing some form of CowBell. It was great! The other competitors didn't know what to make of it. That was even better! We were destined for greatness! Among our spectator fans were My wife Nancy, Jacks friend Laura, (Her boys were off playing the the second round of 18 holes of disc golf of the day. They eventually completed over six 18 hole games that weekend..)Bear valley has an amazing disc golf course). I digress... Keith drove down from Folsom to be with us, My parents came up from Pleasanton for the weekend, and our good friends Mike and Jeni came up the hill, braving the smoke from the Rim Fire, to watch and cheer us on. (I think they have a crush on Jack...) Thank You all!
We hugged and kissed our brief hellos, and went to report in for Feats of Strength. As we were checking in we noticed a couple other teams struggling across the soccer field carrying or dragging or pushing various pieces of weight. (Not to be confused with pieces of eight which some people would gladly carry off. Arrgh) While waiting we managed to chomp down a few calories and drink a few ounces of electrolytes (alcohol is banned during this event.). When our turn was called we had a cheering section to rival any european soccer match during a 0-0 tie with :05 minutes to go in the game...OK maybe they weren't singing but they were cheering and ringing them bells...
Keith chose to cross yet another line and came on to the field with us as official photographer and personal coach. I guess as long as you have a camera out you are allowed... As we surveyed the various items to be moved we came up with a game plan. Carry the only two man weight first then "grab and go" with the others. We saw nothing else either one of us couldn't carry alone and one item (ok actually two items, weighted pulley wheels, about 50lb each) that could be rolled together. Along with the wheels were a 8 ft length of RXR tie, a rock, a rolled up bundle of sod netting, two ski lift chairs and a 24"x 24" box jump box. None of these were overly heavy but most of them were cumbersome and difficult to handle. Each item had to be moved the length of the soccer field, deposited there until all pieces were on the north end, then returned to their original location on the south end. No Problem.
Three, Two, One, we were off. Keith was a great photog and coach except we totally ignored him.(another reason I chose Jack over Keith, you can only ignore Keith for so long. It's when you start to listen to him that the trouble begins...) I can hardly wait to see the videos of this event as we chose to compete here in our cut off sleeve Hawaiian shirts. The way the crowd was cheering I can only imagine our muscles were bulging and drawing fans from afar...Was I dreaming or did it really happen?
We made it through this event with a personal record. The crowd was on their feet when we came off the field. They had left all their chairs over at the Obstacle Course where we were headed to next.
EndeavorTeamChallenge; the Challenges, Mountaineering
WE have just completed a 18.5 mile Crucible Footmarch that included a 200m swim across a frigid alpine lake. We have arrived at the Competitor Field, sight of the Challenges. In military terms, We have arrived at the scene of the battle.
There are 5 day time challenges. Mountaineering, Feats of Strength, Obstacle Course, Team Reaction Challenge, and Daytime Navigation. Each of these has a different method of challenging a person. We started at
Mountaineering.
After grabbing a quick bite and a :15 minute rest the first 6 teams to finish the Crucible hike were directed to grab our backpacks and report to Mountaineering. Once there we grounded our packs and donned our climbing harnesses, fit a helmet to our noggins and proceeded to the Rappel station at the top of the canyon. In proper military fashion the climbing instructors never assumed we knew what we were doing. They checked our equipment, instructed us, then allowed us to clip in to the rappel rope and gave us concise direction on how to walk backwards off the top of a 40 foot cliff. This was our welcome to mountaineering. On a double rope rappel with a firemans belay below we had to almost push the rope through our rappel device in order to descend. That was ok. The first time rappelling in about 20 years I can stand to enter it slowly. In fact the last time I was rock climbing most of these other competitors were most likely still in diapers or in grade school. After belaying for my partner, Jack, we proceeded to the next mountaineering challenge, Climbing.
We had chosen a medium difficulty climb to attempt. We were to be timed on how fast we could make it up 60' and ring the bell. The route we were given was called The Mantle, a 5.7 climb. About 1/3 of the way up there was a ledge we had to push / pull /scramble up and over. That was followed by about 20' of crack climbing, another mantle then more flat surface scrambling to reach the bell. I opted to climb first. Not because I was any better at climbing than Jack but mainly because I had watched someone else climb that route a few weeks earlier when I just happened to be passing by on one of my evening runs. (checking out the terrain where some of the Endeavor course may or may not have gone. Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared..Coast Guard motto. Semper Paratus (always prepared).) On my climb I was focusing on maintaining 3 points of contact at all time, but found my self in 5 or 6 points of contact on occasion. My knees are a little bit scratched and I may have used my helmet to maintain balance at one point. In the end it took me almost 4 minute to ascend to the bell, and about :30 seconds to be belayed down by the climbing instructor. That was about 10 times longer than it took my head and knees to stop shaking once I finally reached the top and chose to look down and see how high I was.
Jacks climb went a bit smoother. He had watched me climb and had a good lesson in what NOT to do. He reached the bell in about 3:30 minutes. It still took him a few minutes to settle himself before rappelling down. Jack has never been climbing on a rock face. He has only ever been climbing on a rock wall in a gym. He had good form but was a bit surprised at how life like the knobs, cracks and holds were on the rock face compared to the manufactured holds he used in the gym. Next on the agenda, Tyrolean Traverse.
Once we were settled down enough to walk, we continued on up the canyon to the Tyrolean Traverse. When I was climbing I vaguely remember seeing / hearing out of the corner of my eye a shadow or form slip past overhead. We looked up and saw a couple of strings stretching across the canyon. We were headed up to them. We were going to fly across the canyon on those lines. After a short hike and easy climb we reached the top southern wall of the canyon. We were given instructions about clipping in, attaching ourselves to the small pulley that would carry us across the 200 - 300 foot space. (Jack thought the distance was closer to 300' I thought closer to 200'. I'm suggesting we were both right by saying the anchor points were 300' apart and our take off and landing points were closer to 200'. Plus in all my stories I am going to use 300' because it sounds manlier...) I opted for the faster looking line. Ok it was the line closest to me with the easiest access. After our last second instructions about what NOT to touch, we both grabbed ahold of the pulley and said we were ready. The instructor just shook his head and said "NO, I said DO NOT grab the pulley." We corrected our grips and nodded our acknowledgement, and were ready for the countdown. We were to be timed on our crossing. Both partners taking off simultaneously, the last one to touch ground stops the clock. I hoped the guy across the canyon was the one with the clock and not the guy at the bottom of the canyon...
Three, Two, One, Jack ran a couple quick short steps and pushed off. I was already at the edge, thinking my massive body weight would be all it took to do the job of overcoming inertia. I heard Jack zip on by as I was hanging about 3 feet off the edge if the cliff, motionless. I guess my weight was not enough to overcome motionlessness. What that saying? E=MC2? I was energy at rest. I at once laid back and grabbed the rope above my head, which was technically on level with my head and began pulling for all I was worth. I was a mere 1.5 seconds behind Jack when we landed on the other side. I do not know how our times compared to the other smaller, young, faster looking teams.Thus ended our venture in to Mountaineering. We both agreed rock climbing was thrilling and invigorating, and a good workout. We both look forward to climbing again, hopefully in the near future. At the checkout tent, we were directed to head to the competitor field for our next Challenge, Feats of Strength.
On our hike back to the competitor field we were met by a couple of strange looking creatures. they didn't have a large hump sticking off their backs. How does that joke go? I don't recall their name, but their face rings a bell... Actually it was our brother Keith and Jacks friend Laura. I had a feeling we were in for a surprise when we got to the next event....
There are 5 day time challenges. Mountaineering, Feats of Strength, Obstacle Course, Team Reaction Challenge, and Daytime Navigation. Each of these has a different method of challenging a person. We started at
Mountaineering.
After grabbing a quick bite and a :15 minute rest the first 6 teams to finish the Crucible hike were directed to grab our backpacks and report to Mountaineering. Once there we grounded our packs and donned our climbing harnesses, fit a helmet to our noggins and proceeded to the Rappel station at the top of the canyon. In proper military fashion the climbing instructors never assumed we knew what we were doing. They checked our equipment, instructed us, then allowed us to clip in to the rappel rope and gave us concise direction on how to walk backwards off the top of a 40 foot cliff. This was our welcome to mountaineering. On a double rope rappel with a firemans belay below we had to almost push the rope through our rappel device in order to descend. That was ok. The first time rappelling in about 20 years I can stand to enter it slowly. In fact the last time I was rock climbing most of these other competitors were most likely still in diapers or in grade school. After belaying for my partner, Jack, we proceeded to the next mountaineering challenge, Climbing.
We had chosen a medium difficulty climb to attempt. We were to be timed on how fast we could make it up 60' and ring the bell. The route we were given was called The Mantle, a 5.7 climb. About 1/3 of the way up there was a ledge we had to push / pull /scramble up and over. That was followed by about 20' of crack climbing, another mantle then more flat surface scrambling to reach the bell. I opted to climb first. Not because I was any better at climbing than Jack but mainly because I had watched someone else climb that route a few weeks earlier when I just happened to be passing by on one of my evening runs. (checking out the terrain where some of the Endeavor course may or may not have gone. Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared..Coast Guard motto. Semper Paratus (always prepared).) On my climb I was focusing on maintaining 3 points of contact at all time, but found my self in 5 or 6 points of contact on occasion. My knees are a little bit scratched and I may have used my helmet to maintain balance at one point. In the end it took me almost 4 minute to ascend to the bell, and about :30 seconds to be belayed down by the climbing instructor. That was about 10 times longer than it took my head and knees to stop shaking once I finally reached the top and chose to look down and see how high I was.
Jacks climb went a bit smoother. He had watched me climb and had a good lesson in what NOT to do. He reached the bell in about 3:30 minutes. It still took him a few minutes to settle himself before rappelling down. Jack has never been climbing on a rock face. He has only ever been climbing on a rock wall in a gym. He had good form but was a bit surprised at how life like the knobs, cracks and holds were on the rock face compared to the manufactured holds he used in the gym. Next on the agenda, Tyrolean Traverse.
Once we were settled down enough to walk, we continued on up the canyon to the Tyrolean Traverse. When I was climbing I vaguely remember seeing / hearing out of the corner of my eye a shadow or form slip past overhead. We looked up and saw a couple of strings stretching across the canyon. We were headed up to them. We were going to fly across the canyon on those lines. After a short hike and easy climb we reached the top southern wall of the canyon. We were given instructions about clipping in, attaching ourselves to the small pulley that would carry us across the 200 - 300 foot space. (Jack thought the distance was closer to 300' I thought closer to 200'. I'm suggesting we were both right by saying the anchor points were 300' apart and our take off and landing points were closer to 200'. Plus in all my stories I am going to use 300' because it sounds manlier...) I opted for the faster looking line. Ok it was the line closest to me with the easiest access. After our last second instructions about what NOT to touch, we both grabbed ahold of the pulley and said we were ready. The instructor just shook his head and said "NO, I said DO NOT grab the pulley." We corrected our grips and nodded our acknowledgement, and were ready for the countdown. We were to be timed on our crossing. Both partners taking off simultaneously, the last one to touch ground stops the clock. I hoped the guy across the canyon was the one with the clock and not the guy at the bottom of the canyon...
Three, Two, One, Jack ran a couple quick short steps and pushed off. I was already at the edge, thinking my massive body weight would be all it took to do the job of overcoming inertia. I heard Jack zip on by as I was hanging about 3 feet off the edge if the cliff, motionless. I guess my weight was not enough to overcome motionlessness. What that saying? E=MC2? I was energy at rest. I at once laid back and grabbed the rope above my head, which was technically on level with my head and began pulling for all I was worth. I was a mere 1.5 seconds behind Jack when we landed on the other side. I do not know how our times compared to the other smaller, young, faster looking teams.Thus ended our venture in to Mountaineering. We both agreed rock climbing was thrilling and invigorating, and a good workout. We both look forward to climbing again, hopefully in the near future. At the checkout tent, we were directed to head to the competitor field for our next Challenge, Feats of Strength.
On our hike back to the competitor field we were met by a couple of strange looking creatures. they didn't have a large hump sticking off their backs. How does that joke go? I don't recall their name, but their face rings a bell... Actually it was our brother Keith and Jacks friend Laura. I had a feeling we were in for a surprise when we got to the next event....
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