Out of shape and huffing up Mt. Mansfield

Fast forward to the present where I seem to be doing far more of my reporting from theme parks with my children, ages 7 and 5. Indeed, the weekend before climbing Mansfield, I was downing mounds of french fries at Six Flags. Obviously, my body is not nearly as fit as it was when working on that book. In fact, my ankle is still swollen from slipping into a pothole in Chicago with my daughter atop my shoulders; I really should have taken care of that partially torn meniscus cartilage some two years back after tripping over my shoelaces while running; and my lower back feels the discomfort of not having a new mattress since the last time I climbed Mansfield. (It is, however, a good kid trampoline.)

I needed a gut check. I had to head back to Mansfield and see if this body of mine could still cut it. I decide to up the ante a little to make it feel like a real challenge. I will go on the steepest ascent with a local extreme sports enthusiast, David Bradbury. The last time I met Bradbury, he was starting a polo club in nearby Burlington, where instead of horses they were using mountain bikes to play the game. He climbs Mansfield in the winter at sunrise to snowboard down Stowe Ski Area before the lifts are running.

"I like to make first tracks," he says.

For additional winter bliss, Bradbury snowshoes up other Green Mountain peaks like Mount Abraham and Lincoln and then speeds down them on a sled for 45 minutes straight. It's almost impossible to stop except by hurtling into a tree. Yep, this is the man I have to climb a mountain with if I want to test my mettle -- and never mind that we're both in our 30s.