Aaron Rice (Instagram: @airandrice) from Utah has broken the world record for vertical meters climbed on touring skis this year and is well on his way to achieving his goal of 2.5 million vertical feet (= 762,000 vertical meters). What sounds incredible to the downhill-oriented ski tourer is also hard to grasp for the uphill-oriented. Which begs the question: who is the crazy guy and how many vertical meters can you theoretically cover in a calendar year?
2,090 vertical meters every day - 365 times
Aaron's project to climb 762,000 vertical meters under his own steam from 1 January to 31 December 2016 with touring skis on his feet fascinates the touring scene - especially on the other side of the Atlantic. In the Southern Hemisphere winter, Snowstormer had the honor of talking to the likeable gentleman from the USA about his plans and can assure you of one thing: Aaron knows what he's doing and has a healthy view of reality. When we met him in Argentina behind the Refugio Frey while he was skinning up, you could tell straight away that he often has the equipment in his hands - simply because of his highly efficient approach to what are actually unspectacular tasks.
On average, he has to cover over 2,000 meters per day for his project. Whether this is theoretically feasible can be calculated pi by thumb: If you are on skis 365 days in a row and invest ten hours a day - using the rest for sleeping and other activities that are essential for survival - such as checking the snowFlurry, WeatherBlog and PowderAlert - you can invest 3,650 hours a year ski touring. On an evenly steep slope in pleasant weather conditions, a well-trained endurance athlete with downhill and uphill times as well as breaks for drinking and eating can manage around 500 to 600 m per hour. That would be over two million meters of altitude per year. So much for the theory.
Let's switch to practice: the previous record holder Greg Hill climbed two million feet on skis in 2010. Sounds like a hell of a lot. And it is a hell of a lot. But how much is really possible? Naturally, this is not so easy to answer and depends on a number of factors. First and foremost the style: How do I do my vertical meters? With what equipment? On my own or with a guide? In what terrain?
If you were to set a practical value, it would naturally only apply until someone proves the opposite. In a fully trained state, over 3,000 meters of altitude can be covered day after day: In alpine terrain, with normal equipment and self-sufficiency. Of course, only if there are no health problems and the weather and snow conditions allow it.
By fair means
Kilian Jornet, one of the world's best endurance athletes, covers between 600,000 and 700,000 meters of altitude every year. But only with the very lightest gear: skis, bindings and boots weigh less than half of Aaron's equipment. Above all, it's about mobility: the skin resistance of racing skis with a center width of 65 mm and a length of 160 cm is close to zero. Boots with almost unlimited, drag-free shaft rotation lengthen every step by dozens of centimeters. Aaron, on the other hand, uses Dynafit Vulcan boots, skis with a center width of around 100mm and a standard pin binding for his project. He hardly spends any time in ski resorts or on pistes and is always out and about in the backcountry as much as possible, including making tracks and carrying skis. Aaron is convinced of his style and has branded the snow pusher's touring boots from the "1kg speed touring" category as "That's cheating." in a friendly, grinning manner. Rice is also largely self-sufficient: Cooking, washing, shopping. He mostly sleeps in his car, assesses the avalanche situation himself and even continued his project in early February with two broken fingers. Judging by his social media photos, he also enjoys his descents. This is ski mountaineering by fair means - unimaginable for most altitude fetishists from the Alps.
Locations
For his project, Aaron traveled from Alta (Utah) to Argentina and Chile at the beginning of July. There he explored the area around Bariloche, Las Leñas and several volcanoes. He flew back to the USA at the end of October and has been climbing volcanoes on the Cascade Range meter by meter ever since.
All cattle
The snow pusher often compares humans to cows. Simply because he is confronted with both on a daily basis and there are an astonishing number of parallels - not just the duration of pregnancy. High-yielding Holstein cows produce 10,000 to 15,000 kg of milk per year. Under more or less laboratory-like stable conditions, this can be extended to over 30,000 kg. Other breeds, which are also bred for milk yield, may reach 8,000 kg per year under good conditions. An average mountain farm cow in Tyrol produces just over 6,000 kg. The comparison: Aaron climbs real mountains with normal equipment in all snow and weather conditions - but achieves a higher, measurable performance this year than competitive athletes under "laboratory conditions" (= "altitude meter eating on secured slopes with racing equipment"). You deserve great respect for that. Good luck with the final stage of your project, Aaron!
Note: One cow makes a moo - many cows make trouble.
