Adapted from the map of the 14ers by John Kirk
Adapted from the map of the 14ers by John Kirk
Hans and Russ McBride had planned to go for the 14ers record together in August, but Hans had to postpone due to illness. Russ went for it on his own, but despite a great effort, didn't manage to get the record (details of Russ' run).
By the time he's done, he will have:
Hans was shooting to do this in less than four days, which he did with a comfortable margin. For a complete list of peaks in the proposed order of ascent, along with notes on the ascent once the even is under way, see the table below.
Go to the bottom of the page for links to stories by previous record holders.
Wahoo! Shasta summit
Wait, now did Hans say to show this to Jackie or to not show it to her?
Hans signing Langley summit register, 6:07pm
"Yes officer, I know we were going fast. That was the point."
Even speed climbers take a minute to look around when it's this beautiful. Langley in the background
There were some sections on Hans' shortcut where the trail was less evident
Gear sorting on White Mt trailhead
Fuelin' up on dead animals before hiking Langley
He's off! Check out that game face. Good luck Hans!
Red Lake Trailhead, roughly 1:00am
Hans futzing with his favorite piece of gear.
Final gear sort at Mara's before final commitment.
Checking out great new beta on the dirt road to Split Mountain trailhead and trying out Ken's truck. Thanks Ken!
Logistics support king Mike Ayon relaxing at Kava Cafe and getting ready for the big night.
Mahogany Meats: Fuel for the Adventure.
A picture from the top of Thunderbolt Peak on Hans' last recon. Starlight is the obvious peak on the right and Sill is the prominent summit at the far left.
Looking up Thunderbolt on Hans last recon before going for it.
Marianna pointing to where Papa Hans will be resting after the 14ers adventure.
25 September: The times on the updates are sometimes approximate. Check out the official timetable below which Hans has now updated.
22 September, 1:10am: Hans just arrived in Bishop thanks to Jacqueline Gardner who solved the transport problem and got him back. UPDATES AND PHOTOS AFTER EVERYONE GETS SOME SLEEP.
20 September, 2:07pm: Back at Shasta trialhead. Hans is done
20 September 2003, 11:22am: Shasta summit.
20 September 2003, 6:42am: Leave Shasta trailhead
19 September 2003, 11:51: Hans reaches the Shepherd's Pass trailhead. Just one to go. Confirmation that his friend Ken is willing to fly him up to Shasta.
19 September 2003, 6:20pm: Hans topped out on Tyndall.
19 September 2003, 2:45: Sorry for the lack of updates. Hans summited his last Sierra peak a couple of hours ago. Mike picked him up yesterday at the Red Lake Trailhead (coming down from Split) around 1:00am and drove him to White. Patti and Tom went to cheer him on, but decided to take the wrong turn and explore the four-wheel tracks of the area until 2:00am. Anyway, here's a breakdown of how things went:
17 September 2003, 6:55: Hans called from the top of Split. Just a big hump down to the car now.
17 September 2003, 12:40: Hans just topped out on Middle Palisade over an hour ahead of schedule. Now it's just a long hoof up to Split. At this pace, he should summit on Sill around 10:00pm tonight. And thanks to Mahogany Meats - they saw the photo on this page and spontaneously donated filet mignon to the entire crew.
17 September 2003, 10:15am: The boy is flying! Mike just called in after getting contact with Hans on a cell phone or radio or something. Anyway, his summit times were as follows:
That's five summits in about 6:30. A fantastic effort and a certifiable record setter if he can keep this up. In fact, it's a full three hours faster than Russ, who was the first to climb seven fourteeners in 24 hours. Awesome work!
17 September 2003, 1:55am: Hans is off. You can see from the picture, the temperatures have fallen quite a bit lately. Let's hope that's a good thing.
16 September 2003, 6:00pm: Hans has been doing the final gear sort at Mara's in Bishop. Han's good friend and driver Mike Ayon has arrived and is read to go. They got good new beta on how to drive up to the trailhead for Split Mountain. Ken came through with a truck for him, so that will save several miles of walking on the way out from Split. All the pieces are falling into place for a 2:00am departure tomorrow morning. Patti and Tom (a.k.a. your faithful webmaster) are heading over tomorrow to run a bit with him and keep Mike company while he's wainting.
16 September 2003: Hans is in Bishop resting and planning at Kavas cafe and loading up on Mahogany Meats jerky for the adventure.
12 September 2003: Hans felt really strong and ready to go today after a quick recon of Thunderbolt on the way to watch the finish of the Primal Quest in Tahoe. Hans' brother-in-law and his team came in 14th - one of the best finishes for a non-pro team.
09 September 2003: Russ thought he might be able to join Hans this time around, but is teaching five days a week now, so Hans will be on his own.
07 September 2003: Everything looks good for Hans' run at the record in mid-September. Projected blastoff time: 01h00 on 16 September. There's a slight chance that Russ will join him, depending on teaching responsibilities.
| Clicking on a peak name below will take you to the Summit Post page on that peak. Use the Back button on your browser to return. | ||||
| Peak | Group | Time of Day |
Elapsed Time dd:hh:mm |
Notes |
| Start | South Lake | 01h56, September 17 | 00:00:00 | This is the projected start time. Stay tuned for updates |
| Thunderbolt Peak | Palisades | 05:56, September 17 (est) | 00:04:00 | Couldn't hear the actual time he gave here because of the wind, but it was 5:something. |
| Starlight Peak | Palisades | 06:41, September 17 | 00:04:45 | Sunrise hit me. |
| North Palisade | Palisades | 07:09, September 17 | 00:05:13 | clear and sunny |
| Polemonium Peak | Palisades | 07:37, September 17 | 00:05:41 | clear and sunny, feeling good. |
| Mount Sill | Palisades | 08:19, September 17 | 00:06:24 | Definitely a record-setting pace. 2:24 from TB to Sill! |
| Middle Palisade | Palisades | 12:40, September 17 | 00:10:45 | This is the time he called in, but it appears to be the summit time. This is over an hour faster than Hans had hoped. Cool! |
| Split Mountain | Palisades | 18:55, September 17 | 00:17:00 | Back to the car around midnight on the 17th. That's the first time anyone has done seven 14ers car to car in under 24 hours |
| White Mountain | White Mountain | 5:16am on September 18 | 01:03:20 | Mike was too groggy at the time to get the exact time. We'll have to wait for Hans for the official time on this one. GOT IT! 23 hours and 40 since being on TB! |
| Mount Langeley | Mount Whitney | 18:02, September 18 | 01:16:12 | Tom and Patti met Hans at the trailhead and hiked this one with him. He as still looking pretty good. Hans bivied at lake on the way to Muir. |
| Mount Muir | Mount Whitney | 07:33, September 19 | 02:05:45 | Used Jet Lites to navigate through Crabtree Pass. darn cold and windy at summit. |
| Mount Whitney | Mount Whitney | 08:41, September 19 | 02:06:46 | had some Mahogany jerky and got on with the descent. |
| Mount Russel | Mount Whitney | 11:07, September 19 | 02:09:15 | "Just" the long hump over Tyndall left to go. |
| Mount Tyndal | Mount Tyndal | 18:55, September 19 | 02:17:00 | Boy was I whooped looking up at this one, the 11 mile trail out was a death march. |
| Mount Shasta | Mount Shasta | 11:20, September 20 | 03:09:24 | My legs felt like wood. Painful every step on the way down, so I ran the last 1/8 mile! |
| FINISH LINE | Mount Shasta | 14:07, September 20 | 03:12:11 | General rejoicing and collapsing. |
For more information about other attempts, successful and otherwise, on the 14ers record, check out the following links.
buy Hans's book: 
since September 11, 2003