Hagan Summer Athlete Roundup

It is summer, whether we like it or not. For most, the skis have been hung up quite a while, for others, they're still finding turns. The Hagan USA Athlete Team has been doing a good mix of both. While we all share a common passion and pursuit of ski touring, all disciplines included, it is quite fun to check in and see what everyone is up to during the summer.

Meredith Edwards recently departed the continent for the Tibetan Steppe. She is joining a 5-week volunteer patrol on Lenin Peak in Kyrgyzstan. While she is mostly off the grid (whodathunk), we are keeping our eyes on our WhatsApp messages for photos of her adventure. Should circumstance allow it, she may attempt the fastest known time on the peak with her Ultra 89s. Stay posted for here and on our Instagram for more adventure updates from her!

Sage Canaday needs little introduction, but incase your memory needs some help he is one of the most prolific and well rounded runners. We are fortunate that he uses our sticks in the winter to cross train! Back in April, Sage ran only a 2:26 marathon at Boston, phew. Otherwise, he's been running big peaks and slowly checking off his final six 14ers. Later this summer, he'll be jumping into the double at the Grand Traverse. This includes a 40 mile trail run from Crested Butte to Aspen on Saturday, then a mountain bike ride back to Crested Butte on Sunday. Best of luck Sage!

For all you North Easters, you're sure to know of Jonathan Shefftz. While he's always the first to boast about the touring grounds on the East Coast, he is headed out west for his annual Pacific Northwest adventures. Otherwise, he is living it up with his family and enjoying the summer!

[Above photo by Carter Clark] Staying with our North Easters, Dennis Kramer made an impressive effort to ski as long as possible. The local Vermont touring scene and company showed up for the fourth annual "Nosedive Bar", the only skin-in and ski-out bar in Vermont. There was a sure shortage of clothing with all the jorts we saw, but that didn't stop Dennis and Krammer from having a grand ol'time. 

Our Hagan Groms have been out and about on some of the volcanos up north and west. Father Jesse Thompson recently wrote a wonderful blog about a recent touring trip (among countless this year) with his son TJT. While it serves as a great adventure story, it's a beautifully written monologue on parenting and risk management. You can click this link or navigate back to the main page of our blog to read it. 

Rachel Hebuas, an up-and-coming U23 skimo athlete has been touching the sky in the Skyrunning World Series this summer. After an impressive winter of skimo (finishing on multiple podiums and racing at World Champs mind you), Rachel hit it out of the park at the Ueda Skyrace in Japan. Proving it wasn't just a one-and-done, Rachel backed up the result with a win in the Cordillera Blanca Skyrace in Peru a few weeks later. She'll continue to race this series through the rest of the summer while sneaking in some big mountain runs in her home state of Colorado.

[Above photo credits to Anatasia Wilde] I'll give some leniency to non-trail runners here, but if you do run and didn't hear about Jeff Mogavero's result at Western States then you are seriously missing out. Bear with me as I provide some context, Western States is the original 100 mile trail run. The course stretches from Palisades Tahoe to Auburn, California, providing 18,000 feet of gain and even more loss. Temperatures are often well over 100 degrees and elite men have been running sub 15 hours on the course. This year, one of the deepest and most competitive men's fields ever assembled toed the line, Jeff included. Jeff raced hard, securing the fastest 4th place finish ever in 14:30, fastest Western States debut ever, and had the great honor of racing the one and only Killian Jornet for over 75 miles. After recovering, Jeff is changing gears and adding some more vertical into his training for UTMB at the end of August, a 100 mile race circumnavigating Mt.Blac. We're rooting for you Jeff!

Brent Herring, after establishing the fastest self-supported time on the Colorado Trail last year, took that speed to his first 100 miler earlier this month, Cascade Crest 100. I use quotations because the Colorado Trail is just a little longer than a 100 miles, but we had no doubt Brent can handle it. Brent knocked it out of the park, finishing 6th overall on the mountainous course. Otherwise, he is taking his family on many a backpacking trip in the San Juans and enjoying all that those magical mountains provide. 

Jack Breezley has been getting out and about, as much as a student in an MBA program can at least. He ran to a quick fourth place in June at the Sinks Canyon 50k up in Lander, Wyoming. He just returned from volunteering for the fifth year in a row at the Hardrock 100, hopefully he's catching up on sleep. At the end of the month, he'll be off to Bozeman, Montana, for his first hundred miler, the Crazy Mountain 100. Best of luck Jack!

Porter McMichael spent much of his winter, spring, and summer thus far away from his skis. Porter was in the depths of Fire Academy but earlier this month graduated with flying colors, congrats Porter! When he was able to get out and about, he did his usual thing of casually bagging huge lines in the PNW and running rocky ridges. The above photo is Porter and company on top of the Mixup Couloir, courtesy of Jason Hummel.

Like peanut butter and jelly, when Porter gets out and about, it's often with Justin Sackett. The two completed no shortage of impressive routes both on foot and/or skis this spring sand summer. Since then, Justin has been leadng many summer alpinism camps through his guiding outfit, Skyline Mountain Guides, as well as exploring all vertical sports one can. 

Max Kilcoyne, well I'm not really sure where to start. The 23 year old recently returned from his first Denali trip where he originally planned to help support Anna DeMonte break the fastest known time on the mountain, alongside the Jack Kunzle. Unfortunately, the plans went awry and Max adapted, spending time with some other young-guns on the mountain. Max graciously wrote a 25 page essay and shared more photos than we know what to do with, you can read his story HERE. I would seriously consider signing up for our newsletter and following our Instagram (if you aren't already), this is a adventure story that matches the likes of the Rick Ridgeway, Yvon Chouinard, Doug Thompkins, or Conrad Anker and Jimmy Chin.

Last but certainly not least, one of the coolest kids on the block, Victor Doronin has been living the summer dream we all wish we had growing up. Victor pushed his skimo season all the way through May before transitioning to larger tours on the PNW volcanos, alongside running. Now well removed from snow, Victor's been putting together running blocks that make my legs shake just looking at the stats.