Chris Sywassink's scorecard
29029 Snowbasin #1
Saturday 20th August, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
42g
Carb per hour
493mg
Sodium per hour
415ml
Fluid per hour
1,187mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
3.67mg/kg
Caffeine per bodyweight
How Chris hit those numbers
How Chris' hydration and fueling went...
- Founded in 2017, 29029 is a new kind of ultra endurance event where participants ascend a mountain repeatedly until they reach the vertical height of Mount Everest (i.e. 29,029ft/8,848m).
- Chris Sywassink has experience of completing ultra endurance events but had never completed an Everesting challenge before and so he had a one-to-one call with the Precision Fuel & Hydration Athlete Support Team to refine his fueling strategy for this unique 29029 event in Utah, where he would hike up Snowbasin mountain and get a gondola down 13 times
- Chris planned to implement a relatively simple nutrition plan over the 36-hour event and aimed to use a combination of real foods and PF 30 Gels for fuel, as well as a mix of PH 1000 and plain water for his hydration
- The 34-year-old executed his entire race strategy perfectly as he completed 29029 in 25 hours, although he had to overcome a few challenges including two thunderstorms and a broken down gondola
Hydration
- Ahead of the event, Chris made sure to preload with PH 1500 to ensure that he was starting his first hike at 6am well hydrated before a long day of sweating
- Throughout the first four hikes, Chris’ strategy consisted of filling his 620ml/21oz soft flask with PH 1000 at aid stations which he drank to thirst alongside the occasional cup of plain water
- As conditions got hotter (the temperature pushed towards 27°C/81°F at its peak during the day), Chris’s sweat rate started to increase and he also felt some twinges of cramp in his quads. Consequently, Chris made the smart decision to increase the relative sodium concentration he was taking on board, by switching to our strongest electrolyte drink PH 1500, and to increase his fluid intake to account for his increased sweat losses
- Chris drank a total of approximately ~10.5L/355oz, which equates to ~415ml/14oz per hour on average across the 25 hours in which he completed the event. On the surface this seems like a sensible quantity of fluid, but this doesn’t show the whole picture as in reality Chris’s fluid intake varied greatly hour by hour. This is understandable in an event of this length where finding the balance between drinking to thirst but being mindful to drink enough is critical as individuals’ losses change throughout the day (i.e. temperatures overnight can get very cold on the mountain so sweat losses and fluid intake are therefore likely to be considerably lower than when the sun is out during the day)
- Chris trod this line reasonably well to avoid any further hydration-related issues and performed at a high level to be one of the first competitors to complete 29029 at Snowbasin. Reflecting on the day, Chris said that there were a few times where he had hoped to have been able to drink more but he never felt dehydrated and peed relatively frequently towards the second half of the event which illustrates that he didn’t under hydrate
- From the PH 1000, PH 1500 and plain water that Chris drank throughout, the relative sodium concentration of his intake was ~1,187mg/L. Prior to the event, Chris had undergone a Sweat Test which confirmed that his sweat sodium losses are in the ‘moderate’ range as he loses 757mg of sodium per litre of sweat
- Chris could have used the stronger relative sodium concentration of PH 1500 from the start and supplemented this with water as he did successfully from hike five onwards. He has a moderate sweat sodium concentration alongside a subjectively high sweat rate, and over an event of this length an athlete’s sweat sodium losses can build up, so it may have been more beneficial to use a more proactive sodium and fluid replacement strategy from the onset
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
None
carb 30 mins before
30-60g
carb per hour during
- Chris went into 29029 with his glycogen stores topped up by carb loading in the days prior to the event and then eating a carb-rich breakfast a few hours ahead of his first hike
- The most fundamental element of each participant's fueling strategy during this event is making sure they get enough calories in to adequately support their rate of energy expenditure. The nature and length of this event ensures athletes spend quite a bit of time working at a relatively low intensity as it’s difficult to increase intensity and speed when hiking a mountain, so the primary fuel source in these ‘lower intensity’ ultra events is fat ; this means that more ‘real foods’ can be utilised throughout with sports nutrition products used to top up energy intake at times when the intensity increases
- As a result, Chris’ strategy consisted of consuming two PF 30 Gels per hike to fuel him for each one-to-two hour ascent to the summit. In addition to this, Chris would pick up small snacks from aid stations along the way as he saw fit and then have more real foods, such as bananas, waffles, chips/crisps, during the gondola ride down for sustenance over the day
- Over the course of the 25 hours on the mountain, Chris consumed an average of ~42g of carbohydrate per hour. As with his fluid intake, this did fluctuate slightly over the long event but by sticking to his plan Chris consistently hit over 30g/h throughout the day. This met our Quick Carb Calculator’s fueling recommendations to hit between 30-60g of carb per hour throughout
- This fueling approach helped Chris to execute his race plan well; it ticked all the right boxes for this long-lasting event by fueling enough but not too much, taking on little but often, whilst mixing it up with some variety. And crucially, Chris kept things simple by using products he has trained with to avoid stomach issues
- Unsurprisingly getting towards his latter hikes, Chris didn’t want to eat much more and just picked up what he felt he could tolerate at this point. With this tailing off in intake, his energy levels did drop off slightly as well, but after very little sleep his objective at this point was to complete the event and get his ‘red cap’ (which is awarded to 29029 participants who successfully ‘Everest’)
- Chris had some caffeine in the form of coffee a few times during the event, in total having ~360mg caffeine, which equates to 3.67mg per kilogram of bodyweight. Chris could have used caffeine more to his advantage as he is someone with a high caffeine tolerance. He usually has a couple of coffees a day, so aiming for ~6mg/kg for an event of this length would be beneficial to keep caffeine levels high throughout and increase his perceived energy levels, mainly during the night when his tiredness was peaking
Conclusions
- Overall, Chris performed excellently at 29029 Snowbasin #1, despite some time delays as a result of storms
- He implemented a solid fuel and hydration strategy throughout that ensured he was able to keep pushing on for each of the 13 ascents. Some elements could have been refined, but Chris was rightly happy with his performance and his strategy
Key info
Chris Sywassink
Male
98kg
Sweat sodium concentration
757mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
Low
* determined by our Sweat Test
Event information
Sport
Other
Discipline
Hiking
Event
29029 Snowbasin #1
Location
Utah, USA
Date
20th August, 2022
Total Distance
48.0km / 29.8mi
Total Elevation
8,848m / 29,029ft
Event conditions
Weather Conditions
Mild
Precipitation
Rain
Min Temp
8°C / 46°F
Max Temp
27°C / 81°F
Avg Temp
15°C / 59°F
Humidity
45%
Athlete feedback
Event Satisfaction
8/10
Hydration rating
7/10
I found it hard to take in as much water as I needed but overall I'm happy with my strategy
Energy levels
6/10
As I expected, I felt worse and my energy dropped off towards the latter hikes
Toilet stops
Yes
Not very much early on but peed more frequently during the second half of the event
GI comfort
7/10
Stomach comfort was pretty good throughout but I didn't really want to eat much more on the last few hikes
Cramping
Twinges but not full-on cramps
Chris' Thoughts
Considering all of the setbacks during the event, I was way ahead of the time that I thought I'd finish in and I'm really happy with my performance
Chris' full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 1,051 | 12,465 | 10,500 | 360 | 1,187 |
Per hour | 42 | 493 | 415 | 14 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is low confidence in the accuracy of the numbers reported. The intake reflects a rough guide to what an athlete consumed but quantities volumes or specific brands might be unknown. It is a loose insight into what the athlete did but the room for error is high-to-very high. This level of confidence most likely reflects the nature of the event (for example an ultramarathon 24 hour or multi-stage event).