Oh Sweet Seattle

My full race report on the 24 hours of sunlight has been published. Lou Dawson's blog has a blurb on my report as well.

I feel completely healed already. I now really think the Recover-Ease is an amazing product. After the race I had planned to return to Jackson Hole for one final week of skiing. With my toe throbbing as I started the drive back I decided that it was time to return to Seattle and let the toe heal. Another week in Jackson would mean another week of skiing (yah!) and another week before the toe starts to get better, and the very real possibility of it getting worse (boo!). OK, so I also wanted to suprise my girlfriend by showing up a week earlier than planned, on Valentine's Day.

Photo By David Bitton

The toe is doing much better. Most of the black dead skin has fallen off, and it's regained almost all of it's feeling. Sweet.

Being back in Seattle is great.. there is no snow on the ground so I can ride my road bike! Today I'll hit the pavement again and I'll throw a paddle in there as well. Tomorrow Cyril, Fleming and I are planning a mountain bike ride. Ya hear that!? Yeah that's right it's Febuary and we'll be hitting some beautiful single track followed up with a paddle. Oh sweet Seattle. Next week after my toe and blisters are healed a bit more I'll start to head up to the mountains and get some vert under my belt on the skis. I am competing in the two Life-Link Randonee Rally races in Tahoe in March.. so I can't put the skis away quite yet.

Product Reviews

Recover-Ease – Whoa, I couldn’t be more excited about having Recover-Ease as a sponsor this year. Since receiving my shipment I’ve been following the 4 capsules a day for a month leading up to competition. And right after the 24 hours of sunlight I consumed the recommended 8 capsules. I have to say that I was honestly surprised when I woke up the next day. I felt markedly better than I assumed I would, this has to be directly related to my Recover-Ease regiment.

Here are some of their stats to back up the way I felt - Results have shown that using Recover-Ease immediately after extreme endurance competition led to:

• 52% reduction in Fatigue
• 51% reduction in Muscle Soreness
• 38% increase in Energy
• 24% boost in Mental Function
• 20% boost in Immune Function
• 16% increase in Overall Mood
• 5-day faster return to normal training

I’ve got some samples if you see me at a race just ask, I’ll hit you with some freebies. I challenge all of you out there to hammer on yourselves and use Recover-Ease, you will notice the difference in how you feel the days following. You can also buy it at Recover-ease.com. Make sure to use referral code “RE013” to get entered into the monthly price drawing.


Arc’teryx Gamma MX Jacket:

Weight 515 grams/18 ounces

Personally I think that endurance athletes make the best product testers on the planet. We are in our gear for very long periods of time and we hammer on it. I wore my new Gamma MX soft shell from Arc’teryx exclusively for 17 hours of ski mountaineering during the 24 hours of Sunlight race this past weekend. I think without a doubt Arc’teryx makes the best gear on the planet, and this coat is probably the best I’ve ever worn. I fought the soft shell revolution while the industry buzzed and everyone I knew bought one - I somehow did not (mostly because I couldn’t afford one). Because of the 24 hours of sunlight was, well, 24 hours, I had laps that were in done in the mid teens as well as some that were -8 degrees. The only thing I changed was how many layers I had under this jacket. For the warmer afternoon laps I had one super thin Under Armor layer on under the Gamma MX. In the dead cold of 2:00am I simply added another light weight breathable long sleeve. The wind stopper protection was perfect for the cold down hills in the middle of the night and because it’s softshell it breathed very well on the way up in the sun. It also dried extremely fast as well. This is the best technical piece of ski gear I own.

24 hours of sunlight - photos

Here are the some photos from the race taken by David Bitton. He does amazing work. You can read my full race report here.


The start
Photo By David Bitton


Up I go
Photo By David Bitton


Removing the skins without taking the skis off.. always shaving seconds
Photo By David Bitton


The "money" shot
Photo By David Bitton


The ice cream headache tuck
Photo By David Bitton


Skinning up with another Hammer sponsored athlete
Photo By David Bitton


Night Shot
Photo By David Bitton