14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

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RobertKay
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by RobertKay »

An amazing accomplishment! Congratulations!
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rob runkle
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by rob runkle »

Exclamation point for the finish! Nice job. Did you use a bicycle for S-Maroon? :-$
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NM_Hiker
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by NM_Hiker »

Great job Will. Very inspiring! A tremendous accomplishment.
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by mountain_stoke »

What an epic and awesome Winter season it has been. Here is my winter in tabulated form for anyone interested. Totals come to 44 outings, 51 summits, just over 640 miles and 240,000 ft of vertical gain.

Thank you all for the nice messages!
14erQuestTabulated.jpg
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Last edited by mountain_stoke on Mon Mar 20, 2017 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
They say, "mountaineering is the art of suffering". I don't think so. If you are suffering, you haven't prepared well enough. I think that mountaineering is the art of managing risk and fear.
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by dannyg23 »

Much of what Will did this winter was impressive, but personally I'm most impressed with his consistency. He didn't make it, but certainly not for lack of effort. The other people that have gone chasing after the "single-winter" goal all gave up well short of the end of winter, and understandably so - it must be a total suffer fest. Will displayed the type of grit and determination that, I think, is far and away the most important attribute to getting something like that done. The record is now a very respectable 51 - awesome job Will!
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by Cruiser »

Jeebus! What a winter! My hat's off to you, Sir.
Where ever you are... There you are.
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mountain_stoke
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by mountain_stoke »

d_baker wrote:Stoke....impressive drive you've had, and congrats on what you were able to do!

A few questions (if you have the time, energy, and the info to share):

1.) How many miles did you drive all winter and how much gas did you buy?
2.) What did you use for a base camp? (i.e., back of car/truck? hotels? your own place?)
3.) What was your prior experience? (i.e., Had you done a winter CO peak before? You mentioned you are new to the forum, so are you also new to CO?)

As to the last question, I'm not trying to judge your experience level, I'm just curious. You obviously gained a lot of experience over this winter!
But in particular to your experience, how the f**k were you able to go out day after day like that?! PED's, must be PED's. j/k
Maybe PEZ?
1. I don't know and don't want to know. My truck definitely got some miles on it and my food/gas fund is pretty depleted.
2. I had a cheap room in Leadville that I kept gear and spent rest days. My truck bed has a utility cap on the back with a comfy mattress inside so this was great for sleeping at trailheads. Also, met many nice people in the mountains and out of them that let me stay at their houses, shower, eat, etc!
3. I have done a lot of hiking throughout the US and trekking and some easy high altitude mountaineering climbs in South America. A majority of my winter experience came from winter hiking and mountaineering in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Winter Presidential Traverses in the Whites are great prep for 14ers since the weather is colder and more intense there than it tends to be on the 14ers in CO. I did a handful of winter 14er climbs four years ago when I spent the winter ski-bumming here, this is when my 14erQuest idea was conceived.
4. How to go out day after day? I trained. Hard. I pretty much did nothing but hike/train from June until December 21. I started in the Whites in New Hampshire, working my way through the 48 4000ers there in a couple months. I train using principles from Steve House/ Scott Johnston "Training for the new Alpinism". I moved to CO in October and did 60-some odd 14er climbs in preparation for winter. By the time 14erQuest was about to start, I was training 40+ hours a week and doing 35,000' of vertical gain per week. There is no substitute for long hours day after day in the mountains for preparing for long hours day after day in the mountains. In my opinion, 35k vertical ft per week in the early fall is the equivalent of 15-20k vertical ft per week in winter conditions.
PEDs? Ha. The only drugs I took during the 90 days of winter was the antibiotic to get rid of my Giardia/ stomach parasite and caffeine here and there so I could keep driving. I even gave up beer during 14erQuest. I had my first IPA in months last night, and it was spectacular!!!
They say, "mountaineering is the art of suffering". I don't think so. If you are suffering, you haven't prepared well enough. I think that mountaineering is the art of managing risk and fear.
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by SchralpTheGnar »

Giving up beer while in the mountains is the true definition of suffering.
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by Dad Mike »

Hey Will...

I'm really glad we met on Saturday. Thanks for coming over to see me. I enjoyed our conversation and left it thinking I wish I had met you sooner. It's really easy to get the wrong impression of someone over the internet, and I was definitely guilty of that. I blame the word "stoke"...not a fan. : )

Congratulations on an amazing winter. What you accomplished in the last 89 days was truly inspiring. I was thinking about you and your crew on Sunday from a couple valleys to the east. That sunrise was quite the show and a fitting way to end your quest.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do next.
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by JtheChemE »

Watching the sunrise from the saddle of North & South Maroon was special indeed. Enjoy a hard earned rest Will.
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JQDivide
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by JQDivide »

Congrats.
An amazing effort.
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Re: 14erQuest- My Attempt to Summit All 59 14ers in Single Calendar Winter

Post by SnowAlien »

SchralpTheGnar wrote:Giving up beer while in the mountains is the true definition of suffering.
Yeah he kinda got loopy after just one beer and started saying things like "I won't be climbing mountains tomorrow, I will sleep in my own bed and maybe even get a job".

Congrats Will on a tremendous effort, making good decisions and it was fun to tag along on a few.
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