Uncovering the Truth: Underground Doping in the Long Distance Hiking Community

[Jim Sweeney]

Any time the Big Bucks show up in a sport, it's just human nature to use any advantage one can, legal or not. Oh, wait…you say there are no Big Bucks in backpacking? Not even mentioned in Sports Illustrated? Well dang, I have been wasting my time! I'm switching over to endurance flag-pole sitting, and I will use any drug I can get my hands on to reach the top.

[Joe Clement]

With the right………technique, endurance flag pole sitting doesn't need any enhancing drugs!

[Einstein X]

I personally think that if you are asking exceptionally much of your body, like showing your bike the french country side for two weeks, doing 200 km every day, or trying to ice speed skate faster than it is legal to drive your car through town, or regularly visit cities across the globe to try to be the first to cross some fictional line 42 km after crossing another fictional line, or keep squatting until you can lift a Volkswagen beetle, your body will need exceptionally much. Is it cheating? Is it unfair? Maybe, but I don't believe there is not a professional bicyclist that does not take performance enhancing substances. Do I care? Nope! Do I care if ultra long distance hikers use performance enhancing substances? Nope!

Eins

[Kevin Sawchuk]

Sadly it has come to this. With the multi-million dollar contracts for star backpackers and trail managers offering huge incentives for records on their trails it's no surprise that fast hikers have resorted to supplements.

We need a congressional investigation and a truth/reconciliation commission to stomp out this smouldering campfire. I'm going to start with a confession–I used Molasses Chews when I set the record on the JMT in 2004. I also used a special garlic infused humus on my Pita sandwiches. I can accept an asterick after my name in the record books but it feels so good to come clean.

I'm also going to out Skurka here and now. When we were in Yellowstone he reconstituted a powdered substance in boiling fluid, wrapped it in a flour tortilla and ate it. Afterwards he hiked much faster until we arrived at camp in the dark. He said it was potatoes but it was in an unmarked ziplock bag and I have no way to confirm his claims.

I think we need to have drug testers at the end of every hike and major trail. It's the only way to preserve lightweight backpacking's integrity and image.

[Peter Sustr]

So taking steroids for long distance hiking is bad??? but carrying 50 lbs of muscle should help me carry a lighter pack i thought……

[W I S N E R !]

Anybody know of any good UL sharps disposal/storage containers?

I'll be honest, up until now I've been throwing my used needles in bushes and streams.

BPL should look into making one.

[Sam Haraldson]

This product has been in the design process for quite some time now.

[Brian UL]

I seriously wouldnt be surprised if ultra-hikers doped. I mean why wouldn't they? As someone said already, top athletes use performance enhancing drugs, every sports fan knows this and they don't care. I would like to just see the sports fans/athletes just stop playing the game and just do it already!. Why not have steroid companies advertise that sport star x uses their product. Sport stars are entertainment nothing more.
So if someone is willing to do "anything" and push the limits of human endurance it only makes sense that that person would would be willing to risk their long term health for the goal- even if it doesn't mean widespread money and fame these people are obsessed so why limit themselves to arbitrary social values when it stands in the way of the goal?
Im old fashioned myself and would one day just like to see what old fashioned hard work and dedication could accomplish- but Im not holding my breath.

[Mark Krenzien]

Reminds me of another article about UL hikers who used banned loofas to reduce their "skin-out weight."

[Sam Haraldson]

Reminds me of the Saturday Night Live "All Drug Olympics"

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-all-drug-olympics/244326496

[Joe Clement]

I can still see a day coming when the average guy starts doping a week or two before his once a year vacation with a backpack (or skiis, or whatever), just to aid recovery, reduce soreness, and prevent injury. Not saying it's right, just saying it's gonna happen. And it will have nothing to do with pushing the limits, or breaking records; just serve as insurance for a good vacation.

[Kevin Sawchuk]

Bryan said:
"So if someone is willing to do "anything" and push the limits of human endurance it only makes sense that that person would would be willing to risk their long term health for the goal- even if it doesn't mean widespread money and fame these people are obsessed so why limit themselves to arbitrary social values when it stands in the way of the goal?"

Although this is obviously an April Fool's Day forum I would have to disagree with Bryan if he's serious. To accept drugs in sports as fans is to either force athletes to cheat to get ahead or if they are fully legal to require any serious athlete to take health risks to be able to compete in their sport. I think of the choices my son (who's only 8 but a pretty good runner) might have to make to get a college scholarship or (and this is a WAY out there possibility) to go to the Olympics and I just don't want him to compromise his health or cheat.

[Brian UL]

I dont want it to be that way either. I just think that we are already there, Its the way it is.

[William Stadwiser]

I don't know what the recent LW doping rage is all about… the prototype BPL Hammer pants I've been rockin' for a month now increased my mileage and stamina instantaneously… the air flow is simply spectacular (and how did BPL know that pink was my color). Anyway, its a shame that people feel the need to resort to extremes when perfectly safe, sane and fashionable alternatives exist.

– A super hip homeboy from the boze town.

[Andrew Richardson]

I can't believe I came into this thread and got slightly rick-rolled. I never imagined the day where anyone on BPL would rick-roll.

[Sam Haraldson]

Bill, I'm so glad you're chiming in about with a testimonial about these pants.

[Bob Bankhead]

The upshot of all this is that this summer the rangers will not only ask for your permit and bear can, they'll also demand a urine sample as well.

Better leave the poppy seeds out of your GORP.

[Judi Henson]

I am currently working on a formula to put a weeks supply of this wonderdrug in a BPL Micro-Dropper Bottle. I'll let you know as the trials progress. This truley could revolutionize the hiking world!!!!! Estimated cost is to be a little on the high side…Understandably. Pre-Order now with a non-refundable money order sent to my off shore P.O. Box for the sum of $168,287,598.00 Don't wait! Act Now!!! ….LOL!!! Happy April Fools day! Great joke Guys! Peace.

[Anonymous]

What if nobody paid any attention to those who are constantly trying to do something better than everybody else
and there was no money paid out for their efforts? No glory, no money, and all of a sudden drugs look pretty expensive, health issues come into focus, and everybody just relaxes and does whatever it is they love doing for the sheer "love of the game" instead of trying to one up the competition. Glory is fleeting at best. There's always somebody faster, stronger, meaner, etc. My 2 cents.

[Johnathan White]

Personally, I took on a simple approach that I learned from a few sources including this site; HYOH.

It seems to be overused and underappreciated, but until I learned what it actually meant, I would worry about stuff like performance enhancing drugs, distance, comparative analysis, etc. What it really means is freedom; freedom from competition; Freedom from all the social pressures I encounter daily.

IMHO, those taking the stuff are not truly free from social pressures, hence not fully taking in the true essence that is hiking/backpacking. I have no opinion if it is a good or bad thing to take performance enhancing drugs, per-se, and will not judge those that do. I believe that one is supposed to be tired after a long day on the trail and that a zero day should feel like a blessing instead of a hindrance.

[Jesse Taylor]

An April Fool's joke. . .

[Denis Hazlewood]

Sometimes, at the end of a particularly hard day's hike, I feel like a dope. Does that count?

[Mark Thompson]

If anyone wants performance enhancing drugs, I know a guy that knows a guy, that used to hook up Balco Barry. He really needs your business; since the MLB has cracked down…beep me @ 555-SUCKER. Meet me at the trail head after dark.

I'm your Pusher, your my Strawberry

[Rick Cheehy]

I finally was convinced that joints and Irish whiskey just weren't enough. So I switched to gamma radiation. Thank the gods I have my roomy ul hammer pants or every time I saw a dirt bike on the trail my big green a** would burst out of my drawers. (Drawers made by Ryan Jordan of course.)

[Kathy A Handyside]

If it is, it's sad that EVERYTHING in this country has to be turned into a macho competition, with everyone trying to do everything faster and bigger than everyone else. That's not what I go into nature for: I go into nature to get away from such clutter of modern life.

If this is true, it's simply stupid. Go ahead and waste your bodies for a microsecond of fame. Meanwhile, I'll be stepping over your bodies and continuing to hike on down the trail for many more years, without the use of such drugs.

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