Holy Nolans!!!!!! attempt....

[Jay521]

Great job Andrew!

+1

[Katiestrassberg]

I am new to this forum, two girlfriends and I hiked holy cross 14er Sat and Sun. I lost my phone 3/4 of the way up Saturday afternoon. Just forgot to put it in my pack must have gotten lost in the beauty. A guy with a lime green tape on his arm was camping sat night near us, I asked as he walked by our camp if he found a phone, he said yes but he was not going to the trail head, so he told me he gave it to someone to hike down to the trailhead. When we got there Sunday morning, looked everywhere but no phone in sight. It has not rang or been turned off airplane mode or turned on. I can't track it.

If anyone found a phone or has any addition suggestions let me know. It was a iPhone 7 plus in a gray otter box. We already reported to the Minturn Sheriff who was contacting park rangers and checked the trail heads...

Thank you so much for the help...

[jasayrevt]

Way to go, Andrew! Sincere Congratulations on the excellent Holy Nolans work! Very nicely done. Definitely quite an incredible, remarkable mountaineering accomplishment.

Also, a Great display of perseverance! Hats off, Kudos regarding achieving this big, unique feat.

Thank you for being a consistent, inspiring, and positive presence in our community. Keep climbing safe and strong.

[pbakwin]

Priddy posted his report:
https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=17869

Andrew is in a league of his own! King of the CO 14ers!

[CreekRunner]

He's afraid of mountains and, after clawing his way up Missouri alone and in the dark, was looking forward to the company of a pacer over Huron.

If you're afraid of mountains, that would make me afraid of molehills. That was a great effort nonetheless.

Great job Michael and Andrew.

[CreekRunner]

I am new to this forum, two girlfriends and I hiked holy cross 14er Sat and Sun. I lost my phone 3/4 of the way up Saturday afternoon. Just forgot to put it in my pack must have gotten lost in the beauty. A guy with a lime green tape on his arm was camping sat night near us, I asked as he walked by our camp if he found a phone, he said yes but he was not going to the trail head, so he told me he gave it to someone to hike down to the trailhead. When we got there Sunday morning, looked everywhere but no phone in sight. It has not rang or been turned off airplane mode or turned on. I can't track it.

If anyone found a phone or has any addition suggestions let me know. It was a iPhone 7 plus in a gray otter box. We already reported to the Minturn Sheriff who was contacting park rangers and checked the trail heads...

Thank you so much for the help...

If you are still looking for it, put it on a new thread. The person who has it would have a better chance of seeing the post somewhere other than this topic.

[andrewhamilton]

I'm in awe...I can't even imagine possessing the stamina and mental and physical fortitude to accomplish what he did! I think it will be a long time before anyone else goes sub 72 hours on the Sawatch 15, let alone Holy Nolans.

A few fan boy questions for Andrew if he is reading this (assuming he's woken up from his well deserved sleep).

1. Seeing as you were only 3 mins off your S-N time, does this prove you are a "one-speed guy"

2. Which do you feel was the biggest accomplishment. This amazing Holy Nolans supported run or the 2015 unsupported record run?

3. Without giving away too many trade secrets, do you think there were any places on the Nolans route where you could have made up some time? I see you opted for the more standard route up Antero, were you originally planning a more direct ascent?

Hi Folks thanks for all the congratulations and positive comments! I'm just starting to come back to life! I was feeling great when I finished but then had to deal with some lung problems as my body punished me for stopping so abruptly. I feel really lucky that most of the smoke from the Brian Head Fire cleared out and that I had fairly perfect weather for the entire attempt!

I wouldn't be surprised if someone else breaks 72 hours on Holy Nolans this year. I think last year Eric Sullivan showed that it is possible to take Nolan's well under 50 hours and I expect he will be back with a vengeance this year...and he even mentioned interest in all 15. And I should mention that when I was climbing up La Plata a skinny little kid went running up past me like I was standing still. I was like sheesh, that's ridiculous!

Anyway, to answer your questions:
1: I'd say Yes. I just couldn't seem to beat my old times, even though last time I had a much heavier pack. It was a little different though I think my uphill legs never quite turned on for me but I had some good descending times which is not normal for me. One thing that is funny is that I had no idea I was that close to my old time. I really thought I was coming in at something like 56-57 hours for Nolan's. My sole focus for the last two days was really to come in under 72 hours for Holy Nolans. If I had realized it I think I would have skipped that last water break on the Shavano descent and probably would have tied my old time...

2. I would have to say it's pretty much equal. In hindsight I am pretty impressed with that 2015 run (that may be my best performance ever), I think my legs were just in such good shape that year after setting the Colorado 14er speed record that I just couldn't compete with those 2015 uphill splits this year. But completing Holy Nolan's in under 72 hours was a real challenge for me and I feel very happy to have been able to finish.

3. Well you may notice that even on this 3rd time on Nolan's 14, (and don't forget about 4 Colorado 14er Speed Record attempts and lots of scouting trips and trips with friends and with the kids) I'm still trying new stuff out on Nolans. Some stuff works better one direction than the other. The Antero route I had on my tracker page is the way I like to descend Antero, but heading up in the dark I decided to play it safe and stick with what was easier. It's a good thing because heading up Antero I kind of lost it mentally for the rest of the night and had a tough time.

Thanks again and good luck to any future Nolan's runners. Feel free to ask any questions I would love to share any knowledge I have on the route that you might find useful. I will be posting a write up soon...

Oh and Mike, sorry we missed each other!

[warg]

Super encouraging! Thanks for setting the bar and showing us all what's possible out there!