Cypress Mountain Five Peaks Trail Running

I hiked up Sky Chair on Cypress today. Turns out there was a Five Peaks trail running race today. The Grit race went up and down Black Mountain, up and down Sky Chair with a few other loops thrown in. On the way up it was pretty foggy.

As soon as I started climbing, the fog started lifting.

By the time I got to the top it had completely lifted. The lions themselves were still covered. At least you could see around you. The tiny flies on the way up were nasty. I thought they were mosquitos because they were tiny and in huge swarms. One local old timer said they were black flies and were going for the moisture in your eyes. The black flies I know of are much bigger. These swarms were very annoying. I've never seen it that bad.

There were three main categories Enduro, Sport and Grit. Grit was the largest and most challenging. I think the shortest route turned around at the bottom of Sky chair and the top of lions chair. They didn't summit. I hiked up and down Sky chair with my ski poles because it's steep and slippery on the way down. 

The funny thing is, pretty much everyone in all three races flew past me on the way down. Physically I could have gone faster. Going fast down hill is easier than going slow because you're not using as many muscles to hold yourself back. 

The problem is it was loose rocks on a steep decline. I don't like that. Everybody likes different things. Some people like to walk, some people like to run. Some people like to bike, some people like to swim. There was a bike event going on today as well. Not off road like in Whistler and on Grouse. People like to ride bikes all the way up the road to the lodge. I don't like slippery declines but I do like climbing and summiting. 

Oh wow, July 27th is the Volkswagen bike challenge. This week was the Triple Crown for Heart. They bike up all three local mountains on the same day Grouse, Seymour and Cypress. You guys just keep raining the bar. Good on ya.