This Saturday, at 10 a.m., an unusually painful thrashing will commence as a horde of masochists launch what will certainly become one of the most grueling ski races in Colorado history. Eschewing the lifts used in other 24-hour ski races involving mere mortals, the 24 Hours of Sunlight requires skiers to climb and descend the 1,523-vertical foot Glenwood Springs ski area as many times as possible in 24 hours. The brainchild of the biggest-mountain ski mountaineer and Aspen local Mike Marolt, the event has drawn some of the biggest names in ski mountaineering. The crazy Canuck who climbed and skied 1 million vertical feet last winter, Greg Hill, will be racing. He will be aiming to set a human-powered world record by climbing and skiing 50,000 vertical feet in the race. Utah ski explorer Andrew McLean and Colorado’s own ski pioneer Lou Dawson will be racing solo, too. Oxygen-shunning Ed Viesturs – the first American to climb all 14 8,000-meter peaks sans O2 – will be the keynote speaker at a gala Friday night at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood. Cheer on the hiking shredders all day and night Saturday and watch them drag their carcasses over the finish line Sunday at 10 a.m.
Learn more — Click over to www.24hoursofsunlight.com for more information.
