#314: Ashly Winchester -- The “Snowman Race” in Bhutan, One of the World's Most Difficult Races

Like a Bigfoot

Deep in the Himalayas lies the country of Bhutan, one of the world’s only carbon-negative countries. And yet it is a place of major impact from the terrible effects of climate change. As glaciers melt high up in the mountains, small villages are being washed away in horrifying glacier lake outburst floods (essentially, giant lakes formed from melting glaciers overflow, sending a massive rush of water down valley wiping out everything in it’s path). Enter The Snowman Race. Created by His Majesty the King of Bhutan, this effort to raise awareness of this crisis is a five day stage race through the mountains giving athletes a first hand look at the effects of this crisis. Over 126 miles, an average elevation over 14,000feet and climbing to heights at nearly 18,000 feet this is TRULY one of the most difficult athletic events in the world. Joining some of the world’s best mountain athletes, on a personal invite from the King, a Pacific Northwest FKT master Ashly Winchester headed out to the Himalayas to take this beast on!! This episode is about the extreme ups and downs of that adventure, what she learned about the world and herself, and how we handle adversity in athletics and in life. I truly enjoyed chatting with Ashly and I hope you all are inspired by this episode!! Please check out the Snowman Race in Bhutan and inform yourself of the challenges the country (and the world) is facing!