November 7, 2014, By Rick Wallace
The 33rd annual Mt. Whitney Classic was held on September 27th in the beautiful California desert around Lone Pine, Ca. The DOW Villa is our home away from home each year as we do this crazy event. Lone Pine is the location of the famous Western Movie Festival which is held every year in October, another annual event that fills this small eastern sierra town. For more information about this crazy event you can visit Summit Adventures web site by clicking on this link, Mt. Whitney Classic. No matter how many times I have participated in this event, each year has its own personality which always keeps me coming back for more?? This year all organized events were not allowed into Death Valley National Park. Evidently the new parks commissioner is reviewing the safety guidelines for holding events. As a result the course was modified to take advantage of some of the most epic climbing in the United States.
The course included two ascents of the infamous Horseshoe Meadows climb (7,000 ft. in 23 miles), and a final ascent to Mt. Whitney Portal. The route covered 115 miles and over 20,000 feet of climbing!!
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| Omar Spina and I getting ready. Omar went on to finish top soloist this year. |
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| Mark, Pete and Ron at the start |
Team Storm included: Pete and Judy Wallace on the tandem, Rick Wallace, Kevin Steele, Mark Lavan, Cindy Outlaw, Ron Allin and Jennifer as dedicated SAG support. The start was held at 9:00am on Saturday September 27th, a bit more sane than 3pm in Death Valley. The hope was that we could complete the course before dark....
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| Jair Drooger addressing the riders and crew at the start in Lone Pine |
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| Riders at the start |
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| Rick and Kevin after the first pull handing over to Ron and Cindy
The preparation alone takes nearly as long as riding the event; cars serviced, bikes serviced, tool kit and spare wheels, coolers, water, drinks, ice - lots of ice, food, clothing, helmet, numbers, donations, hotel rooms, logistics, formation of teams, reflector tape, lights, travel, and on, and on.... But that's what makes an event like the MWC so special and challenging. Before I get too far into my report, the event has been put on by Summit Adventure for the past 33 years, and is Summits equivalent of a fund raising Golf Tournament - but held in the most desolate parts of California - sounds like a hoot!
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| Summit's Executive Director, Tom Smith (right) talking it up with Rick and Kevin during our first ascent up to Horseshoe Meadows. |
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| Ron and Cindy on the climb |
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| Pete and Judy getting ready for one of their pulls on the tandem |
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| Off they go through the Alabama Hills |
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| Mark after his pull through the Alabama Hills on the 2nd ascent of Horseshoe Meadows. You can see the massive switchbacks in the distance |
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| Mark and Rick half way up the 2nd climb |
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| Kevin hammering away on the climb |
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| Ron on the 2nd climb |
Little did we know that on our second ascent we would run into low 30 degree temps and snow....yes snow!!
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| Weather turned angry in the middle of the event. |
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| Looks like fun!! |
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| SNOW!! |
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| Cindy and Ron heading off toward the Summit.... |
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SUMMIT ADVENTURE
The MWC benefits the programs of Summit Adventure , an organization that uses the wilderness as a tool to challenge people to grow. Summit offers families, adults, youth, and groups a rare opportunity to leave their "comfort zone" behind and experience change in a way that helps them clearly define their identity, source of security, purpose and direction in life. Summit Summit
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| SA Board Member, Mark Lavan - service work at Remanso de Amor (Quito, Ecuador) |
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| George Ricciardi - House Visits (Quito, Ecuador) |
To the tremendous financial support received by our donors, without you, Summits mission could not become a reality for so many participant's each and every year. To the missionary work conducted in Ecuador, immersion experience in Israel and leadership development in the outback's of the Sierra Nevada - your donations really transform lives - thank you!
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| Kevin and Jenn near the top of Horseshoe Meadows |
We ended up finishing this years MWC in just over 10 hours. We were in darkness for the last 45 minutes, but it was a far cry from the usual finish at 1:00am. We had time to celebrate with Omar Spina and his successful 1st place finish in the solo division and only 20 minutes back of Team STORM. Congrats to Omar for an amazing ride!!
We are still totaling the donations raised by team STORM and we are over $20,000, and it looks like the total for the event will be over $85,000. Another very successful Whitney Classic, well run, well supported and well ridden. How do you top that? If you did not get a chance to make a donation prior to the event you can still contribute - please click - Donation Link.
Thanks again to my Mom & Dad for their continued support of the event and Summit and their love of the adventure each and every year!! Thanks to Jenn for coming out from North Carolina to support Team STORM - we hope to have her back next year!! You can also read a recap of the event from Summit Staff at: Recap Link
Thanks to all the donors who contributed to a great cause and thanks to all my crazy cycling friends who gave up a big chunk of their personal and family time to be part of the MWC! Until next year - God Bless.....
NEXT YEARS DATES: September 26th and 27th, 2015
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Here are a few more photos of the weekend
The End
