Rode Galbraith with Mark in a wet snowfall. The accumulating ice and snow made for some tricky riding in spots. The climb up the Hard Candy trail was as strenuous as I've ever seen it (the hoar frost kept collapsing under hard strokes, requiring you to sort of tip-toe up), and the hard frozen ruts were also a constant trial. Mark took a hard slam when he tried to ride a snowy log near the top of upper Arsenio. Heeding the message, I didn't try to ride the Big Rock at the top. On the way down, we absolutely flew. I used all my fastest moves, but they only kept me even with Mark, at best. He just kept pulling away in bursts, like there was a string attached to him.  

Approximately 1200 verts.

Vert Quest chronicles "The Man Known As Mongo's" pursuit of the World Record for climbing on a mountain bike, 404,000 vertical feet, or the vertical equivalent of 13 sea-level-to-summit ascents of Mt. Everest during a 12 month period. Mongo's mountain bike climbing tricks are distilled in Mongo's Over-the-top Guide to Climbing.