Hawaii:
From Sea to Sea
A major first across the volcanoes
It all began in Chamonix. During the Ultra‑Trail du Mont‑Blanc®, Julbo invited finishers to enter a draw to win a dream trail trip on the island of legends with two trail stars, Julien Chorier and Jason Schlarb. The goal: cross Hawaii from south to north running, passing two volcanoes over 4,000 m, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Californian Bill Clements was the lucky amateur selected for the Julbo Trail Session 2014. He had the chance to share a magical moment side by side with these two pros from the Julbo Trail Team. And now we relive his journey today.
THE TEAM
Bill Clements
Seeing Bill, who would think this Californian was previously overweight? 100 % amateur, he started running in 2009 after a major diet. Finisher of the Western States 100 and the Leadville Trail 100, he was participating for the first time at the UTMB®. He finished the race in 187th place in 32 h 45 min, entered the Julbo contest… and earned his ticket to the Julbo Trail Session! A well‑deserved reward.
Jason Schlarb
Winner of the Run Rabbit 100 in 2013, Jason Schlarb is the great hope of US trail. In 2014, he became the best‑placed American in the entire history of UTMB®, thanks to his formidable 4th place. To maximise his chances, this ardent defender of positive attitude trained all summer in the Alps.
Julien Chorier
At 34, here is a civil engineer who built himself a solid trail resume. Among his greatest successes are the Grand Raid de la Réunion (2009 and 2011), Hardrock 100 (2011), Ultra‑Trail du Mont Fuji (2012), Ronda dels Cims (2013) and Madeira Island Ultra‑Trail (2014). Not to mention top placements at UTMB®.
CHALLENGE PREPARATION
From 0 to 4,000 m, nothing must be left to chance
After a flight from Los Angeles and a nighttime arrival in Kona, it’s time to meet. Meeting among runners, but also meeting the island and landscapes as varied as the weather can be changeable. In Hawaii, the weather is so peculiar that it can change completely. And sun can follow rain as quickly as rain follows sun! The first days on site are spent preparing the crossing, identifying key spots, familiarising with different terrain. And above all preparing to face all conditions, from 0 to over 4,000 m!
FIRST GOAL: 4,169 M
An epic day towards Mauna Loa
On the day, the whole team is up at dawn. The starting point is a beach surrounded by a field of black lava. Our three runners set off around 7 a.m. on the Ka‘ū Desert Trail. Their goal? Mauna Loa at 4,169 m: a beautiful climb starting from the sea! They don’t yet know it, but this will be the hardest day of the trip, especially for Bill, because tall grass covering the lava fields makes any run impossible. Higher up, the poorly marked path forces them to navigate from cairn to cairn. At 9 p.m. in the headlamp light, they finally reach the summit, 14 hours after leaving the beach! At 4,000 m altitude, nights are cold, but our runners are so exhausted that they sleep like babies!
80% of the time we moved on lava. It was hard, because we don’t have that in California!
Seeing all this lava around us was like walking on the moon!
Starting from 0 m to finish at 4,169 m was incredible in terms of the landscapes crossed. None of us had ever climbed a volcano like this Mauna Loa. First summit reached.
8,000 M OF CUMULATIVE ASCENT
Reaching the second volcano
To reward our three runners, Hawaii offers them a sublime sunrise. Barely time to admire it when they must already leave. On the programme: the descent from Mauna Loa. Then the very beautiful ascent towards Mauna Kea at 4,205 m. The beginning is on a beautiful road section ending in the valley, followed by a long traverse at 2,000 m. Then a winding pleasant path takes them up to the 2nd volcano of the trip. The pace is good, the runners united. And the difficulties are less compared to the first day. The last 500 m of ascent are climbed on magnificent paths. Julien, Jason and Bill reach the summit exactly at sunset. Perfect timing.
Bill was really strong and after a slightly difficult first day, he was on top for the rest of the trip.
On the road to the 2nd volcano, the sun was intense, the heat high, but the spirits high.
We climbed Mauna Kea faster than we had estimated. Plus, arriving at sunset!
During the climb of Mauna Kea, we really enjoyed it together.
HEADING TO THE SEA!
All the landscapes, all the magic of the island!
The sunrise rivals the previous evening’s sunset! With the cold, our runners don’t linger and enjoy descending from 4,200 m to 4,100 m almost straight down, just to warm up! Julien, Jason and Bill are having a blast. At 3,000 m on the Ka‘aliali Trail, they alternate ascents and descents over 45 km. Then, after leaving the desert zones, they go from emotion to emotion through incredible vegetation! Finally, after 258 km of running since the start, the crossing of the rain forest via Mud Lane and the unreal Waipi‘o valley, it’s the arrival on a sublime sandy beach. The challenge achieved, the crossing completed! Congratulations to them and especially to Bill, the amateur runner, who proved himself fully up to the challenge.
If I have to take something away from all this, it’s that you must be ready to face all conditions. Have enough food, water, a survival blanket and a filter cartridge if needed.
Butterflies, spiders, rainbows, dream trails: the last day was the most beautiful way to conclude this exceptional adventure!
WE LOVE HAWAII!
An island dream for lovers of life.
Hawaii, land of contrast! Here, you can go from 0 to 4,000 m the easiest in the world. Find yourself in no time on a dream beach, a lunar landscape, a lush jungle or even on snow! Before and after their challenge, our three friends had time to discover and appreciate the kindness of the inhabitants. They particularly loved the atmosphere of the Waipi‘o valley with its truly welcoming hippies! Hawaii? A “Maikai” trip! (or “excellent”!)
In the end, we arrived at the beach bursting with pleasure, pride and emotion.
