Bill, you need to make up a special icon thingy for his checklist.

Very well said here! This pretty much sums it up! Like watching the race to the moon! Couldn't stop watching and wondering every moment! Way to go Andrew and the whole team! I want to go climb another one now so bad! Rest a few days and head West to get the rest if you want to! You have our permision!chris mueser wrote:"Great moments, are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here tonight, that's what you've earned here tonight.....*Tonight, you are the greatest mountain climber in the world. You were born to be a mountain climber. You were meant to be here tonight. This...is your time. This is your time, now go out there and take it!" Excerpt from the 1980 speech by Herb Brooks to the USA Hockey team prior to their semi-final game with with the Soviets, more commonly known as the Miracle on Ice. (*with some writer's license taken to fit the accomplishment we just witnessed:).
I have been at this mountain climbing thing now for almost 20 years. I still have not finished the 58 Colorado 14,000' Peaks. But I have experienced, like many on this site have, the glorious feeling like we were on top of the world when we finally stepped onto many summits. That feeling may rank as one of the best, if not, the best experiences in many of our respective lives.
Andrew, your accomplishment finally completed in the early hours of today, has so many of us so feeling inspired, because it allowed us to relive that summit glory, vicariously through you, 58 times. 58 times, you showed us what one person can do when it is their time and the odds are stacked against them. I dare say you moved an entire community of people with a feat of perseverance unprecedented. The endurance and fortitude which you demonstrated, physically, mentally, spiritually, under extreme conditions, was something that many of us can not begin to understand. But we watched. We marveled. We tried to understand. We tried to find words. We were compelled because we saw a small piece of ourselves, and what we love about the mountains, play out in your rugged determination, and humble attitude.
You moved an entire community these past several days, across many states. How many of us will ever be able say that in our own lives? So with that, our collective gratitude goes out to you for daring to show that the near impossible, is indeed very possible.
I won't candy coat it, I cried when I saw that you had finished it off (i'm a crier, what can I say). I cried tears joy for you, your team, and your family. I cried tears of relief that you were safe...finally. I cried tears of amazement for the sheer enormity of what you had just undertaken, subsequently accomplished. And I admit, there were also a few tears of regret for myself for giving up on some of my dreams over my life because they were too hard. I know you moved others the same way, how could we not be moved after witnessing a dream like this, realized.
So it's done, yeah man!! Well done, and a hearty Congratulations goes out! You made it happen...and, it is your time. Enjoy!
It was forum member semitrueskerm. Send him a PM, and I'm sure you can coordinate it's return.Cave Dog wrote: Also, I would like to thank the nice fellow at the trailhead that lent me his headlamp. Unfortunately, I still have it and have forgotten your name. Give me a call at 503-234-2535, and I will mail it to you.
Let's not forget the 14ers Facebook pageCave Dog wrote:In no small part because of 14ers.com, Colorado has such a warm and inviting mountaineering community.
I am equally impressed by the character of the men who held, and hold, such an impressive record, as the record itself. Similar to how Steve G is remembered, people are in awe of the numbers but it's how they get there and the people they touch along the way that really lasts forever.Cave Dog wrote:I cannot think of a more deserving recordholder than Andrew Hamilton. He has put in the time and energy to learn about and respect the mountains. He has put in the true grit of multiple attempts. And, he has mastered the enormously complex routes and logistics. He pushed the limits of the human experience, and has shown all of us how that spirit, that is in all of us, is capable of so much more than we would have dreamed. Andrew clearly has a gift, and he used that gift to bring a group of people together, to work upon a common but daunting purpose that has now come to fruition. Thank you, Andrew, for letting us bear witness to your gifts and inspiring us all to work on achieving our own dreams.
Live the Dream,
Cave Dog