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Aug 4, 2015
Doug Mayer

K2-TPS: France’s First Double Vertical Kilometer

In the world of trail running, the vertical kilometer has quickly developed a well-deserved reputation for being as challenging as it is short. “Thirty-seven minutes in the pain cave,” as US mountain runner Max King rightfully concluded, after last month’s Chamonix’s Vertical Kilometer, or “VK.” Climbing 1,000 meters in 5 kilometers or less (and often

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Jul 29, 2015
Emmie Collinge

LoLa – A finish worth the hard work

As I gasped for breath, my legs on fire with the lactic acid building in them as I climbed, and the sting of sweat in my eyes, I yet again wondered why I thought that Lodrino Lavertezzo Skyrace, more fondly known as LoLa, was a good idea. Twelve months ago it had been our baptism

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Jul 13, 2015
Doug Mayer

Is Ice Trail Tarentaise the Most Extreme Trail Race in the Alps?

I am on a glacier, crawling across a ladder, a gaping abyss of a crevasse below, when the thought occurs. Ice Trail Tarentaise has got to be one of the most extreme trail races in all the Alps. This race, founded in 2011, has quickly garnered attention in the Alps, where there is no shortage of

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Jul 10, 2015
Doug Mayer

Kilian, Mira, Alex and 21,000 others: Chamonix’s Skyrunning Weekend

Mira Rai, the young Nepali runner, is being interviewed. Her gentle face is radiating an infectious smile. She looks incomprehensibly fresh after winning Chamonix’s 80-km Continental Skyrunning Championships just moments ago with a new course record of 12:32:12. Her nearest competitor, Spain’s Anna Comet Pascua, didn’t see the finish line for another 22 minutes. Place

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Jun 27, 2015
Doug Mayer

Redlining in Chamonix: Skyrunning’s Vertical Kilometer

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” “How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice. “You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland The Vertical

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