In 2012, Ulrich spent 16 days circumnavigating Death Valley, the first ever quest to travel 425 miles around the edge of the park, with fellow endurance athlete Dave Heckman. The pair were climbing out of Saline Valley, and they’d run out of water on the way to their next buried cache of supplies. “I almost died on the side of this mountain,” Ulrich remembered. “I was more or less going in and out of consciousness, and Dave was in better shape at the time physically and mentally. He was better hydrated. He just kind of bailed me out – got me up off the ground and got me moving again two or three times.”