In this episode, we connect with the never-fatigued duo, the Dorais brothers…Andy and Jason Dorais. The brief backstory is this: Andy and Jason are both ER doctors in Salt Lake City. Which means that, through all their adventures, past and present, they were educating themselves, working long, strenuous hours in a stressful job, running on fumes, eventually juggling partners, kids, and their clan of like-minded endurance-junkie devotees in their pursuit of light and fast.

For those of us further afield, we could latch onto Jason and Andy’s stories through their respective blogs, which often documented pre- or post-work epics. Back in 2010, when the Dorais brothers began their blogs, I was knee-deep in parenting, which meant real-deal adventures took a back seat to school drop-offs and shuttling kids here and there. For nearly seven years, the Dorais documented their epics in fine fashion and, like many others, offered a heavy dose of inspiration.

Through their blogs, I was introduced to the meaning of fast and light: an intersection of ascending and descending, and speed, that melded Euro-fit clothes (yes, sometimes Lycra), skinny skis, and, oftentimes, mostly carbon boots. And a huge dose of lung power.

Ultimately, in 2011, along with Jared Inouye, Jason and Andy scored an FKT for a Grand Teton round trip on skis.

They continued their speed missions, culminating in a 2013 Mount Rainier round-trip on-skis FKT (with skis on and off—but mostly on).

All this is not to say that Jason and Andy are not only concerned with speed. They enjoy powder snow, mountain running, and climbing…but it should be noted, it is often done at fast tempos relative to us mere mortals. And again, for many of us out there, the Dorais captured lightning in a bottle and helped define an era of moving through the hills lickety split.

Links to the Dorais' Blogs:

If you are new to The High Route, we are a reader- and listener-supported enterprise focused on human-powered turn-making. Our mission is simple, but it takes real-deal calorie-burning to piece it all together.

We’d like to thank Patagonia, Blue Ice, and ATK for supporting us.

We are also excited to announce that you can subscribe to Issues 2 and 3 of our fine print journal (The High Route journal) on our site. Fancy paper. Good reads. High-octane photos. And some fine mountain ranges. And turns. You can learn more about our subscription options here.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.