Scrambled in Squamish - Floridian Invades & Blizzard Roars

With all that’s been going on I haven’t written any blog notes in a while. I’ve been moving, changing jobs, building a house, etc. I suppose that’s reason enough to slack off on the running and writing. I kept a pretty good training schedule throughout most of the fall, but when the October 27^th move date from St. Louis, MO to Tampa, FL was upon me it took all priority. While I “held it together” in November it became more difficult in December & January. With all of the racing and training I did in 2010 (as evidenced by the award of 2010 Club Fat Ass New Year’s Resolution Contest Winner!) it was probably time for a bit of a break.

Now that we’re back in February I can see (mostly from my growing waist line) that I need to get back to “fighting weight”. I have a less hectic plan for racing this year and a MUCH larger focus on helping some friends with their races. I’d like to throw in a few “just for fun” type things, and that’s what brings me to the 2011 Squamish Scrambler...

A trip to Hawaii in mid-January was not without travel issues. Due to the airline's mistakes, Lauren and I were awarded (each) with $250 travel vouchers to use as cash with the airline. Upon our receipt of the vouchers I couldn’t help but price airfare to Vancouver or Seattle in hopes that it would yield something reasonable and as close to FREE as possible. My thought being that it may afford a chance to travel to Vancouver, once again, to see some friends and enjoy  a Club Fat Ass event.

As luck would have it, the search netted me two round trip airfares to Seattle from Tampa for $230 each (taxes/fees included!) for the weekend of the Squamish Scrambler! Since Lauren’s good friend, Katie, recently moved to Seattle it would be the perfect weekend getaway for both of us. Lauren would stay back in Seattle to enjoy the weekend and I planned to drive up to North Van to meet up with Ean & Sibylle, plus some other friends along the way if luck would have it.

Luck WOULD have it, indeed. I met with a friend, Ferg Hawke, in South Surrey to share a couple of beers catch up after having crossed the border in to BC. Unfortunately, Ferg had to work over the weekend so we had to postpone an opportunity to get out for a run until next time. Subsequently on the Friday evening agenda – Sushi Bella at 2^nd & Lonsdale in North Van. I would rate this as a MUST TRY for any of you in the North Van area that are looking for a good bite of sushi.

Sushi Bella was a hot tip from the recently less gimpy Gary Robbins (glad you ditched those crutches, bro!). We met there with the likes of Rune Melcher, Ean Jackson & even a cameo beer appearance was made by John Machray. A motley crew, indeed! Gary’s recommendation on sushi DID NOT disappoint, and the lot of us enjoyed the dinner and a couple of beers, then off to rest up for Ean and me. The morning would hold adventure and hour north of the city near Squamish for the SCRAMBLER.

Ean has been trying to get me to snowshoe with him for some time now. I always intend to try, but there’s never enough time in a 3–day weekend because I’m always there for some other CFA event. However, this time I was there specifically for a snowshoe event in the Squamish Scrambler and the weather report promised that this would be an epic one for sure.

Ean and I piled in the car with Reagan White for the drive up to Squamish to meet event organizer Ryan Conroy and the rest of the participants at Tim Horton’s. I always enjoy a good cup of Tim’s, and I got to try my first maple dip donut – MMMMMMmmmmmmmm, tasty! I was fueled and ready to go.

THE CHIEF on the way through Squamish:

A slightly harrowing effort to drive up to the parking lot at the trailhead by Ean netted us a reasonable starting time and we were off to climb to Elfin Lakes. Out of the gate I could tell that I wouldn’t be very fast on snowshoes, especially climbing as much as 2,000-3,000ft in a couple of miles. The conditions low on the mountain were pretty good, but it was PUKING snow. The higher we climbed the worse the conditions seemed to get.

The Scrambler offers a few things that you just don’t get in the state of Florida: Elevation, Climbing and LOTS of snow. I climbed more in the first 30 minutes of the Scrambler than I have in 3 MONTHS of running in Florida – no joke. However, it was a beautiful site to see and a veritable winter wonder land.

Once up to Red Heather cabin we stopped in for a quick warm up then trudged on along behind several others in the group. What had been a very manageable trail and pace lower down the mountain had turned in to a slow grind as we took turns cutting trail through ever deeper snow the longer we continued. Winds had picked up something fierce and the tracks we made were quickly covered over again. It became clear only about 2k beyond Red Heather Cabin that it wasn’t in the cards to make it all the way to Elfin Lakes. Ean and others remarked that it was as deep of snow as they’d ever seen it for Scrambler, so I felt good about my effort & experience to that point. Heading back down made a lot of sense to me because my fingers had gone from wet & warm, to wet & cold, to numb, then to FINGERNAILS ON FIRE and swelling to the size of sausages. NOT GOOD. As I bolted back down to Red Heather I made good time and the accelerated pace got the fingers back where they should be. We were moving too slow to keep them warm as we attempted to break trail up high through waist or chest high snow.

Another quick stop at Red Heather on the way back down had revealed that many other hikers and skiers had planned to make the trip to Elfin Lakes and attempt an overnight at the large cabin up there. I dare say that if most of them made it I know two things to be true. 1) It was a BITCH for them to get up there and 2) There wasn’t enough room for all of them!

Shortly after our departure from Red Heather, Ean found a nice little spot to do some jumping, so I captured this video clip with my phone:

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Needless to say, you just don’t see that every day in the Sunshine State of Florida!

In finishing up my run the rest of the way down I made good time and experimented with this, my first snow shoe attempt ever. The technique really wasn’t all too difficult as many friends had promised me. I’m glad they were right and I thoroughly enjoyed the time out on the mountain in the elements.

The finisher celebration was at Howe Sound Brewery and we enjoyed some tasty grub and a pint, sharing our war stories from our efforts in the blizzard above. Good times for sure. Best part is, I was voted in as “honorary Canadian”, although I’m not certain whether that’s a lifetime offer, or if it was just for the weekend. The vote came about due to the fact that I had met several "requirements" of being Canadian, such as snowshoeing, eating a maple donut from Tim's, etc. I was put on the spot for singing the Canadian National Anthem to the group at the pub. Unfortunately, I don’t know all of the words and I’m a HORRIBLE singer. In an effort not to embarrass myself or disgrace the Canadian Anthem I passed on the opportunity for a singing recital. In any case, it was pretty much a unanimous vote and I really appreciate the sentiment from my Canuck friends. You all are the best!

Saturday evening was a blast as well due to friends arriving to meet us for dinner at Ean & Sibylle’s. Another surprise appearance by John Machray was followed by another Gary Robbins sighting. Wendy Montgomery joined as well. A great treat was to have Julie Flynn and Glen Cameron (a lovely couple!) join us for the meal. I had the distinct pleasure of pacing Julie for 27 miles at HURT 100 in Honolulu last month. Julie had put on an effort for 67 miles that was nothing short of HEROIC and earned a 100k finish in what has to be one of the top 5 most difficult 100’s in the world. I heard so much about Glen during that run that I could hardly wait to meet him! Glen didn’t disappoint, and we all enjoyed some grilled treats that Ean managed not to burn on the barbie.

I had hoped to catch up with David Crerar Sunday morning on his Flash event for The Trans Canada Trail Run. What better way to celebrate my (temporary?) Honorary Canadian status?! Unfortunately, a 1:40pm flight from Seattle back to Tampa wouldn’t leave enought time. I had to settle for dropping Ean off east of Burnaby on my way back south so he could join David and the others in the Flash event. I’m sure I missed a good one there.

Many thanks to Ryan Conroy for organizing an epic snowshoe event over the weekend. I really enjoyed catching up, however briefly, with all of my BC friends. I like Wendy’s suggestion that I “should just move to Canada”. While I don’t disagree, there are plenty of bills to be paid back in FL. Maybe someday that will be in the cards, but for now I’ll be looking for another excuse to come back for a run with you all as soon as I can.