2014 14er Speed Record Attempt

[Monster5]

Nerding out on transition times here.

Ha! It's actually pretty cool to have your insight, John. Nerd away.

Thanks for the post and updates, Natalie! Much appreciated.

[John Prater]

I started Sneffels 2:17 after finishing the Wilson group. Cave Dog started Sneffels 1:48 after finishing the Wilson group. Dang, didn't realize I'd lost that much time to Cave Dog there.

I was 3 minutes slower than Cave Dog on Sneffels. I was 15 minutes slower than him on the ascent, so I gained some time on the descent. I was super-low on energy on the upper part of Sneffels (say, from 13,300 on up). Don't think I'd gotten enough calories in me after the Wilsons.

So, hopefully Andrew's getting some good food down, then getting a bit of rest, then we see him hiking again around 12:30.

[dsunwall]

Hey Homie is your 14er attempt Spot track available at all? I've never checked to see if can be saved and I didn't see a way to go back in time very far. I'm mostly interested in seeing where Spot failed to send. The InReach appears to never fail, just some delay at times. I believe even Iridium has occasional dead space but much less than Globalstar.

[rob runkle]

Concur on the thumbs up for the transition times.

Good to see the geek showing.

[zinj]

Woke up to see Andrew finished Sneffels. I'm on the East Coast ;-( so I left the update feed as he was making great time below ROA and have jumped back on now to see what Andrew is up to.

Missing about 40 minutes of position updates -- have him back at Ouray, but I'm guessing the car's metal structure is interfering with the satellite signal during the drive to Silverton?

FWIW, the 4WD tracks above Ouray are confusing. Probably doable on a bike, but there are some stretches which can be too much for a stock 4WD car. We discovered the most accurate map we had was a hand-drawn "not to scale" guide on the back of a tourist pamphlet. It had all the unimproved road inter-connections which were missing from official maps. Unfortunately, we got stopped near the end of the canyon for lack of lockers and backtracked to switchback up to close to the Engineer Pass apex.

I think Andrew's doing it right in getting driven to Silverton so he can get a little rest. That (longer) road should be much faster travel than the more direct routes above Ouray and the dirtbike will fly on the pretty-good dirt road from Silverton to Cinnamon Pass turnoff.

[San Juan Ron]

Somebody please give Andrew a cool nickname. Cave Dog -- Cool! Homie -- Cool! Andrew -- boring and forgettable. I will be hiking (and cheering) Andrew on this morning in the San Juans around Handies and S/R. SJ Ron

[zinj]

Somebody please give Andrew a cool nickname. Cave Dog -- Cool! Homie -- Cool! Andrew -- boring and forgettable. I will be hiking (and cheering) Andrew on this morning in the San Juans around Handies and S/R. SJ Ron

Ham Sandwich?

[San Juan Ron]

Heading down the switchbacks above American Basin to begin the Handies conquest. Temps in the upper 20s this morn. SJ Ron

[rocky_mtn_high]

I started Sneffels 2:17 after finishing the Wilson group. Cave Dog started Sneffels 1:48 after finishing the Wilson group. Dang, didn't realize I'd lost that much time to Cave Dog there.

I was 3 minutes slower than Cave Dog on Sneffels. I was 15 minutes slower than him on the ascent, so I gained some time on the descent. I was super-low on energy on the upper part of Sneffels (say, from 13,300 on up). Don't think I'd gotten enough calories in me after the Wilsons.

So, hopefully Andrew's getting some good food down, then getting a bit of rest, then we see him hiking again around 12:30.

Great to get your comparisons and insights, Homie -- you were pretty close to the action! Also cool to relive some exciting moments (though vicariously).

[rocky_mtn_high]

I'm curious with all the snow up there and cold temps, does anyone know what kind of traction he has available -- microspikes?

[DArcyS]

Andrew, Peyton Manning just head about your endeavor and he has a message for you.

[zinj]

I'm curious with all the snow up there and cold temps, does anyone know what kind of traction he has available -- microspikes?

I was wondering the same thing. It's almost tempting to hit Sunshine's and Redcloud' South-facing approach while it's still nice and frozen and do Handies' somewhat sun-protected (and shorter) ascent later in the day during the melt-out.