Thursday, December 02, 2010

Two million feet of vertical in 365 days

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Check this out. Ski mountaineer Greg Hill is trying to ski 2 million feet of vertical in one year. He started in January and is coming down the home stretch, having logged 1.75 million feet with one month to go.

Here's what Greg was doing the other day. Looks like he had a better day than me.

Greg Hill

Here's what Greg was doing the other day. Looks like he had a better day than me.

Making matters even more insane, the guy hasn't taken a lift yet. He's walking up all the mountains he skis. According to his PR folks, hiking up enough mountains to ski 2 million feet is the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest three times a month for a year. Or better yet, taking the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building four times a day, every day, for a year.

Like any worthwhile endeavor, there's a Web site behind it. You can find Greg Hill 2 Mil HERE.

Here's a post from last Tuesday:

My legs are feeling a little punched today. Its been ten days of touring, not that they were all huge days, the smallest being 2000 and the largest 8400. But the smallest day might have been one of the hardest.

There was 60 cm of fresh light snow but it blanketed a bunch of logs, rhododendrons and all sorts of rocks. So touring was super hard and we ended up getting nowhere and skiing nothing great.

But winter is finally arriving and looking around things look great.

We are still limited in where we can go but where we are going is usually pretty amazing up high with a variety of not great skiing down low. ...

Good luck, Greg. Hope your knees hold out and the snow gods smile down upon you.

Here's some video on Hill's efforts.

Backcountry.com presents... The Greg Hill 2 Mil from Greg Hill 2 Mil on Vimeo.

Posted By: Al Saracevic (Email) | Dec 02 at 02:00 PM

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Putting on the Ritz

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You haven't been pampered until you've skied the Ritz-Carlton.

Nestled mid-mountain at Northstar-at-Tahoe, the Ritz resembles a ski lodge like I resemble Brad Pitt.

Upon arrival, valets escort guests and their skis through the entrance and into a gigantic lobby. From there, it's up a grandiose stairway to the upper regions of posh. And out the back door to a enormous deck with ski racks. Needless to say, guests are not carrying their skis along the route. And it's a long trip to the top if you're lugging your own.

If you're staying -- and we weren't :( -- that's where you'll meet Nicholas Corbet and his crew. They run Guest Services at the Ritz and will actually carry guests' skis to the adjacent trail, set them up in the snow and point them towards the lift, which is about 100 yards downhill.

I actually heard one valet say: "Your skis are ready, sir." No truth to the rumor that they give guests a gentle push to get you going.

For those of us who grew up pulling on boots in a muddy parking lot and walking 14 icy miles to the nearest lift, this level of service seems a bit much.

For those paying between $400 and $4,000 a night to stay there, I would imagine you could grow used to it.

Find out more about the Ritz here.

Valets carry your skis to the slopes at Northstar's Ritz-Carlton resort.

Aida Tanaka/Special to The Chronicle

Valets carry your skis to the slopes at Northstar's Ritz-Carlton resort.

The resort blends right into the slopes.

Aida Tanaka/Special to The Chronicle

The resort blends right into the slopes.

Posted By: Al Saracevic (Email) | Dec 02 at 08:00 AM

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