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ENLARGE
Nightfall consumes competitors in last year's 24 Hours of Sunlight at Sunlight Mountain Resort in Glenwood Springs. (Kara Pearson/Post Independent)
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ENLARGE
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Bryan Wickenhauser, left, and Greg Hill lead the competition as they ascend Glenwood Springs' Sunlight Mountain Resort in last year's 24 hours of Sunlight. (Kara Pearson/Post Independent)
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS — It's back.
The endurance race in which four world records were set last year, the 24 Hours of Sunlight, returns today to Sunlight Mountain Resort.
Starting at 11 a.m., continuing under a full-moon and running continuously until 11 a.m. Sunday, skiers and snowboarders will be hiking up then riding down Sunlight's slopes.
The event hosts solo competitors and teams of five, four or two, some of whom will try to break the world records set in 2006. Others climb and ski for recreation.
Close to 100 people participated in last year's event, including Greg Hill and Jimmy Faust, who set the world record for the most vertical feet skied in 24 hours at 50,100 feet - accomplished in 32 laps up and down.
Polly Samuels-McLean set a world record for the most vertical feet a woman has skied in 24 hours - 31,110 feet - and Jonathan Baker set the snowboard world record with 20,215 vertical feet.
Hill returns this year but has a new goal: to ascend and descend 40,000 vertical feet in 16 hours, according to an event news release. Ski mountaineering pioneer Andrew McLean also competes this year.
"We are so excited to have really top-tier guys like Andrew McLean and Greg Hill participating in this race," Mike Marolt, founder of 24 Hours of Sunlight, said in a news release. "This event is not to be missed."
The endurance race in which four world records were set last year, the 24 Hours of Sunlight, returns today to Sunlight Mountain Resort.
Starting at 11 a.m., continuing under a full-moon and running continuously until 11 a.m. Sunday, skiers and snowboarders will be hiking up then riding down Sunlight's slopes.
The event hosts solo competitors and teams of five, four or two, some of whom will try to break the world records set in 2006. Others climb and ski for recreation.
Close to 100 people participated in last year's event, including Greg Hill and Jimmy Faust, who set the world record for the most vertical feet skied in 24 hours at 50,100 feet - accomplished in 32 laps up and down.
Polly Samuels-McLean set a world record for the most vertical feet a woman has skied in 24 hours - 31,110 feet - and Jonathan Baker set the snowboard world record with 20,215 vertical feet.
Hill returns this year but has a new goal: to ascend and descend 40,000 vertical feet in 16 hours, according to an event news release. Ski mountaineering pioneer Andrew McLean also competes this year.
"We are so excited to have really top-tier guys like Andrew McLean and Greg Hill participating in this race," Mike Marolt, founder of 24 Hours of Sunlight, said in a news release. "This event is not to be missed."
Marolt also will be back this year, climbing up and skiing down to generate funds and awareness for the Heuga Center, a nonprofit conducting educational and wellness programs for those afflicted with multiple sclerosis.
The 2007 course will be different from last year's, when competitors climbed up and skied down the Beaujolais trail. This year, participants will ascend Dotsero to Loop Run. They will keep climbing the mountain to Rebel, then head right onto the Parks, where the turn-around tent is located.
Competitors will then strap on their skis or snowboards and descend, traveling back through the Parks, then to Beaujolais before going down Sundown en route to the base area.
The competitors then will begin again and again - and again.
Registration still is open for the event, and volunteers are needed. To learn more, visit www.24hoursofsunlight.com. The cost for the event is $500 for four- and five-person teams, $440 for two-person teams and $300 for solo participants. Race proceeds benefit the Valley View Hospital Foundation of Glenwood Springs.
New to this year's race is the addition of a cash purse to be divided among first, second and third place winners in each professional category. Professional categories include the men's solo, women's solo and duos.
The 2007 course will be different from last year's, when competitors climbed up and skied down the Beaujolais trail. This year, participants will ascend Dotsero to Loop Run. They will keep climbing the mountain to Rebel, then head right onto the Parks, where the turn-around tent is located.
Competitors will then strap on their skis or snowboards and descend, traveling back through the Parks, then to Beaujolais before going down Sundown en route to the base area.
The competitors then will begin again and again - and again.
Registration still is open for the event, and volunteers are needed. To learn more, visit www.24hoursofsunlight.com. The cost for the event is $500 for four- and five-person teams, $440 for two-person teams and $300 for solo participants. Race proceeds benefit the Valley View Hospital Foundation of Glenwood Springs.
New to this year's race is the addition of a cash purse to be divided among first, second and third place winners in each professional category. Professional categories include the men's solo, women's solo and duos.
