As the COVID-19 pandemic causes a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), like听face masks and eye protection, in hospitals across the globe, skiers and snowboarders have found a way to help: donating their goggles to hospitals in need.听

The movement began in New York City with skier and doctor Mike Halperin, who works at the Jacobi Medical Center scanning patients鈥� hearts and lungs for the novel coronavirus.听On March 27, Halperin was thinking about the road ahead for health care workers听and the increasing need for PPE听when the lightbulb went on. He called his aunt and uncle in Steamboat Springs, Colorado,听with a simple request: send ski goggles to New York City as soon as possible.

鈥淲hen a doctor is putting a breathing tube in鈥攊ntubating鈥攖here is potential that, if you just have an eye shield and it鈥檚 not sealed, those droplets听can get into your eye,鈥� says Halperin.听鈥淚 want goggles in that situation听and want to put that face shield over the goggles.鈥� There are plenty of other medical staffers who need goggles听as well, Halperin notes, including those who are testing patients and cleaning facilities.

Halperin鈥檚 request gained momentum fast. His aunt and uncle started gathering goggles in their community and听emailing as many skiers and snowboarders as possible to spread the word. The emails turned into many replies, forwards, text messages, and phone calls.

One of the email recipients was Jon Schaefer, the owner and general manager of two ski areas in western Massachusetts, Berkshire East and Catamount. On March 12, they were the first two ski resorts听to close听in the U.S. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shaefer was immediately intrigued by the goggle project. But he knew its momentum was unsustainable.听鈥淢ike had his personal info out there: his phone and his address,鈥� says Schaefer. 鈥淎nd I thought, This guy is going to get 10,000 pairs of goggles delivered to his door.鈥�

So Schaefer and a contingent of other volunteers set up a Facebook group and a Google Sheet that detailed听which hospitals to focus on听and how to get them clean, usable goggles, conveying information like drop-off-station whereabouts, sanitization instructions, and hospital mailing addresses.

鈥淲e basically copied a Google Sheet format for deciding what parent would bring oranges to the soccer match,鈥� says Schaefer. 鈥淪omething where people can communicate in real time about fulfillment needs.鈥澨�

The Facebook group and Google Sheet were helpful, but not enough to succeed on their own. So Trevor Crist and Gregg Blanchard, both ski-industry insiders from the Vermont-based travel and booking company听Inntopia, reached out to Shaefer and offered to build a custom website for free. Right away, Shaefer and Blanchard hopped on the phone and听created . It happened so fast that Schaefer can鈥檛 even recall who even came up with the name.

The site launched on March 29 and, within 24 hours, over 1,700 pairs of goggles were shipped to hospitals in New York City, New Orleans, and beyond. At the time this article was written, the听number of donated goggles had听increased to 6,500 and is rising, thanks to a long list of individuals, ski resorts, and big brands like Anon, Julbo, Smith, and Uvex.

While ski goggles aren鈥檛 the most traditional piece of equipment found in hospitals, the broadly calls for health care workers to wear 鈥済oggles or a disposable face shield that covers the front and sides of the face.鈥� And medical professionals like Dr. Ron Gross, a trauma and acute-care surgeon at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, say these donations are adequate.

鈥淵ou know that old saying, any port in a storm? I don鈥檛 care what it is. As long as it serves a purpose, it鈥檚 needed,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd if we don鈥檛 have enough eye protection or face shields, these goggles are absolutely needed.鈥�

To donate goggles or get involved, visit .

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From the parking lot, it looked like a normal morning at Black Mountain. The small New Hampshire ski area was blanketed in sunlight, and guests meandered toward the green, chalet-style lodge, as if the thermometer didn鈥檛 read zero听degrees Fahrenheit.

But just out of sight, on the far side of the lodge, a group of 61 people stood with their tips pointed uphill. And a tall man in a red North Face expedition suit was pointing a megaphone straight at them.听

鈥淭he whole idea of this event is to push yourself,鈥� Andrew Drummond boomed,听as his Australian shepherd wiggled through the crowd. 鈥淚 think a lot of you will be surprising yourselves today, because this format is meant to really tap into that next level of what鈥檚 possible through pacing. Be responsible, have fun, and thank you for coming to this crazy event.鈥�

This crazy event is called Last Skier Standing, and this is how it works: participants have 60 minutes to ascend and descend Black Mountain, which is roughly a thousand听vertical feet. When those 60 minutes are over, they line up at the start and do it all over again, then again, and听again, until they can鈥檛 do it anymore. One lap per hour, and the last skier standing wins. Everyone else takes a DNF.

While innovative, the concept behind Last Skier Standing was not born at Black Mountain. It was born through ultrarunning, specifically at a race known as Big鈥檚 Backyard in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. At that听race, runners complete a 4.166667-mile trail听once per hour, meaning anyone who makes it 24 hours runs 100 miles. The current record is 68 laps, or听283.335 miles. And ever since that race began, in 2012, its format has been replicated around the world many times over but never on snow鈥攗ntil Last Skier Standing was held on February 15.听

The organizer with the megaphone, Drummond, is听a legend on the East Coast,听well known听for crushing ultramarathons and ski touring on Mount Washington. But perhaps even better known is his brand, , which sells outdoor equipment and hosts weekly ski-mountaineering and running races. Last听July, Drummond held a Big鈥檚 Backyard look-alike contest on his parents鈥� 350-acre property. The race was fairly informal and drew a small crowd, but the feedback was consistently positive:听every lap was a blast.

鈥淥ne of the guys came to me and asked if I鈥檇 thought about doing this for skiing,鈥� said Drummond. 鈥淚 said no鈥攊t seemed totally absurd to me. I didn鈥檛 think anyone would ever want to do that. But I didn鈥檛 dismiss it completely and brought it up with a couple of other friends. They said we should absolutely do it, so we got to work and started planning this thing.鈥�

At the count of ten, the herd of 61 began moving up Black Mountain. Entrants听ranged in age from 18 to 65. Some squeezed into tight skimo race suits. Others wore insulated jackets and heavy backpacks. Their backgrounds and strategies differed greatly, but everyone seemed to share听the same loose-screw mentality. After听the first three laps鈥攖he first three hours and 3,000 vertical feet鈥攁ll 61 racers on Black Mountain remained standing.听

Among the group was Adam Jaber, a 25-year-old skier from West Springfield, Massachusetts, known best within the outdoor industry for his Q-and-A-style podcast,听.听

鈥淚鈥檓 just going to keep it at a conversational pace, literally,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f I can鈥檛 keep talking people鈥檚 ears off on the way up, I鈥檒l know I鈥檓 in trouble.鈥�

By the tenth lap鈥攖en hours and 10,000 vertical feet into the event鈥�43 competitors remained. But it was 8 P.M. and cold. Moods seemed a little less happy and a lot more skeptical. And by the 14th听lap, the field had been whittled down to 21.

One of them was听Rick Chalmers, a 58-year-old carpenter from South Portland, Maine. Chalmers had gray hair escaping from his helmet and heavy gear strapped to his feet. On the first handful of laps, he finished dead last and it seemed that, perhaps, the second-oldest man on the hill听would be calling it quits. But it was all part of his strategy.听

鈥淚鈥檓 here to finish. I鈥檝e got notes and everything,鈥� he said matter-of-factly, as he ascended into the night. His notes read:

• Lap 1: 10 a.m. Patience and focus.
• Lap 3: 1 p.m. Remain calm.
• Lap 4: 2 p.m. Eat 3 oysters.
• Lap 6: 4 p.m. Headlamp and CSD skins for night laps.
• Lap 9: 7 p.m. Stromboli.
• Lap 13: 11 p.m. Eat 3 oysters.
• Lap 16: 2 a.m. These next 3 laps will be very difficult.

As the night came and went, the field continued to thin. And by the time the sun rose鈥�21 hours and 21,000 vertical feet on鈥攋ust eight men remained. Day skiers听began arriving at the听lodge again.听

Often leading the pack from the beginning of the race was a 31-year-old chiropractor from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.听Kanoa King听is an avid ultrarunner with results under his belt to show for it. A month before Last Skier Standing, he set a PR听at the Houston Marathon with a time of 2:40:08.听

鈥淵ou鈥檙e at 24 laps, and it dawns on you that if you do five more, you鈥檙e hitting the elevation of Everest at 29,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 thinking to myself, that鈥檚 only five more hours. I already did 24 of these, I could do five more.鈥�

So King did do five more. And so did Chalmers, while the rest of the racers faded away. All of the sudden, the event was no longer about how long these skiers would go听but instead when the hell they鈥檇 stop.听

On the 33rd lap, King bowed out. And that meant Chalmers had one last thing to do: one more lap, all by himself, to truly become the Last Skier Standing.

鈥淚 had my final oysters on the 30th听hour. I didn鈥檛 have any more oysters had it gone to 35 hours,鈥澨齭aid Chalmers, speaking to his oysters-every-five-hours strategy. (Unshucked oysters听because they鈥檙e delicious and salty. And every five hours听so he always had something to look forward to.)听鈥淚 was very cold,听very wet. I was a mess. I could barely function. All I could do was take skins off, put skins on, ski up, ski down, and eat a little.鈥�

All alone, Chalmers crossed the finish line at 7:40 P.M., after 34 hours, 34,000 vertical feet, and not a single wink of sleep. At the base, he was welcomed with open arms by his competitors, the volunteers, and the spectators. And while Last Skier Standing certainly has a nice ring to it, the nickname听Oyster Rick听seemed a lot more fitting.听

鈥淓veryone keeps calling this a sufferfest,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a sufferfest. Maybe it was. But I loved every step. Some of them were hard, sure, but it鈥檚 a joy to be skiing with a headlamp in the middle of the night, looking at the stars. Especially when you鈥檙e delirious.鈥�

Back around the seventh lap of the race, Cody Townsend听stopped by to witness听the delirium of Last Skier Standing in person. The California-based pro skier had just completed a line on nearby Mount Washington for his yearslong film project, .听

鈥淚鈥檝e always wondered why there鈥檚 so much pride with East Coast skiers. I thought it was just shitty skiing, terrible weather, and flat mountains,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 kind of came here to answer that question for myself. And what I鈥檓 learning is that skiing here is about so much more than just skiing.鈥� He gestured toward the racers as they vanished up and over the first pitch, into the darkness.鈥淵ou come here to Black Mountain and it鈥檚 like, oh, this is where the soul of skiing is. It鈥檚 right here.鈥�

The post In This Sufferfest, the Last Skier Standing Wins appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

For 85 years, Joy Ryan had been grinding away at life鈥攔aising a family, working nonstop at a minimum-wage job, making ends meet, wrestling with the loss of family members鈥攁nd rarely left her small hometown of Duncan Falls, Ohio. She鈥檇 never seen a mountain range before, just in the movies.听

That all changed one night four years ago.听Joy was on the phone with her grandson听Brad, who was stressed over his veterinarian program at Ohio State and coping with news of a peer who鈥檇 just committed suicide. After some back and forth, Brad took her by surprise听and suggested,听鈥淚 think it鈥檚 time we go see some mountains.鈥�

Joy agreed, so they started packing and听that weekend听drove through the night toward听Great Smoky Mountains National Park. By the time they got there the next day,听it was raining, and Joy held her pink umbrella over Brad as he put the tent together.

鈥淭hat was the first night she鈥檇 ever been in a tent,鈥� says Brad. 鈥淭he sleeping pad deflated in the middle of the night. I heard a rumbling noise and just saw her legs sticking out from underneath the thing because she rolled right off of it.鈥�

When the sun rose, Joy and Brad took in the view of the hazy ridgeline听together and set out for the Alum Cave Trail, a five-mile out-and-back route which summits among a line of bluffs. 鈥淚t took me two hours to get up that mountain,鈥� says Joy. 鈥淏rad kept saying we could go听back, but I was getting to the top of that thing if it killed me. Never thought I鈥檇 do something like that at 85 years old. Mind over matter, I suppose.鈥�

Then they went back to Ohio鈥攂ack to their routines. Two years passed听while Brad finished his degree, but during that time, he quietly crafted a master plan to visit every designated U.S. national park with Grandma Joy.听

鈥淣ational parks just bring out the best in people,鈥� says Brad. 鈥淚n the parks, you don鈥檛 talk about politics. You don鈥檛 talk about the things that cause us to wage war with each other. Parks bring us back to what鈥檚 important. You really do experience the best of America,听not only the people you meet and the things you see, but also the way you feel.鈥�

Today, four years after visiting the Smokies, Joy and Brad have checked off 29 national parks and monuments over five different road trips. They鈥檝e driven more than听25,000 miles through听38 states. And they鈥檝e gotten into a hell of a routine. Joy isn鈥檛 holding a pink umbrella over Brad as he sets up the tent anymore. These days听she鈥檚 the primary tent architect, pitching it听every night and tearing it down every morning,听while Brad shuttles the other camp gear in and out of their Ford Escape.听

鈥淚 thought maybe this whole mission would be less satisfying, because I wouldn鈥檛 be able to go climb the Tetons and that kind of thing,鈥� says Brad, an avid outdoorsman who has听thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and summitted Kilmanjaro. 鈥淏ut watching somebody see these things through a lens, knowing they鈥檙e probably not going to be back鈥攖hat鈥檚 really special.鈥�

One of the most memorable experiences for Brad occurred听at听Glacier National Park, on the edge of McDonald Lake.听鈥淚 wanted Grandma Joy to just have that moment in life听next to this pristine lake听and just stare at it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 stepped away from her, walked away, and watched from down the shoreline. I wanted her to think about her life. Nature. Stillness. I wanted her to have that solitude and one-on-one time with nature.鈥�

Joy would have been perfectly happy spending the rest of her days in Duncan Falls. She likes it there and says she听has听never needed much鈥攑eople with fancy pearls and diamonds 鈥減robably have a whole lot of debt听anyways.鈥� But hitting the road, sleeping in a tent for weeks on end, and seeing these parks has helped her appreciate life even more.听

鈥淚 feel pretty lucky,鈥澨齮he now 89-year-old says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have anything wrong with me听really. I take a few pills a day. I could use some hearing aids, but I can鈥檛 spend $5,000 on those, so I just learned to read lips, I guess. I鈥檓 going to just keep going as long as I can.鈥�

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