Episode #173- Troy Howard-Managing Director-Aspen Skiing Company-Ultrarunner

Troy Howard- https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-howard-a0b4b94/

• I completed my first 100 mile trail run around 2007 at Angeles Crest in Southern California. I came in second and had such a positive experience.
• In 2009 I ran my first Hardrock 100 in Southern Colorado’s San Juan mountains. It was unlike anything I thought was possible. I came in second in the second fastest time on record.
• That Hardrock experience led my wife and I to decide to leave California and make the move to Colorado where we still live today.
• I worked for Vail Resorts for 9 years where I led their HR & Finance systems. I also received the CIO 100 award for implementing real-time lift line wait times across all of the destination resorts.
• A year ago I left Vail Resorts for the opportunity to live more directly in the mountains and for a company more aligned with my values. I now work for Aspen Skiing Company where help run all of Aspen’s systems.
• Sidenote: I have a heart condition known as a “bicuspid aortic valve” where one chamber of my heart is ~50% less efficient. I’ve been told that if it was 100% I’d see a material improvement in my athletic performance. Not sure I buy that. I think it hinders my anaerobic performance, but has no real impact for ultra distances where it’s as much mental as it is physical.

Athletic highlights:

• 11 100 mile run finishes
• 6 Leadville 100 mountain bike finishes
• 5 Elk Mountain Grand Traverse ski mountaineering finishes
• Countless other marathons, ultra marathons less than 100 miles, ski mountaineering races, ultra endurance biking events & races
• Continue to play hockey recreationally, ski at least 40 days a season, backpacking

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