Grinds 20 and 21 - Big Shoutouts, Olympic Spirits and our Double Everest!

 Sponsorship Shoutout!

     
           Well Team, here we are, nearing the end of our voyage (none too soon though we will miss it). To be honest we really didn't know what we'd be taking on when this all began, if people would respond, if we'd be able to do it and if we would actually be able to keep up with our blog or if it would get forgotten amidst the fury. By the time one week rolled around and we saw about 500 people had viewed our progress we knew we couldn't stop and we loved it. Now, we know that you don't wait by your computers just itching for another post to pop up from us but we appreciate the following and hope we bring some humour and interest to your day. In all seriousness we all live busy lives and knowing that you took your time to support us whether it be financially or simply by reading this means a lot to us. We've been trying to thank people individually throughout the Grinding though it can be tough and keeping up the writing (which we do thoroughly enjoy) has been as exhausting as the hiking itself. We apologize to those who wished us well who we may not formally thank as the support has been overwhelming. For those who didn't have a chance to donate we know that there are many other worthy causes and priorities and that's totally cool and we appreciate your support. So, over the next couple of entries we want to make sure that every sponsor gets to be thanked (in Jay-Zed style) as you all more than deserve it.We also thought we'd through in some of our favourite photos from our adventure, enjoy.

          Scotty Greenwood, you ridiculous man, we love you and as a token of that we're going to send you the running shoes from our Grouse Grinds, which I expect to see framed in your house by Christmas. As a fellow traveler, my ferocious foosball partner when Mark, Brendo and we lived on Edward St. and a fun trip leader of Jill's way back, we love you man.

The Edward St. Boys - Dunc, Scotty, Mark, Brendo!

          Sue Waywell you were the first person we heard from and you rock. Thanks for housing all the boys throughout highschool and all the drives to hockey for about ten years of my childhood and for putting up with Steve and I when we were shitdisturbers. Best to Tom and really hope to see you at Christmas.

        Pete-Pete-Pete...Pete-Pete-Pete-Pete...Pete-Pete-Pete-Pete-Pete! Do you still want Larry Fitzgerald on fantasy football? He's yours, he's a bum. Love you and Alissa like crazy and really looking forward to getting together for beers soon. Alissa, we want you and Pete to come move here... I think that apartment next to lamplighter is up for sale.
 
         Matty Corkum, you are my hero man and keep up the great work on Wind Energy, I'm being the Eye of the Wind for Hallowe'en so I don't have to move at all which'll be great because these Grinds are wearing me down. We can't all bike 200,000km in a summer! We Love you man, see you at New Years!

Guinness My Goodness!

        Gord Cruess, it's been too long. The Bourke and Cruess brothers need to reunite soon and fill that empty feeling I've had for years. Hope the Cruii are all good and NYC is treating you well. Really appreciative that you'd think of us and hope to see you soon.

       Wooguh, we'll be back up to Yellowknife for Easter again this year so don't finish off that tree we shot at together without us, it's a team effort. Best to Annie and thanks for being like another brother to me, which was key because there's no way Robin could have pushed me into snowbanks by himself. Love you bro.

       Andrew and Morgan, it's been great getting to know you guys the last few years and we're looking forward to many more, you guys are awesome, thank you both tons. Looking forward riding the backcountry this year though it can be dangerous out there so don't forget about our safety meetings!

         Freddy, another 'nother brother from another mother. We've had some great ones over the years though none in recent memory, let's change that. You're a hell of a guy and we looking forward to our next meeting, likely at a bar that rhymes with Forts (Sports, Ports) to watch hockey.

        Brad, from Sasquatch to Softball and Basketball to beers we can't get enough of you. The greatest gift you ever gave was to Duncan for making him feel somewhat human for being a fellow profuse sweater.

        Nate and Mya, so happy that you're helping us along our journey. Your two boys are amazing and the third will be too having parents like you. Also Nate, you may not sleep sometimes running the StructureCraft shop (especially with Van Dusen down there) but knowing your running things definitely helps me sleep better if that's any consolation.

        Payne, you only sponsored Jill and she's not writing this entry so you'll have to wait.

       Megan and Kevin, you newlyweds you, I know we only see eachother for few weekends but that's probably for the best, people can't have that much fun all the time. I know you guys are awesome friends to my brother so there's a lot of love between us. See you in Spring when I impersonate the Snow King yet again.

        Jamie, we did it, Jill carried me on her back all the way up. We have hard evidence because here's a picture of Jill carrying me at the top. Thanks for the support you're a good man and a genius, see you before long, we'll celebrate. I know you guys aren't in it for the corporate plug but anyone who hasn't checked Gelaskins out needs to... immediately. www.gelaskins.com

 














           Drew, another Gelaskin creative genius and a Bourke Bash legend, hope you boys are planning on coming out here a bunch over the winter, there's already snow on the peaks and we're getting pumped. We'll hand out pictures of you to the Tanzanians so they know where the good will is coming from, you'll be like Bono over there.

          More thank yous to come on our next entry! Now... approaching our second Everest!

Grind #20 - Saturday October 20th - Olympic Spirit!
Celebrity Guests: Andrew Chad and Brad Jones
Grind time: 47:13

            We were fortunate enough today to be graced with the presences of one Andrew Chad (not to be confused with my other good friend Chad Andrews) and Brad Jones (not to be confused with aged Saskatchewan Country Star Brad Johner, see right). Andrew Chad and I work together at Fast + Epp and I remember when he started at the firm almost 3 years ago now and a few of us went out to lunch. We talked about where we lived and I said I knew someone who lived up near there from Kingston and he asked who. I thought I'd humour him by playing this game though before we knew it we made about 100 connections. We shared a ton of mutual friends and we eventually discovered that my then to be girlfriend Jill was also his girlfriend Morgan's coxswain with Queen's rowing. I soon met Brad and his other friends who are great fun and it's been a blast getting to know and hang out with them out here over the last few years. This past week Brad actually asked us if we'd mind him coming along and of course we responded the more the merrier and Andrew was more than down as well. Something to do with training for the upcoming season (let's all pray to La Nina that we get a ton of snow, unlike last year).

          Remember last year? Remember the Olympics? What a couple of weeks it was. It's amazing how exhausting eating food, drinking beer and watching people play sports can be! I must say that the experience of being in Vancouver over the Olympics was incredible though for the pinnacle event you could've been anywhere on Sunday February 28th, 2010 and marveled in the wonder and celebration that was Canada's Golden Game. Brad, Andrew, Morgan, Robin, Matty, Ali, Danica, Jane, Jill and I (and others) were all together at an English pub which switched to the game right before puck drop and we nervously watched our boys in red battle it out, afraid that there would be a repeat of our loss to USA the week before. When Crosby scored that overtime goal, as ugly as it was, the pub exploded with cheering and we were dancing on tables, hugging strangers and singing O Canada as pure glee rushed through our veins. It's not about sport, not really, it's about knowing that 30 million other proud Canadians were sharing that same glorious feeling at that exact moment (half an hour later in Newfoundland).

   
          The group of us headed downtown with a couple of stops along the way including the Canadian tire to buy a hockey stick to wave our flag on. We gave thousands of high-fives to complete strangers and hugged anyone in a Canada jersey. It was the culmination of two weeks of national pride as we set records for gold medals at a Winter Olympics and put on one hell of a show (regardless of what the British tabloids said).
    
            We all trudged our way up the Grind and arrived within minutes of eachother. We were completely bagged and decided that in true Olympian style we would have a celebratory beer at the top. We talked about how we were looking forward to the upcoming skiing/snowboarding season and were hoping that the weather projections would be true as we felt like we were owed a good one after last year's balmy winter. It was a great day and we were happy to have the company and like a good Brad Johner concert (another Olympic moment we shared together - at the Saskatchewan house) we left fully satisfied.

Well Deserved Lagers

       

Grind #21- Sunday October 21st - Second Everest!!
Grind time: 50:12

   








         
          Today we reached our second Mt. Everest in terms of elevation gained. Since we began five weeks ago we've climbed 17,913m or 58,755ft! Trust us, it feels like it! Now if you'll look back at our original entry and the e-mails we sent out in hopes for your support this was the goal we were aiming for and we've gotten here! Now, we did threaten to push further and with a few days of Grinding left we're hoping to... though don't worry we won't put you out of house and home as we're certainly nearing the end of this exhausting but amazing experience. We're hoping to push a little further to raise as much as we can to make this mission possible! We know that some of you who've donated may have budgeted for 21 so we'll happily except a donation based on that estimate though we're determined to push on and if you chose to support us through then that's great! As you can see from our photo today was Everest like in more ways than one! It was freezing and with the precipitation on it's way we though we may be in for some snow. We made decent enough time considering this was our fourth in as many days and went down to get warm.