Death Race For Life Project Sponsored By Long Trail Brewing: Back Country Ski Trip

Project Summary

I am dedicating February through July 2010 to my passion for endurance sports and an effort to help the Lance Armstrong Foundation fight cancer. Between March and June I will undertake a bicycle racing tour of multi-day stage races in the western United States. I’ll be racing in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and California. I’ll spend the winter training in Colorado and New Mexico. My tour will serve as conditioning for a final test – the Death Race. On June 24 I will join 99 other selected athletes in Pittsfield, Vermont for the 2010 Death Race.

The Death Race, loosely defined as an “adventure race” is a 24-hour slog that blurs the line between challenge and absurdity. The race consists of an unknown number of tasks spread out over a mountainous course with an unspecified finish line. The route and sampling of mental and physical challenges are also unknown. Previous races have included wood chopping, swimming, running, cycling, mud crawls, memorization tasks, fire building, weight caries, waterfall climbing, and more. The race boasts a 10% finishing rate. The international field of contestants includes ex-special forces, ultra-marathoners, Iron Men, and athletes from other disciplines. You can see the New York Times video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rtMFKpOYqo

My tour will benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation by raising money through direct donations and pledged donations per mile that I ride during the tour. In this blog you can find more information about the tour, my training, my connection to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, donations, and my motivation for starting this project.

Thanks for visiting the blog and supporting my project!

Cully Cavness

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Back Country Ski Trip

Just got back from a three day hut trip in the White River National Forest near Vail, CO. I set out into the woods with sixteen friends. We found bottomless snow, hours of arduous climbing (about 6,000 feet), elevations above 11 and 12 thousand feet, and perfect powdery landing pads for the jumps we built. We spent two nights in Eisman Hut, which is maintained by the 10th Mountain Division.

On the way out, our group splintered, and half of us got lost in the woods. Terrifying. We eventually found our way out, but we had to hike through tight woods, avalanche chutes, and waist deep snow. Take a look at the full length video (9 minutes) to see all our flips, 360's, powder runs, vistas, and the path back to civilization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMV55q3K9cE

The trip totally drained me - a combination of cold, elevation, and hours of trekking with heavy packs makes for a great workout. I'm planning more backcountry trips in VT and CO for base training and conditioning before I start my racing tour. Stay tuned for more!