From February 21 through Feb 27, 2021, Marshall Ulrich completed the first-ever Winter Badwater in California, USA!

The 69-year old running legend crossed the desert on foot from the Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level in Death Valley National Park to the Whitney Portal closure gate above Lone Pine, (the typical Badwater ultramarathon course), then climbed to the 14,508-foot summit of Mount Whitney via the Mountaineer’s Route. The lowest to the highest points in the continental US.

Marshall completed this crossing in honor of his dear friend, and always and forever Stray Dog Mark Macy, who has early onset Alzheimer’s.

He was supported by a small team of experts and dear friends, including his wife Heather.

This was a true mountaineering expedition, requiring snowshoes, crampons, ropes, and ice axes, so it took much more time and effort than a summer ascent of Whitney.
The total distance for the winter crossing was approximately 140 miles.