Vertical Elevation Challenge

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Messages 1 - 8 of total 8 in this topic
jfailing

Trad climber
Lone Pine
Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 6, 2011 - 06:44pm PT
The challenge: gain as many vertical feet as possible in 24 hours - no vehicles like bikes or scooters for going uphill (downhill is OK).

My two friends did this in high school and got to 30,000 feet in 24 hours by hiking from Chapman Elementary School to the Pittock Mansion (in PDX) 32 times. They rode RAZR scooters down the whole way. They rested for a total of five minutes during the entire 24 hours, and ended up melting the wheels of the scooters by the end...

I attempted to try and match their number by hiking up the Palmer snowfield on Mt Hood (this is in high school BTW), using a plastic sled for the descent. I crapped out at about 15,000 vertical feet (roughly 5 laps up and down the glacier). Definitely couldn't do that well now.

Anyone else tried this? It could be fun for ST to have this sort of challenge...
squishy

Mountain climber
Sac town
Sep 6, 2011 - 06:48pm PT
You should look up bob burd and his sierra challenge he has each year, it's perfect for masochists like yourself...
johnboy

Trad climber
Can't get here from there
Sep 6, 2011 - 07:50pm PT
Didn't Will Gadd ice climb something like 26,000ft in 24 hours.

But of course he's not human.
Moof

Big Wall climber
Orygun
Sep 6, 2011 - 08:16pm PT
Nowhere near that for me. I've done ~5,000 feet gain and ~5,000 lost (as bad or worse IMO) in 12 hours doing the Lost Coast Trail in a push. 35 lb pack didn't make matters any easier either...

Besides, doing nature as a treadmill just isn't my thing. Hell, I hate treadmills too. I seem to only motivate well when there is a destination and not just a goal.
landcruiserbob

Trad climber
BIG ISLAND or Vail ; just following the sun.......
Sep 6, 2011 - 09:27pm PT
22 14ers in a week. No clue to how much vertical... Four pair of trail running shoes too.
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Sep 6, 2011 - 09:40pm PT
Greg Hill, a ski mountaineer from Revelstoke, BC did 51,100ft yoyo'ing the course in the 24 Hours of Sunlight race in 2006. If my memory is correct, he won the race 2 years in a row. Both times the runners up went to the hospital for checkups when the race finished, due to breathing difficulties they were experiencing.

The guy toured 2 million vertical under his own power last year. He's quite the endurance ski tourer.
landcruiserbob

Trad climber
BIG ISLAND or Vail ; just following the sun.......
Sep 6, 2011 - 10:54pm PT
If I remember correctly Greg went into kidney failure during the Sunlight race. He logs some crazy Vert for sure.


Aloha & be well
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Sep 6, 2011 - 11:12pm PT
hey landcruiserbob,
Greg Hill is pretty solid. a treeplanter, when he's not ski touring. no health problems i've ever heard about. it took a bit of searching but

http://www.wildsnow.com/603/24-hours-of-sunlight-let-the-games-begin/

Greg Hill won men’s solo with 32 laps, the same number he did last year. As noted below, he lapped 2nd placer solo Eric Sullivan (also a young gun), and finished with him. Sullivan ended up in the hospital with dehydration and difficulty breathing. Solo 24-Hours Sunlight must be almost inhumanly difficult. Not only did Sullivan have medical problems this year, but last year the incredibly strong guy who tied with Hill, Jimmy Faust, also made a trip to the hospital after the race (nothing serious). Greg looked quite good today after finishing, but you could see the dehydration in his face, and the way he was leaning over his ski poles you just knew it had to be fatigue beyond what most of us will ever experience from an athletic event. Greg crashed out a few hours, then there he was at the awards ceremony, not even sitting down!
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