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The stage had been set, and all the top dogs were gunning for the glory.

Not a soul in the entire Republic had stepped foot atop the fabled Green Mountain ever since the year 2010.  The stakes were high, and the honor would be unfathomable.

Who would have what it took to become the King of the Mountain for the first time in 2011??

To take home the fame he would not only have to reach the peak alive amidst death defying blizzard conditions, but also get there faster than the best of the best mountain runners on the planet.  No easy task to be sure.

Among those vying for position on the mountain, was Tony Krupicka; Multiple time winner of the Leadville 100, he racked up an impressive 296 ascents of green mountain alone in a 1 year period.  Also present was the ever elusive closer Geoff Roes – the only runner Tony fears, who bested him for the win at Western States in his infamous  last 20 mile comeback, who has never been beaten in a 100 mile mountain race.  And not overlooked by anyone present, was the American 24 hour record holder, 7 time consecutive Western States champion, Hardrock champion, Badwater Champion, total ultra stud Scott Jurek.

And that’s just to name a few who were to face the mountain in this, perhaps the most prestigious and competitive first ascent of the year glory battle ever to go down in the annals of 2011 history.

But the crowds and the top guns were overlooking something.  Something not to be overlooked.   Something more deadly to the pride of a front running ultra stud, and menacing to the confidence welling inside of a record holder than can adequately be described in words.

The underdog.

Had they looked a little deeper into his blog, before it was too late, they would have seen in the infamous park ranger defying feats of this emerging superpower, the prowess and tactical skills of a wild panther in hot pursuit of his prey.

But it is all in the past now.  The pride and hopes of the elite have been shattered.  The die has been cast.

There’s a new King of the Mountain.

As Tony rounded the final bend to the summit of Green from the backside stairs, full of the false hopes his first tracks up Ranger were providing him up to that point, his icicle laden bearded face went pale green instantly as he beheld…..Aaron Kennard?!?  Perched lazily atop the peak, gazing at his new kingdom with a fond sense of curiosity, like a mother cat over her brand new litter.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”, Tony’s cry echoed to over the valley thousands of feet below as he fell to his knees, sobbing in uncontrollable fits of convulsions.  ”At least he shares my initials”, he whispered to himself as he started to pull himself together, “at least there’s that.”

Within a few minutes Jurek, closely followed by Roes, picked their way through the final steep steps to the summit.

“Congratulations” Scott panted, as he struggled to regain his breath and composure from the arduous ascent.

“We…”, Geoff wheezed, gasping for air with his hands on his knees, “didn’t even see that coming…but you deserved it.  Well played Aaron, well played indeed.”

As it turns out, Aaron had taken the path less traveled.  The longer, and deeper snow drift covered Greenman route.  The only person to venture up that route so far that day.  And as Robert Frost so aptly put it so many years ago…

Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

And so the wheel turns.  As has been seen throughout history, at some point the old legends fade away, and a new face appears in the spotlight.  And it’s only a matter of time, before someone younger, and fresher, and wilier will take the road less traveled again…..

The end.

—————————————————-

That’s pretty much verbatim how it all went down this morning.

Well, there may be two, or three perhaps, embellishments in there.  But its pretty dang close.

These facts are certain though:

• I was the first person to tag the summit of Green Mtn in 2011
• I was literally just barely sitting down on the peak when Tony showed up, followed within minutes by Scott and Geoff

These are a few of the facts that may have been ‘overlooked’ or ‘embellished’

• There weren’t any actual crowds, or any actual race, and I probably started an hour before everyone else.
• Well, now that we’re back in the non-fiction isle and being completely non-delusional and open with each other, I may as well admit that the previous two points may very well be the only two factual points of the mornings events.

OK, in all seriousness though, what a gorgeous morning and great way to ring in the new year.  And a thanks to Tony, Scott and Geoff for sleeping in and giving me a totally bogus, and yet interestingly rewarding feeling of having arrived to the top of a peak moments ahead of 3 of the ultra running stars of our country…along with letting me take the First Ascent of the year (and my apologies to you guys for the ridiculous representation of you in the story above…my editor demanded it…something about entertainment value).  Good to chat with them for a few minutes up on top before we all started to get chilled and headed back down.  I appreciate how those and all the rest of the folks I’ve met at the top of the mountain running sport are so friendly and cool.  Its enjoyable to associate with people who have achieved a lot and still remain as grounded to the earth, if not more, than the next guy.

And for those of you interested in the conditions on Green today, it’s snowpacked and easily runnable with microspikes all the way up to the greenman/ranger fork.  After that, Ranger is pretty decent with a few snow drifts that slow you down a bit.  But Greenman was snow drift with 1 foot to 2 foot post holing from the turnoff, almost all the way up.   It gets runnable the last quarter mile again.  And probably after 10 more people hit that route it will be a lot quicker going.  There was tons of snow drifting over night with the wind.  It was absolutely beautiful out there, but made for some slower going.

It took me 1:03 to the summit that way, a really easy, low HR, enjoyable pace effort.  I went down Ranger, and had a fun time floating down the powder.  I’m glad winter finally arrived…its a cool change of scenery and pace.