But first, I traveled in advance to São Paulo, to spend a few days touring the city, where I tasted the amazing food (sushi & temakis included!), the good beer, a couple of runs around downtown, the art cinema at Reserva Cultural and the great vibe of Avenida Paulista all day round.

Joan arrived to town on Wednesday morning, then in the afternoon we met with Allisson and a few friends and drove all the way to São João da Boa Vista, where the race starts. On Thursday morning we attended the lengthy pre-race briefing and met a bunch of friends, then went to the supermarket to buy supplies and headed back to the hotel to prepare everything for Friday.

Race started at 8 a.m. on Friday, the ambiance was great and the weather was a bit cloudy, which almost guaranteed some rain during the day. Joan made steady progress from the start to the top of Pico do Gaviao (km 45), the highest point along the course. Meanwhile, Edinho (our hired driver) and I followed the Caminho da Fé on board of his 4×4 truck, providing Joan with food and fluids along the way. Our main goal was to keep him moving as much as possible to avoid losing time in unnecessary stops, the plan went really smooth.

Like last year, I started pacing Joan at Serra dos Limas (km 77), where he had a quick lunch of pasta, we were 1.5 hours ahead of last year’s time. Night caught us a little before arriving to Barra (km 84), where we didn’t stop at all and continued towards Crisólia (km 99). Another fast meal and a switch to Hoka’s took us about 10 minutes to leave Crisólia. We did great progress and trotted much of the course, which felt a lot better with the cushy shoes on. By then, it had not rained at all and the sky was now crystal clear and full of stars.

We entered Ouro Fino (km 106) exactly at midnight. While Joan continued moving, I refilled our water bottles and grabbed a bit of snacks and a Coke. We were out of town in no time and steadily approached to Inconfidentes (km 115), where we arrived at 1:45 a.m. of Saturday, exactly 3 hours ahead from last year’s time. We made a 10-minute stop to grab more water and eat some sandwiches. Since it was still very early in the night, I continued pacing Joan towards Borda da Mata (km 137).

At 5:25 a.m. we arrived at the checkpoint in Borda da Mata, Edinho was already there with the all the supplies in place. Joan was getting an upset stomach but he still got some food and fluids while Edinho gave him some massage in his legs. I continued pacing for another 5 km until sunrise caught us, then jumped into the truck and wished Joan luck for the rest of the day, my duties for the night were done. We drove towards Tocos do Moji (km 153), where we waited for Joan for about an hour.

While I got a brief nap, Edinho noticed that one of the suspension bars under the truck got broke during the drive. He immediately started looking for some mechanic to help him fix the problem as we wouldn’t be able to continue driving along the dirt road in such state. Meanwhile, Joan arrived at 9:10 a.m. and I had to tell him the news, which troubled him a little since we were making such great progress. I told him to not worry at all and to focus on keeping himself moving, then assured we would catch him along the course in no time.

After I dispatched Joan, Edinho arrived with the mechanic and quickly assessed the problem, we moved truck to his shop so he could start fixing it. While I had another nap, both men did an outstanding job in repairing the bar, soldering the piece and adding a few reinforcements which would allow us to continue without troubles until finishing the race.

We found Joan in the middle of a very hilly section, the day was kind of hot and he was struggling with the idea of failure due to the truck’s issue. The look in his face quickly morphed into happiness when he saw us arrive with the fixed truck. We waited for him at the top of the last hill in that section, where Edinho excelled at preparing some soup and sandwiches for brunch. We continued towards Estiva (km 175), where Joan arrived at 2:10 p.m., 7.5 hours ahead from his previous time, in a much better mood and ready to tackle the last two sections of the course.

Edinho and I made the next stop at the top of the highest hill on the way to Consolação, a bunch of clouds now covered the sky and lots of rainfall could be seen in different places in the horizon, it was evident that it would catch us at some point soon. Joan passed by while we slotted a Nutella sandwich in his mouth, then I prepared myself for pacing duties again. Though it was still early in the afternoon, Edinho and I thought it was a good idea to resume pacing since we were basically 30 km away from the finish line and some company would be nice through the upcoming rainstorm.

Rain caught us while entering Consolação (km 195), which Joan quickly passed through while I briefly stopped to pick up our rain jackets and headlamps. With gear in hands, I had to fly about 1 km of downhill to catch Joan, who was about to enter a short section of paved road. Edihno escorted us along this section and through the rain, which got worse with every few meters we gained.

Once again at the dirt road, the storm was in full blast, we were soaking wet and starting to get cold due to our wet clothes. Another brief stop at the start of that section allowed us change into dry and warmer clothes. Joan picked up his Goretex jacket and swapped the Hoka’s for the Salomon’s since the road was really muddy and kind of slippery. Edinho moved forward, stopping after one of the big hills in that stretch, about 5 km ahead. Joan continued moving while I quickly went ahead to refill the water bottles, then Edinho passed us again and promised to meet us at the top of the mountain. The rain stopped and we enjoyed the early hours of the night accompanied by the hordes of frogs who chanted all around.

We tackled the last long downhill towards Paraisopolis (km 217) in almost no time and met Edinho at the rocky street that leads to the main plaza and the finish line. We crossed the line at 10:49 p.m. or 38 hours 49 minutes and 49 seconds after departure from São João the day before. Joan was ecstatic, that was a little more than 8 hours off from his last year’s time. The mission was accomplished and everyone did its part in nearly perfect way, but of course the weather and course conditions helped a lot.

We had our own private awards ceremony as usual, then stayed there for some time to phone home and wait for a few more fellow runners to arrive as well. After a well-deserved shower and a some slices of tasty pizza, we hit the sack and slept like rocks until 9 a.m. of Sunday.

On Sunday morning, after a good breakfast and packing our gear, we said goodbye to Edinho and many good friends around Paraisopolis plaza, then jumped into Allisson’s truck for the long drive back to São Paulo. Once in São Paulo, Joan and I spent the evening having drinks, good food and doing a last walk around the Jardim Paulista neighborhood. It’s always fun times while being in Brazil… Tudo bom!

Rest of the photos are here or in the slideshow below:

Just like every other year, 2011 was packed with a lot of good things: travel, races, mountains, family, new and old friends, work, concerts, training… the list could be long. But it also had some very rough moments: losses, angst, illness, depression…

All of this forced me to practice and try to learn a lot of things, among others: detachment, meditation, tolerance, compassion, forgiveness, humility. This definitely wasn’t planned but the way some events happened didn’t left room for standing still, actions had to be taken.

There’s still plenty to work on for the next year and onwards, but some of the resolutions I’ve made include: put less or none expectations on people, let go of people who I no longer feel identified with, make peace with different pending subjects, reconnect with my inner self, worry less and enjoy more…

It wouldn’t be fair to say that this year was bad because, in fact, it wasn’t. It was just really tough, in every possible way, good and bad. I’m grateful with it because it left me with a lot of things to work on and improve, but also because it’s gone now. I’m pretty sure this was just the beginning of a better and much saner way of life.

2012, bring it on!

For this year, I decided to run the original skymarathon course (alone, while the rest of my folks raced the shorter/safer/easier course), honoring my mountaineering skills and finally reaching Iztaccíhuatl’s summit for the unique time in the year (at any of the multiple times I went there for training/climbing along the year, the weather was always crap).

I logged a time of 3:53:17, for the first 13.5 km and 1,627 meters of climb from Paso de Cortés to the summit. When subtracting the 1:07:33 that I made from Paso de Cortés to La Joya, it would make 2:45:44, a new PR from La Joya to the summit via a non-technical route (which I’m pretty sure I can break down a little more…). In total, I finished the whole 27 km roundtrip from Paso de Cortés to the summit and back in 6:21:09, feeling great and chatting with lots of friends along the way.

For sure it was a great way to round up a fantastic year of running and racing. I’m already looking forward to a couple of big projects for 2012, including getting back into regular climbing

The rest of the photos are here or in the slideshow below:

This was at a festival dubbed The Night Of The Living Dead, and there were 2 other bands (who really sucked ass by-the-way, excuse my French…): The Black Dahlia Murder and Suicide Silence. Honestly, I don’t know why a legendary death metal band such as Cannibal Corpse would line up with those other 2 emo-kiddie acts, but that was an awful combination for all the old farts (like us) attending the gig…

Anyhow, while those bands did their thing, we simply stayed away, drinking beers and having fun of all the skinny kids “moshing” at the front of the stage. Then, when the time came up, we simply jumped into the front rows and beat them up while headbanging at the fat and growling tunes of George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher & company. A tight but full-of-energy setlist, which left no room for taking a single breath. Pure brutality… \m/

Then came the turn for the now legendary Dream Theater, who executed to perfection every single note in their setlist. For me, the highlight was their performance of The Ytse Jam, probably the song that I like the most from them since it was one of the very first technical tunes I learned to play in the electric guitar and because it’s purely instrumental. It was the first time for me to attend one of their gigs (I actually don’t like their vocal style, just their music), and I was very satisfied with the show.

A was a little slow at the start due to the usual “runner jam” at the almost vertical pipe section at the very beginning of the course, but after that I passed people at a steady pace. I covered the almost 2000 meters of vertical ascent (in 12 km) in about 3 hours 15 minutes, then did my best to not completely burn my quads on the fast descent.

In total, I bested my time from the previous year by 1 hour and 21 minutes, logging a total of 5:17:26 for the roundtrip. Yeah, I’m back in the game

Rest of the photos are here or in the slideshow below:

Had a super fun weekend with Armando while guiding a couple of friends at Pico de Orizaba. We spent 2 days in the mountain, the first one for acclimatizing and hiking a little, the second one for the summit push.

For Sofía it was her first mountaineering adventure, whereas Jaime had some decent experience from wandering around our volcanoes and the Andes some years ago. We had great weather overall, with moderate winds and occasional spindrift while at the Jamapa glacier.

Since I wasn’t roped with my friends, I was able to climb up, down and sideways around the glacier, shooting pictures and easily reaching the summit about 1 hour before them. After a short nap, I downclimbed to the crater’s lower rim, met them and then, all together, made a final walk to the summit. A good amount of clouds set in at that very moment, but we certainly enjoyed our brief time there.

The rest of the day was spent coming down the giant ice field, eating delicious sandwiches and making fun of everything. It’s always great how something so apparently “simple” as a mountain trip can create such special bonds with people. I can easily say I’ve got 2 new friends

Rest of the photos are here or in the slideshow below:

Even though we bought the cheapest tickets for the farthest side of Foro Sol, the sound quality was great, the band performed amazingly and the crowd got so excited that the resulting setlist was really big:

20 years might be easy to say but, to many of us who grew up listening to the tunes of Pearl Jam and other grunge bands from the early 90′s, it evoked some of the greatest memories of our lives

pearl jam – given to fly

he could’ve tuned in, tuned in
but he tuned out
a bad time, nothing could save him
alone in a corridor, waiting, locked out
he got up outta there, ran for hundreds of miles
he made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree
the wind rose up, set him down on his knee

a wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
delivered him wings, “hey, look at me now”
arms wide open with the sea as his floor
oh, power, oh

he’s… flying
whole
high… wide, oh

he floated back down ’cause he wanted to share
his key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere
but first he was stripped and then he was stabbed
by faceless men, well, fuckers
he still stands

and he still gives his love, he just gives it away
the love he receives is the love that is saved
and sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
a human being that was given to fly

high… flying
oh, oh
high… flying
oh, oh
he’s flying
oh, oh…

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend each of the 10 editions, which have always been a great opportunity to reconnect with old climbing friends and to get loads of inspiration from many adventurers from around the world.

This year I won’t be writing a brief review of each of the films but will only highlight the special guest we had: Reinhold Messner. Indeed, the greatest mountaineer from all times visited Mexico and gave a special conference before the festival’s closure.

For many of us who have been wandering around the mountains it was a truly unique occasion, the author of many revolutionary climbs and of classic mountaineering books came here to share with us not his accomplishments but his profound insights after a whole life dedicated to adventure. It was really great to see such an icon in his most down-to-earth form, a mature and sober human being