My Grand Adventure

13 days. In 13 days I'll be standing at the base of the Grand Teton, introducing myself to the other climbers in the group, and trying to play it cool despite my nervousness and excitement. Most of you probably already know a little about what this climb of the Grand Teton is all about. If not, please check out the story of my Summit for Someone charity climb for a really awesome organization called Big City Mountaineers (BCM). You might also know that I first heard about the

I did what I always seem to do - I freaked out, did so much research I got overwhelmed, freaked out some more, asked a bunch of people a bunch of questions, attempted to create a master plan, doubted my plan, analyzed my plan, adjusted my plan, thought about it way too much, and then eventually threw the plan out the window and just did my thing. That has been my approach to training for The Grand Teton. That's generally my approach to everything. Diets, exercise, travel, par

Tuscarora quartzite spires jutting out of the mountain top, a trail of rocky cliffs overlooking Catawba valley, snakes, poison ivy, and lots and lots of uphill hiking. Welcome to Virginia's Triple Crown: a 38 mile backpacking loop west of Roanoke. When you live near sea level it can be challenging to train to climb a 13,000' tall mountain. So I've sought out hikes with lots of uphill climbing. The Triple Crown delivered just that. It started with a climb from the valley floor