Highest of Highs

Last night I arrived at the Detroit airport from Aspen at midnight. I was tired and physically spent from 5 days straight of hardcore snowboarding and alpine hiking. Looking around the Detroit airport, I was in a bit of mountain induced culture shock as I watched several overweight individuals struggle to move about the airport, breathing heavily, and equipped with general looks of discontentment with there surroundings.

I may be coming a bit from a soapbox on this one, but I held that same look on my face as well yesterday evening; mine may have been due to other causes. I should forewarn you that I always have a case of post-trip depression after coming home from an epic trip, and I am writing this in the depths of this depression.



It had been two years since I had been in the Rockies and I was more than excited to return. When I had graduated from college, I took the rest of the year to chase the endless winter. I tallied up a whopping total of 109 days of skiing that year. It was at a pivotal time in my life and I was exploring the notion of trying to make this lifestyle a full time gig. However, despite the passion, a few uncontrollable variables kept me from continuing to pursue my dream.

For those of you that don’t know, I did not always live the lifestyle I live now. My priorities were much different. Perhaps it may be more accurately explained as simply having a lack of defined priorities. Seemingly overnight I found myself weighing 260 pounds.

Living an active lifestyle was something that inevitably rescued me from my declining personal health and gave me true purpose and much needed intrinsic motivation. However, I realized that the more I got into cycling and other endurance sports the more my lifestyle became “out of the norm”. This didn’t matter to me too much at the time because I took pride in belonging to a sub-culture of the Metro-Detroit area. However, with time I must admit that echoes of “I give you credit” and “Wow…I could never ride 100 miles” or the oh-so-common, “my butt would get so sore” tend to grow old.

During my time in Aspen this past week, it was refreshing to interact with like-minded individuals who shared the same passion as I do.

I’ve written it several times before but I must reiterate that I’m a big believer in a person’s highest of highs only being measured against their lowest of lows. This trip files in one of my “highest of highs” categories.

Jeff Tenniswood, Jeff Surnow and I at the top of Highland Bowl


The second day we were there, we hiked to the top of the Highland Bowl twice. I couldn’t help but feeling completely on top of the world as I sat and took a moment to take in the beauty of this special place. The mountains have an uncanny way of humbling a person and making us realize just how insignificant so many of the trivial aspects of our lives are. They always help me to realize just how thankful I am to simply be alive and a part of God’s creation.

Post-Race

On the third day of the trip I engaged in yet another extremely humbling experience as I raced the America’s Uphill Race. The race is a 2.5-mile power hike straight up Aspen Mountain to the peak of the sundeck. The route averages a 25% gradient and ends at an 11,300 ft peak. The first day I was there I did a hike to preview the course and was left with an extreme headache from lack of oxygen and a bit of nausea and vertigo. However, I bounced back quickly and was able to adapt to the elevation by race day. Despite being a Michigan flatlander, I was able to pull off a 5th place finish in my respective 30-39 category with a time of 1hr 3min. I was very thankful for the experience. It has been proudly added as another notch in my belt. I’m already vowing next year to make a commitment to returning to this race and attempting to dip under an hour, a time that even the locals refer to as “superhuman”.



Alas, all good things must come to an end. As I dragged my feet all the way home I decided to try my best to change my perspective upon my return. I may not live in the most conducive environment to my lifestyle, but I have many blessings and great things here at home. We are all products of our environment. I think one thing I’ve picked up growing up in the Detroit area is the ability to make more out of less. Embracing these “highs” I’ve been able to experience is like fuel for my everyday life. Life is funny in the sense that many of our most memorable moments are simply short instances, snapshots in time. It’s these snapshots that keep our tanks full with the motivation to get out there day to day.



I’m thankful that I’ve been able to once again refuel my tank. Instead of dwelling in that which I don't have, I'm embracing that which I've been thankful enough to have and experience.

A very special thank you goes out to Jeff Surnow for helping me make this trip possible and for ensuring that every second was spent to the fullest while out there. Your hospitality will be forever remembered.