Wholistic Fitness

A Recording Of The First Winter Ascent of The Sacred Peak For 2006/07

account and photos by coach ilg

Wednesday, October 18th, 2006 – WF Temple H(om)e, Flagstaff, Arizona.

In the pre-dawn cold of my Zendo, a familiar shiver of energy danced about my still bones. In short while, i would be making the 17 minute drive up to the Ski Basin, Ananda at my side, to attempt the capture of an obliquely recognized event known among mountain athletes as, “First Tracks.”

Whomever pounces upon the earliest snow of the season and climbs to the summit of that mountain, that person gets “First Tracks,” of the season. All else who climb, ski, or snowshoe up the peak for the rest of the winter season, must essentially follow he who first nabbed the virgin snow. It is a source of uncommon pleasure that spills forth from my several dozen “First Track,” captures over the years.

I suppose one reason for this joy of mine, is that in order to get “First Tracks” requires several considerable attainments, each of which, in my View, point to all that makes for a favorable life:
1) You can’t have a “real job.” The athlete must be very time flexible time. The first snows wait for no merchant.
2) You really have to get off on doing frequent and brutally hard, dangerous adventures in the high mountains to absolutely no discernible purpose.
3) You truly have to love the peculiar effort and reward from watching the weather, timing your effort, and – in some cases – evading authorities to pull off a victorious First Tracks capture, because really, no one else is going to give a shit.

Today would be Ananda’s first attempt for the Summit Ridge. She had never been in Kahtoola’s before and she had never experienced climbing up snow and ice above 11,000′. Kahtoola’s, as you may recall from last winter’s DL’s – are the superb mountain yogi weaponry i use to set all sorts of speed ascents and descents in the high mountains. They are made right here in Flag, and you can visit their product and cruise their most noble website here and ask for Danny or Bill, tell ’em coach steve ilg sent you:
http://www.kahtoola.com/kts_aluminum.html

Here is how the Sacred Peak looked as Ananda and i got out of Tawny (our Car Being) and packed our CamelBak SnoBlast’s. The ascent begins at 9,500′. The temperature? A balmy 30 degrees.

“Bless Thee, O Lord, for the living arc of the sky over me this morning.
Bless Thee, O Lord, for the companionship of night mist far above
the skyscraper peaks I saw when I woke once during the night.

Bless Thee, O Lord, for the miracle of light to my eyes and the mystery of it
ever changing…”

– Carl Sandburg

***THE ASCENT BEGINS
These CamelBak SnoBlast® things are fantastic. Wish i had ’em years ago. Here is your Hook Up:

https://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=39165446&memberId=12500226

Besides holding a big ol’ bladder of water that is kept cozy by high-tech insulation along the feeder tube, there are three compartments that accommodates such weaponry as; Kahtoola’s, YakTrax, extra jacket, PowerGel’s, walkie-talkie, camera, and goggles. I can run in my SnoBlast without any irritation. The engineering integrity of the SnoBlast easily displaces stress points to keep the mobility of my arms and shoulders in full range.

Our plan – Warriors allWays have plans – was for Ananda to begin climbing at her pace, and i at mine. I was going to
do my best to summit first, then, depending on how she was feeling and where she was at, i would descend and rejoin Ananda to escort her to the summit or as high as she could get today. i knew that other local’s would be jonsing to get “First Tracks” so, i was a wee bit, uhhhh, excited…(read, pain-in-the-ass-to-be-around) until i could sink my Kahtoola’s into the first snowfields. Above photo; my tracks as i reach the bottom of the ‘hard part’ – the Upper Bowl. To this point, i have covered 2,400 vertical feet in 49 minutes.

A third of the way up The Upper Bowl, around 11,500′. I am looking for Ananda to appear on the ski slopes
in the upper left hand corner of the photo. Don’t fall here unless you want a FAST and dramatic entry
into the Bardo, baby!

This is my exact view as i churn up the steep slope in a “downward dog” type of position that i call my, “San Juan Scramble” Technique. I can cover immense parcels of dangerous icy, terrain using this technique. To anchor my mind, i focus on the WF Sacred Mantra and peg my Heart Rate at a High Zone 3 until i nearly pass out and have to stop.

But i rarely stop.
Not until the Summit baby!
FIRST TRACKS of the 2006/07 season goes to Coach for the 2nd year in a row!
This one is for my faithful and devoted WF SANGHA, baby! Life at 12,250′ is GO(O)D!!!!

Going at an relatively ‘easy’ pace and stopping to walkie-talkie Joy three times, i summit in 88 minutes, nearly 12 minutes over my Personal Record. No worries, i’ll do this workout at least once per week for the rest of the winter, and sometimes will do ‘laps’ up and down the Upper Bowl! Read it and weep baby! NOW WHO IS CROSS-FIT?! This humble Temple wrote the BOOK on using cross-training to raise the mainstream’s consciousness of what genuine personal training and elite outdoor performance is all about!

And you have to ask WHY i climb to the highest summits?
Summit shot looking south toward Flagstaff a looooong way down!

What about Ananda!?!
After a walkie-talkie communication with her, i found out that our Movie Star Turned Mountaineer
was feeling the MOUNTAIN CHI and willing to keep going higher. So, i turned around from the
summit after leaving a love note etched into the summit snow for her, just in case she made it up there,
and took off like a banshee down the steep, open glade. i do not possess the vocabulary to describe to you
what i feel like as i leap, scramble, run, slide, glissade, and HOWWWWWL my way down hundreds of feet of
steep snow and ice and rocks! LOVE IT!! REAL CHI RUNNING IN REAL MOUNTAIN YOGI MODE, baby!!!!!!

Within moments, i was down at the bottom of the Upper Bowl, where our Beloved Temple Manager Ananda
was beginning the “real part” of the workout…

For safety and efficiency, i coach Ananda in the “San Juan Scramble” technique. i warned her that doing this workout
would be a ‘full body workout” and here she is, never looking more radically hip, finding out precisely just how
insanely intense and FUN this Sacred Sweat workout is! She was scared, hurting, joyful, mesmerized, and pranically intoxicated all at ONCE! Now THAT’S MOUNTAIN YOGA, baby!

“When in doubt, go higher.” – motto of The Mountain Gazette.

Ananda broke through several Fear and Doubt cruxes by this point. The summit ridge can
be seen in the upper left. I had her focused on reaching “Shelter Rock” the oblong boulder
seen up high, first boulder to her right in the photo. Her fingers were pretty frozen by now. i was closely
assessing the situation. i’ve a LOT of experience in the High Mountains of Turtle Island.
I would never endanger a newcomer to such terrain. This cold, intense, scary realm is ideal for
my Bardo Training work with Ananda’s spiritual practice. “Intense Cold,” is one of the first two Bardo Realms
that our Soul encounters after we Take Leave of our current Form. For the yogi who shies away from Intense Cold and Intense Heat, it is predictable for such a ‘low performance’ yogin to lose their subtle filaments of Consciousness in these “kindygarten realms” of the Bardo. Such frail Souls will not take another Human Incarnation until they take enough rebirths in an animal, mineral, or plant Realm to ReLearn how to deal with Intense External Conditions. Shame, isn’t it? Thus i say unto you;
NEVER RUN AWAY from Intense Heat or Cold. Run INTO THEM! They ARE your yoga mats! Learn how to DEAL WITH THEM! Be not addicted to comfort!

“To know your limits is Wisdom.” – coach ilg
All those people that go around proclaiming, “NO LIMITS!” obviously do not study Wholistic Fitness®. Bring these people to me, i will be more than happy to show them their Limits in a number of physiologic and psychologic areas! i never want you, Oh Noble Students of WF, to go around bragging about having “No Fear,” or “No Limits!” Such phrases are spoken only by the UnAwakened Sheep that merely pretend to be Lions!

Above: Ananda nears her Limit and uses the mountain yogi’s version of “Balasana” or “Child’s Pose” to recover. Once you become too exhausted from climbing in the San Juan Scramble technique, just dig your crampons into the slope and collapse into Balasana until your heart rate recovers enough to continue upward. By pushing herself to such a Limit, Ananda has now Learned deep and profound things about herself as woman, as human being, as yogin, and as a Child of Go(o)d. Her Prana and her Practice will now experience a categorical higher Shift as a result of her Bravery to get out, embrace her fear, doubt, and yes, her own Limits of Self. i bow to my Beloved MahaAnandaMayiMa, surely one of the most beautiful, brave, and kind Beings gracing our planet.

“The reward of a thing well done,
is to have done it.”
– Emerson.

Having attained a new personal winter altitude record, and within 25 minutes of the Summit, i pulled the plug on Ananda’s brave and noble effort. At “Shelter Rock” we hugged and shared a frozen lipped kiss with boogies running down our cheeks. Such are the Moments of a well lived and well loved life! We then did a quick Pranayam to cop the best Prana on the planet, and then began our descent. Within moments, i had coached a few simple downhill techniques to Ananda and she, as always, caught right on. Soon she wore a smile ear-to-ear and was scooting her beautiful and well-trained buns down the Sacred Snows. The summit – and my fading snow scripted love note for her – however, would have to wait for another day for Ananda.

As so often is the case, the moment we turn around and head for home, Grandfather Sun comes out shining as if to seduce us, “Oh, c’mon my young Human Friends! Play up Here, close to me a while longer!” The wise mountain yogi, however, knows by Direct Experience his or her Limits and makes decisions based on Wise Discrimination; not Trial And Error! The latter way of learning is a surefire recipe for disaster in the High Mountains. One must listen to the language of their bodies, not their egos, if they wish to Climb another day!

“A yogi’s Powers are born of practices performed in previous births,
or by Secret Herbs given by one’s Teacher, mantra repetition, steadfast training,
or by deep meditation.”
– Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Chapter 4, Verse 1

May my sweat spilled upon the Sacred Peak today benefit your own willingness to sweat each day in some way.

May the time and effort by myself in producing this DL for you today, benefit your own desire to mine spiritual inspiration from the mundane world and expand your notion of what Yoga truly means.

May the Sacred Joy that animates this DL for you,
act as an internal spark plug to radiate your own Light and thus, in turn,
transform your Life into a Light of Awakening for All Beings Everywhere.

Om So Ti,

coach ilg
founder/Wholistic Fitness® Personal Training

final photo of the Sacred Peak: Jill Torrance/AZ Daily Sun