2014 14er Speed Record Attempt

[zinj]

Woo Hoo! Wilson-Diente traverse in 1:25. Nice Work, Andrew!

[CCU_Jim]

1500' feet in 20 minutes on the descent off Mt. Wilson. Hopefully the snow is helping him out now!

[andrewhamilton]

This is not Andrew, but his wife Natalie. I can't seem to remember my login to 14ers.com. Anyway, so cool to see so many people interested! I just have to chime in about the DeLorme. This device has literally added years to my life! I bought it last summer for our son Axel's 14er quest. In previous years, I would just have to wait for a call from a summit (except where there is no service, like many of the more difficult 14ers.) I do not enjoy heights and scary things in general (like watching my children do scary things,) so when I would not hear from them for a few days, I did get rather concerned. I admit I only called SAR once after not hearing from them for days in the Blanca group. Granted, they were not expected for a couple of hours, but I couldn't help thinking that something could have happened to them days earlier, and no one would have any idea! The DeLorme inReach has changed all that. I researched both the SPOT and the DeLorme inReach. The latter was brand new and not even available at REI yet. My Dad is an old satellite engineer, so I knew that the Iridium network is far superior to the SPOT (Globalstar) system. Now, I no longer worry! I can locate him anytime, send him texts and he can send them back! I have yet to see a hole in Colorado (or Tanzania so far.) Sometimes it gets delayed by 20-30 mins, but that is the worst problem I've seen. It holds onto every point you have ever been to, and you can search or setup web pages with certain date ranges. I LOVE that thing!!!!!

Natalie

PS Forgive any of my knowledge deficits on andrewhamilton.com/14ers. I am not a climber, so do not know any of these routes personally except for Andrew's description.

[its_not_a_tuba]

Thanks for coming on and saying hi Natalie, I am sure you are filled with a lot of crazy emotions right now. It is awesome to see someone like your husband do what he is doing and the opportunity for all of us to share in his adventure through this technology is nothing short of amazing. We are all cheering for him to succeed in his quest but far more importantly we all want to see his safe return to you and your family!

[justiner]

You're doing great, Natalie!

[TallGrass]

You may have already figured this out but a motorcycle on roads with bigger rocks like the Lake Como road will be very difficult and dangerous. A 4WD would be a better choice there.......I think.
... Some online motorcycle sites have cold weather starting tips.

No, the bike will be better and faster, provided you have the skill. It only needs a foot or less in road "width" to get through, and the one in Andrew's photo looks well up to the task. Mine (avatar) made quick work of getting to Lindsey and Uncompahgre (and later did Alpine Loop including Corkscrew and Mineral), and it's a street bike with street tires. That DS would make it a breeze.

"cold weather starting tips"?! It's called a "choke." Let's not over-complicate what is stupid-simple. Not being able to start a bike when it's chilly is a sign of a noob, and a noob would best avoid Como until they had sufficient miles under their butt.

Edit: Anyone even thinking about doing Como should know and be able to nail all this basic stuff: http://dirtbikeschool.org/Downloads/Tip ... _Guide.pdf

[Jim Davies]

Summitted Wilson Peak @8:38 pm, appears to be headed down Navajo Basin(track is a little off trail?). I recall Homie got hit with a big storm right about this point, hope Andrew is faring better.

[John Prater]

appears to be headed down Navajo Basin(track is a little off trail?)

I think you meant Silver Pick Basin. My guess is that Andrew got a nice glissade from that saddle on Wilson Pk's SW ridge. Probably saved quite a bit of time. Also, it looks like he got up and down Wilson Pk in the light, which probably also saved some time over me.

I recall Homie got hit with a big storm right about this point, hope Andrew is faring better.

No big storm for me there. I did have rain from the trailhead until nearly the summit of El Diente, but then no more rain in the Wilson group. There was the spooky rockfall behind me at dusk after I traversed from the Gladstone ridge saddle to Wilson Pk's SW ridge. It then got dark on me as I reached the SW ridge. Returning to the Gladstone saddle, I dropped lower, freaked by the earlier rockfall, and went a bit past the saddle before correcting.

[John Prater]

Nerding out on transition times here.

Andrew got on the train around 11:15, then started from Kilpacker TH around 1:45, so 2:30 for the transition.

I got on the train around 11:45, then started from the Kilpacker TH at 2:21, so 2:36 for the transition. I did lose a few minutes on the drive as I had to get out and walk for a bit with some nausea above the town of Ophir.

Cave Dog got on the train around 10:45, then started from the "Silver Pick TH" at 1:31, so 2:46 for the transition. He reported starting at 11,080', which I think was actually higher than the standard Silver Pick TH at that time. So, it seems he was able to drive to the Silver Pick Mine.

[John Prater]

Looks like he got down to the Rock of Ages TH. Comparison of times for the Wilson group using estimated 1:45 start and 10:38 finish times for Andrew.

Andrew: ~3:15 to El Diente, ~4:40 to Mt Wilson, ~6:51 to Wilson Pk, ~8:53 to the Rock of Ages TH

Me: 3:18:30 to El Diente, 4:16:22 to Mt Wilson, 6:16:59 to Wilson Pk, 8:37:26 to the Rock of Ages TH

Cave Dog: 6:24 TH to TH

[Jim Davies]

appears to be headed down Navajo Basin(track is a little off trail?)

I think you meant Silver Pick Basin.

Right, my error. I forgot that the trail has been rerouted. The DeLorme topo map apparently has the old route, which confused me.

[jdorje]

Nice numbers John.

CD started at 0230 for what you say was a 1045 train (8:15), while you and Andrew were at 6:30 and 6:45. So part of why Cave Dog may have been faster on the second leg is he sat around waiting for the train for an hour and a half; waiting isn't completely dead time if you rest/nap up and are faster on subsequent peaks. CD's full time back to the Silver Pick trailhead (6 peaks) was 17:25.

http://www.thedogteam.com/14ers-Web_Pag ... Times.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There was also a book about it - http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Of-Dog-T ... 0786004274" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;