Post by Peter Bakwin on Nov 7, 2009 9:45:53 GMT -5
Andrew Hamilton holds the speed record for climbing all Colorado's 14ers in 9d21h51m, June 29 - July 9, 2015.
Previously, "Cave Dog" Ted Keizer held the record for 15 years, 10d20h26m, Sept. 4-14, 2000.
Danelle Ballengee holds the women's record of 14d14h53m, July-August 2000.
Joe Grant did the Colorado 14ers self-supported and self-powered (bike & hike) in 31d8h33m, July 26 - August 26, 2016.
FKTs for individual peaks and groups of peaks are also listed below.
Depending how you count a separate peak, Colorado has 53-58 peaks over 14,000 feet, the so-caller "14ers". It seems a natural challenge to attempt to climb all these lofty summits over some period of time -- most people would accept a lifetime as a reasonable goal. Of course, for some it is irresistable to see just how quickly they can bag the lot.
Cave Dog's 2000 record was unchallenged for a dozen years. Then, starting August 23, 2012, John "Homie" Prater set out after the record. Prater was not successful (due to injury), but a compelling story, written by Dan England, about his journey is here: www.sbnation.com. There was a very long thread on 14ers.com during and after the attempt.
Really not sure how this will shake out, but I get going tomorrow morning around 5:15 am. -- John Prater, 22 August 2012
In June 2014 Andrew Hamilton (who had set the 14ers record way back in 1999), now father of 4 young kids, went after the 14ers record. Hamilton set some very fast times, and was well ahead of record pace until he was stopped in his tracks late on Day 6 on a huge traverse of the Elk Range by injury. After a break of many hours, apparently including a forced bivy high on South Maroon Peak, Hamilton restarted and was still on or near record pace until the injury -- Compartment Syndrome -- finally took him out on Day 9. His trip was followed and documented in detail in a long thread on 14ers.com, which even includes some words of encouragement from Cave Dog himself. Hamilton put up a detailed trip report on his website. Buzz Burrell had this to say about Hamilton and the evolution of the 14ers record:
Andrew is amazing. I was briefly with him on his two previous FKT's, and with Rick and Rickey on both theirs. Each person/team has their own strength and weaknesses: Rick and Rickey were way fast, basically setting FKT's on every summit. Then they'd go to town, have lunch at a mexican restaurant, then go back out - not an optimum style. Andrew was slower on the peaks, but his AR [adventure racing] background changed the game to one of more continuous movement - he's a master of sleep deprivation. Cave Dog took logistics to a whole new level, combining fitness, planning, and crew strength to set a very high bar. Now Andrew is back. He's fit, experienced, with a good plan and crew. But if he get's the record, it will not be because of any of those things - it will be because he is way tougher than anyone else. He throws down. -- Buzz Burrell
My goal was not to break the record by hiking faster, but by being faster than everyone else while I wasn’t hiking. -- Andrew Hamilton
Brett Maune went after Cave Dog's record later that same summer, starting August 19, 2014. Maune put in some very fast hike times, and completed the San Juans in just 40 hours, but succommed to food poisoning from a chicken sandwich that he purchased at the Pikes Peak summit restaurant! There was a lengthy thread during his attempt on 14ers.com.
Good luck, much speed, and go get that record. -- Cave Dog Ted Keizer to Brett Maune
Finally, starting June 29 and ending in the early morning hours of July 9, 2015, Andrew Hamilton succeeded in besting Cave Dog's time by nearly a day, climbing 58 peaks in 9d21h51m. There was, of course, another massive thread on 14ers.com detailing nearly every aspect of the attempt. Hamilton was met at the finish, 3000' below the summit of Longs Peak, in the early hours of July 9 by a group of about 50 well-wishers, including Cave Dog himself, who had flown out to Colorado that evening specifically for the event. Hamilton was interviewed about the record on 9NEWS. irunfar.com has a detailed interview with Hamilton on his 2014 Colorado 14ers and Nolan's 14 FKTs.
What really set my attempt apart this time was I had the best crew ever. -- Andrew Hamilton
Andrew Hamilton, you are one of the reasons Colorado is cool. -- Kyle Clark, 9NEWS
Maune came back in 2015 and tried again, taking the train into Needleton for the Chicago Basin start later in the same day (July 9) that Hamilton finished his successful record on Longs. Maune was ultimately unsuccessful, succumbing to exercise induced asthma after a few days. Maune was again supported by his wife, Hareem, and some friends, but also called apon the Colorado 14ers community for help along the way, creating what must be the first "crowd sourced" record attempt! There was another long thread on 14ers.com.
Self-powered / self-supported:
Each of these record attempts used support teams and multiple vehicles including jeeps, ATVs and dirt bikes for some of the more challenging roads. Each has also adhered to the “Colorado Rule” (the 3000 foot rule described above). This rule can at times seem rather arbitrary and strange, leading to situations where the climber has to start hiking below some of the regularly-used trailheads. Eschewing these awkward rules and also the whole support thing, Justin Simoni kicked off at 4:13a.m. on July 25, 2014, at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden to do the Colorado 14ers completely self-powered and self-supported, bicycling between trailheads, camping, and resupplying in towns. Simoni biked roughly 1600 miles and hiked about 350 miles to tag all the summits (actually 57 of 58, see below) and returning to his starting point in Golden at 4:40 p.m. on August 28, for a time of 34d12h27m, setting a new FKT for doing the Colorado 14ers in this pure style (the old record appears to have been set in 1995 by Roy Benton, 37d12h, see Simoni's site for more discussion). Simoni had many crazy adventures along the way, dealing with the summer’s particularly rotten weather (strong monsoon storms) and twice having his camp ransacked by bears! He had an epic final push, tagging Bierstadt and Evans on Aug. 27, then grinding out 84 miles on his bike through the night to the Longs Peak TH where he started hiking at 4:00am on Aug. 28. He reached the final summit (Longs) at 8:45am, then hiked 7.5 miles back down and biked another 62 miles in the rain to finish in Golden. When asked if he had experienced any injuries along the way, Simoni said “Nary a blister.” The trip was followed by the 14ers community on 14ers.com, and documented on trackleaders.com. A nice interview with Simoni appears on bikepackermagazine.com. In 2016, Joe Grant repeated Simoni's self-supported bike/hike adventure, completing the 14ers in a quick 31d8h33m, July 26 - August 26, 2016. Grant's start/finish point was his home in Gold Hill. The trip was followed enthusiastically on 14ers.com (and documented on trackleaders.com), with Simoni providing many insightful comments on Grant's route, etc. It is of note that both Simoni & Grant chose not to summit Mt Bross, which is on private property and technically closed to the public (note that Andrew Hamilton and all previous record holders have summitted Bross). Simoni ascended to the highest "legal" point on the mountain (above 14,000'), while Grant simply skipped it. Bross it done as part of the Lincoln-Democrat-Cameron-Bross group, and probably adds less than an hour to the total time for these peaks. Grant explained his omission as follows: "I chose not to summit the peak because of the implications at a community level. While I made transgressions in other areas (such as riding the train tracks or stealth camping) those decisions ultimately impact me and me alone. On Bross, the sign at the trailhead and note on the 14ers Initiative state that summitting the peak could have negative repercussions on the possibility of having the peak open to the public in the future. I felt I wasn't entitled to the summit and in such a public forum did not want to send out the wrong message, hence the reason for not summitting." A nice first article on Grant's trip was printed in the Denver Post (however, with an incorrect total time for the trip). Grant's trip was highlighted on the local Fox TV station, and profiled on outsideonline.com.
I asked myself which route would be more fun, rather than which would be faster. – Justin Simoni
Andrew Hamilton set the 14ers record of 13d22h48m in 1999. Some controversy erupted over Andrew's interpretation of the "rules", particularly his approach to Pikes Peak. Perhaps Andrew was frustrated by the arbitrary nature of the established rules. In any case, in 2003 he claimed the "self-powered" (but not self-supported) 14ers record. On June 24 Andrew walked out of his front door and jumped on his bike. He returned home 19d10h40m later, having climbed 54 14ers (Andrew simply skipped Culebra Peak, to which access had become problematic due to private property) and biked between them, that is, completing the trip entirely self-powered, but with a full support crew. Here's how Andrew described his approach:
The basic idea is that I have to power myself on all legs of the journey. I can bike, run, walk, kayak... but I can't be driven on any part of the route, towed, carried, or use any motorized technology to help me... You get the idea. However, my support crew can use cars to carry/transport my gear, they can cook for me, fix any broken gear, etc. Finally, I will start and finish in the same location. For me, this will be my front doorstep. However, anyone doing this in the future can choose whatever location they want as the starting and finishing location. I like starting from my front doorstep because although it will cost me a few extra hours, I like the idea of starting the clock when I really start (leave home) and stopping the clock when I can lay down in bed and sleep. Also, starting and finishing in the same location helps to remove any ambiguity about what is a legal place to start and stop the clock. You can start the clock wherever you want, only you have to stop it in exactly the same location. -- Andrew Hamilton
Perhaps not surprisingly, Hamilton's son Axel became the youngest person to finish the Colorado 14ers at age 6!
The 14ers have also been done in self-supported as well as thru-hiker style. In 1995, Peter N. Jones did them all self-supported in 16d13h43m. Jones did all the driving between trailheads himself, and so could not use the many short-cuts that supported people have taken advantage of. He followed the 3000' rule. Over about 4 months in 1985, Patrick Renworth and Mike Whitehurst did the then-standard 54 Colorado 14ers as a thru-hike, meaning they walked between all the peaks. The pair covered about 1600 miles hiking from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. A recent article on referencing this trip is here. The Colorado 14ers were again thru-hiked over about 72 days during July-September 2013 by Junaid Dawud and Luke DeMuth. They did classic thru-hiker style - no car rides for the full 1300 mile trip - and tagged all 55 (now) "traditional" 14ers, plus 3 additional high points over 14,000'. A map of their route is here. The Denver Post had an informative story on their trip (published just before they completed the journey). There was a lengthy tread following their trip on 14ers.com. Star backpacker Andy Skurka called the trip "The Coolest Thru-hike of the Year", and posted an interview with the pair on his blog.
Winter: Only a few people have climbed all the Colorado 14er in wintertime, and so far no one has completed all 58 during a single calendar winter. Will Seeber climbed 51 summits during the winter of 2016-2017, which is the most climbed in a single winter. As usual, Seeber's project was followed on 14ers.com, and this long thread includes an in-depth discussion of what might constitute winter "rules" for a Colorado 14ers speed record - there are many nuances that may differ from the better-established summer "rules" followed by Andrew Hamilton and others. In summary it appears that the community has not yet come to consensus on winter "rules". It is of note that Seeber was more or less "self-supported" in that he had no designated support crew, though he often climbed with others. He sometimes used skis or snowshoes, and rode a bicycle to the top of Pikes Peak. His peak list for the season is given here.
Bill Wright has collected various ascent and round-trip FKTs for individual 14ers. These records depend of course on starting location and route, so record keeping for the individual peaks is complex, plus Bill hasn't been keeping this up to date, but anyway Bill's information is a good place to start. Below are some newer FKTs than what's shown on Bill's site.
Longs Peak overall (round trip, via North Face), Andy Anderson, 1h56m48s (ascent in 1h14m08s is also the FKT), 8/8/2012.
Longs Peak Keyhole Route (round trip, sticking strictly to the official route), Anton Krupicka, about 3h15m (ascent in 1h41m58s is also the FKT), 6/8/2012.
Longs Peak Kieners Route (car-to-car), Anton Krupicka, 2h26m11s (ascent in 1h34m54s is also the FKT), 6/24/2012.
Huron Peak, Eli Zabielski, 1h49m35s (ascent in 1h06m52s), 8/25/2013.
Pyramid Peak, Anton Krupicka, 2h23m18s (ascent in 1h24m55s), 6/19/2012.
La Plata Peak, Anton Krupicka, 1h19m50s (ascent only, Northwest Ridge), 6/4/2012.
La Plata Peak Ellingwood Ridge, Anton Krupicka, 2h57m46s (ascent in 2h21m33s), 6/21/2012.
Mt Elbert (Northeast Ridge), Anton Krupicka, 1h42m55s (ascent in 1h11m58s), 6/29/2012.
Mt Elbert (Northeast Ridge), Sage Canaday 1h7m16s (ascent only), 9/3/2014.
Capitol Peak, Anton Krupicka, 3h38m22s (ascent in 2h8m40s), 9/9/2012.
Capitol & Snowmass, Anton Krupicka, 6h58m11s, 7/3/2013.
Sunlight, Windom & Eolus without the train, Anton Krupicka, 7h58m34s, 7/15/2013.
Crestone Group (from upper South Colony TH, 9900'), Eric Lee, 9h17m05s, 8/4/2012.
Grays & Torreys (from Stevens Gulch TH), Anton Krupicka, 1h30m57s, 6/27/2012.
Uncompahgre & Wetterhorn (from Matterhorn Creek Rd), Eric Lee, 5h32m46s, 2013.
Quandary, Tobias Albrigtsen, 1h22m6s, (ascent in 53m47s), 9/3/2014.
Mt Bierstadt, Andrew Terrill (ascent 54m) and Scott Spillman (ascent 52m), 1h25m20s, 9/21/2014.
Blanca Peak (ascent only, from 2WD TH at 8200'), Jackson Cole, 2h15m, 9/17/2017.
Colorado's famous Maroon Bells in winter (photo by Justin Becker)
Previously, "Cave Dog" Ted Keizer held the record for 15 years, 10d20h26m, Sept. 4-14, 2000.
Danelle Ballengee holds the women's record of 14d14h53m, July-August 2000.
Joe Grant did the Colorado 14ers self-supported and self-powered (bike & hike) in 31d8h33m, July 26 - August 26, 2016.
FKTs for individual peaks and groups of peaks are also listed below.
Depending how you count a separate peak, Colorado has 53-58 peaks over 14,000 feet, the so-caller "14ers". It seems a natural challenge to attempt to climb all these lofty summits over some period of time -- most people would accept a lifetime as a reasonable goal. Of course, for some it is irresistable to see just how quickly they can bag the lot.
How many 14ers are there? For purposes of the record, at least through Cave Dog's record in 2000, people used 54-55 peaks. They are the 53 peaks having a minimum of 300' prominence (as listed on Wikipedia, note that Challenger Point was only named in the 1987), plus the traditionally accepted summits North Maroon and El Diente. More recently, it has become popular to say that there are 58 14ers. None of the 3 added peaks (points, really: North Eolus, Cameron and Conundrum) meet the 300' prominence rule. Nevertheless, in recent years it seems like the community has come to accept the list of 58, which are all points over 14,000' which have official names according to the USGS, as shown to the right. Hopefully the USGS will not go on a naming spree! Several guide books and a website are dedicated to the 14ers. The 14ers have become so popular that erosion and trail damage became a problem. The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative was formed in 1994 to maintain these routes and protect the fragile alpine environment of these peaks. The 14ers are scattered all over the state, and it is standard to use vehicles to shuttle between the trail heads. You can actually drive to the summit of some of the 14ers (particularly Pikes Peak and Mount Evans). So, over the years some rules of engagement have been established for viable 14ers records. Most critical is the so-called "Colorado Rule", which says that the climber must ascend at least 3,000 vertical feet net elevation on foot from the base of the first peak in a series, and descend at least 3,000 feet at the end of the series. The climber may descend less than 3,000 feet when traversing between peaks that are linked on foot. Cave Dog's website gives a detailed discussion of the rules and some intricacies. There have been many amazing speed records on the 14ers going back nearly 50 years. As the record has evolved, so has the list of recognized 14ers. Lately, record aspirants have gone after 58 peaks, which are all points over 14,000' that have officially-recognized names (by the USGS), as discussed here. Cave Dog's website gives an excellent discussion (by Rick Trujillo) of the history of speed records on the 14ers. To give a sense of the challenge, for their 1997 record (14d0h16m), Rick Trujillo and Ricky Denesik calculated that they traversed a total of 314 miles and gained 153,215 vertical feet! Here's a summary of historical speed records from Cave Dog's site: 1960, Cleve McCarty climbed the 52 recognized 14ers in 52 days. 1974, George (father), Flint, Quade, Cody, and Tyle (sons) Smith ("The Climbing Smiths"), climbed 54 14ers in 33 days (and established the 3000' rule). 1976, Steve Boyer climbed 54 14ers in 22 days. 1980, Dick Walkers climbed 54 14ers in 18d15h40m. 1990, Quade and Tyle Smith climbed 54 14ers in 16d21h35m. Up to 1990 all records were essentially self-sufficient. The following records were set with the aid of support crews. 1992, Adrian Crane climbed 54 14ers in 15d17h19m. 1993, Jeff Wagener climbed 55 14ers (adding Challenger Point) in 14d3h. 1995, Rick Trujillo and Ricky Denesik climbed 55 14ers in 15d9h55m (fast, but not a record). 1997, Ricky Denesik climbed 55 14ers in 14d0h16m (Trujillo started with Denesik, but stopped after 39 peaks). August-September 1999, Andrew Hamilton cimbed 55 14ers in 13d22h48m. July-August 2000, Ricky Denesik reclaimed the record for 55 14ers, 12d15h35m. July-August 2000, Danelle Ballengee set the female record for 55 14ers, 14d14h49m. September 2000, "Cave Dog" Ted Keizer set the final record for climbing 55 14ers, 10d20h26m. June-July 2015, Andrew Hamilton finally beat Cave Dog's records, climbing 58 14ers in 9d21h51m. Another history of 14ers speed records, including some earlier records, was posted to 14ers.com in 2014. A few of the details are different from those given above. In his trademark meticulous fashion Cave Dog spent 2.5 years scouting the peaks and training for the 14ers record. He pulled off a great time of 10d20h26m during Sept. 4-14, 2000. In late July - early August 2000, legendary, world champion mountain runner Danelle Ballengee set the women's speed record of 14d14h49m. An excerpt from Danelle's report gives a sense of the dedication, experience and training that is needed to approach the 14ers speed record: The record took 14.5 days, but the real journey has taken me 29 years, a lifetime. It takes a lot of training, a lot of discipline, a lot of risk taking, a true love for the mountains, a true love for suffering, and a bit of craziness to take on a task like this. I suppose many of these traits are genetic, and the rest are developed though our experiences as we grow up. My training for this has been inspired by my love of endurance competitions, and my drive to succeed in them. I compete in endurance events nearly every weekend. I have competed hundreds of ultradistance endurance events including 7 Ironman Triathlons, two Eco Challenges, and 18 SkyMarathons. I've finished in the top 10 in 98% of the events I compete in which include several world championships. I hold the SkyGames World Title, was the '99 Mountain Runner of the Year, '97 Pro Duathlete of the Year, and have won 57 of the last 57 snowshoe races I have entered. I have a passion for endurance sports. I make a little money at it, but unfortunately I haven't been able to get rich doing it. Still, I wouldn't trade this passion and lifestyle for anything. Competing has given me the fitness, endurance, mental strength and skills to make it through the 14ers. It has taken me many years of training and competing to build this base. I started climbing Colorado's 14,000 ft peaks when I was about 13. Over the next 16 years I climbed all but a handful, so I was familiar with most of the mountains. This past summer, squeezed between work and racing, I spent my time scouting out routes on the mountains, studying maps, and coordinating a support crew, vehicles, and the equipment I would need for the trip. Really, I had very little time to pull it all together. I definitely was not 100% ready, but the time was right and I was motivated. My belief is that I'll never be 100% ready for anything, and if I don't just go for it, it'll never get done. -- Danelle Ballengee |  List from CO Geological Survey |
Cave Dog's 2000 record was unchallenged for a dozen years. Then, starting August 23, 2012, John "Homie" Prater set out after the record. Prater was not successful (due to injury), but a compelling story, written by Dan England, about his journey is here: www.sbnation.com. There was a very long thread on 14ers.com during and after the attempt.
Really not sure how this will shake out, but I get going tomorrow morning around 5:15 am. -- John Prater, 22 August 2012
In June 2014 Andrew Hamilton (who had set the 14ers record way back in 1999), now father of 4 young kids, went after the 14ers record. Hamilton set some very fast times, and was well ahead of record pace until he was stopped in his tracks late on Day 6 on a huge traverse of the Elk Range by injury. After a break of many hours, apparently including a forced bivy high on South Maroon Peak, Hamilton restarted and was still on or near record pace until the injury -- Compartment Syndrome -- finally took him out on Day 9. His trip was followed and documented in detail in a long thread on 14ers.com, which even includes some words of encouragement from Cave Dog himself. Hamilton put up a detailed trip report on his website. Buzz Burrell had this to say about Hamilton and the evolution of the 14ers record:
Andrew is amazing. I was briefly with him on his two previous FKT's, and with Rick and Rickey on both theirs. Each person/team has their own strength and weaknesses: Rick and Rickey were way fast, basically setting FKT's on every summit. Then they'd go to town, have lunch at a mexican restaurant, then go back out - not an optimum style. Andrew was slower on the peaks, but his AR [adventure racing] background changed the game to one of more continuous movement - he's a master of sleep deprivation. Cave Dog took logistics to a whole new level, combining fitness, planning, and crew strength to set a very high bar. Now Andrew is back. He's fit, experienced, with a good plan and crew. But if he get's the record, it will not be because of any of those things - it will be because he is way tougher than anyone else. He throws down. -- Buzz Burrell
My goal was not to break the record by hiking faster, but by being faster than everyone else while I wasn’t hiking. -- Andrew Hamilton
Brett Maune went after Cave Dog's record later that same summer, starting August 19, 2014. Maune put in some very fast hike times, and completed the San Juans in just 40 hours, but succommed to food poisoning from a chicken sandwich that he purchased at the Pikes Peak summit restaurant! There was a lengthy thread during his attempt on 14ers.com.
Good luck, much speed, and go get that record. -- Cave Dog Ted Keizer to Brett Maune
Finally, starting June 29 and ending in the early morning hours of July 9, 2015, Andrew Hamilton succeeded in besting Cave Dog's time by nearly a day, climbing 58 peaks in 9d21h51m. There was, of course, another massive thread on 14ers.com detailing nearly every aspect of the attempt. Hamilton was met at the finish, 3000' below the summit of Longs Peak, in the early hours of July 9 by a group of about 50 well-wishers, including Cave Dog himself, who had flown out to Colorado that evening specifically for the event. Hamilton was interviewed about the record on 9NEWS. irunfar.com has a detailed interview with Hamilton on his 2014 Colorado 14ers and Nolan's 14 FKTs.
What really set my attempt apart this time was I had the best crew ever. -- Andrew Hamilton
Andrew Hamilton, you are one of the reasons Colorado is cool. -- Kyle Clark, 9NEWS
Maune came back in 2015 and tried again, taking the train into Needleton for the Chicago Basin start later in the same day (July 9) that Hamilton finished his successful record on Longs. Maune was ultimately unsuccessful, succumbing to exercise induced asthma after a few days. Maune was again supported by his wife, Hareem, and some friends, but also called apon the Colorado 14ers community for help along the way, creating what must be the first "crowd sourced" record attempt! There was another long thread on 14ers.com.
Self-powered / self-supported:
Each of these record attempts used support teams and multiple vehicles including jeeps, ATVs and dirt bikes for some of the more challenging roads. Each has also adhered to the “Colorado Rule” (the 3000 foot rule described above). This rule can at times seem rather arbitrary and strange, leading to situations where the climber has to start hiking below some of the regularly-used trailheads. Eschewing these awkward rules and also the whole support thing, Justin Simoni kicked off at 4:13a.m. on July 25, 2014, at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden to do the Colorado 14ers completely self-powered and self-supported, bicycling between trailheads, camping, and resupplying in towns. Simoni biked roughly 1600 miles and hiked about 350 miles to tag all the summits (actually 57 of 58, see below) and returning to his starting point in Golden at 4:40 p.m. on August 28, for a time of 34d12h27m, setting a new FKT for doing the Colorado 14ers in this pure style (the old record appears to have been set in 1995 by Roy Benton, 37d12h, see Simoni's site for more discussion). Simoni had many crazy adventures along the way, dealing with the summer’s particularly rotten weather (strong monsoon storms) and twice having his camp ransacked by bears! He had an epic final push, tagging Bierstadt and Evans on Aug. 27, then grinding out 84 miles on his bike through the night to the Longs Peak TH where he started hiking at 4:00am on Aug. 28. He reached the final summit (Longs) at 8:45am, then hiked 7.5 miles back down and biked another 62 miles in the rain to finish in Golden. When asked if he had experienced any injuries along the way, Simoni said “Nary a blister.” The trip was followed by the 14ers community on 14ers.com, and documented on trackleaders.com. A nice interview with Simoni appears on bikepackermagazine.com. In 2016, Joe Grant repeated Simoni's self-supported bike/hike adventure, completing the 14ers in a quick 31d8h33m, July 26 - August 26, 2016. Grant's start/finish point was his home in Gold Hill. The trip was followed enthusiastically on 14ers.com (and documented on trackleaders.com), with Simoni providing many insightful comments on Grant's route, etc. It is of note that both Simoni & Grant chose not to summit Mt Bross, which is on private property and technically closed to the public (note that Andrew Hamilton and all previous record holders have summitted Bross). Simoni ascended to the highest "legal" point on the mountain (above 14,000'), while Grant simply skipped it. Bross it done as part of the Lincoln-Democrat-Cameron-Bross group, and probably adds less than an hour to the total time for these peaks. Grant explained his omission as follows: "I chose not to summit the peak because of the implications at a community level. While I made transgressions in other areas (such as riding the train tracks or stealth camping) those decisions ultimately impact me and me alone. On Bross, the sign at the trailhead and note on the 14ers Initiative state that summitting the peak could have negative repercussions on the possibility of having the peak open to the public in the future. I felt I wasn't entitled to the summit and in such a public forum did not want to send out the wrong message, hence the reason for not summitting." A nice first article on Grant's trip was printed in the Denver Post (however, with an incorrect total time for the trip). Grant's trip was highlighted on the local Fox TV station, and profiled on outsideonline.com.
I asked myself which route would be more fun, rather than which would be faster. – Justin Simoni
Andrew Hamilton set the 14ers record of 13d22h48m in 1999. Some controversy erupted over Andrew's interpretation of the "rules", particularly his approach to Pikes Peak. Perhaps Andrew was frustrated by the arbitrary nature of the established rules. In any case, in 2003 he claimed the "self-powered" (but not self-supported) 14ers record. On June 24 Andrew walked out of his front door and jumped on his bike. He returned home 19d10h40m later, having climbed 54 14ers (Andrew simply skipped Culebra Peak, to which access had become problematic due to private property) and biked between them, that is, completing the trip entirely self-powered, but with a full support crew. Here's how Andrew described his approach:
The basic idea is that I have to power myself on all legs of the journey. I can bike, run, walk, kayak... but I can't be driven on any part of the route, towed, carried, or use any motorized technology to help me... You get the idea. However, my support crew can use cars to carry/transport my gear, they can cook for me, fix any broken gear, etc. Finally, I will start and finish in the same location. For me, this will be my front doorstep. However, anyone doing this in the future can choose whatever location they want as the starting and finishing location. I like starting from my front doorstep because although it will cost me a few extra hours, I like the idea of starting the clock when I really start (leave home) and stopping the clock when I can lay down in bed and sleep. Also, starting and finishing in the same location helps to remove any ambiguity about what is a legal place to start and stop the clock. You can start the clock wherever you want, only you have to stop it in exactly the same location. -- Andrew Hamilton
Perhaps not surprisingly, Hamilton's son Axel became the youngest person to finish the Colorado 14ers at age 6!
The 14ers have also been done in self-supported as well as thru-hiker style. In 1995, Peter N. Jones did them all self-supported in 16d13h43m. Jones did all the driving between trailheads himself, and so could not use the many short-cuts that supported people have taken advantage of. He followed the 3000' rule. Over about 4 months in 1985, Patrick Renworth and Mike Whitehurst did the then-standard 54 Colorado 14ers as a thru-hike, meaning they walked between all the peaks. The pair covered about 1600 miles hiking from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. A recent article on referencing this trip is here. The Colorado 14ers were again thru-hiked over about 72 days during July-September 2013 by Junaid Dawud and Luke DeMuth. They did classic thru-hiker style - no car rides for the full 1300 mile trip - and tagged all 55 (now) "traditional" 14ers, plus 3 additional high points over 14,000'. A map of their route is here. The Denver Post had an informative story on their trip (published just before they completed the journey). There was a lengthy tread following their trip on 14ers.com. Star backpacker Andy Skurka called the trip "The Coolest Thru-hike of the Year", and posted an interview with the pair on his blog.
Winter: Only a few people have climbed all the Colorado 14er in wintertime, and so far no one has completed all 58 during a single calendar winter. Will Seeber climbed 51 summits during the winter of 2016-2017, which is the most climbed in a single winter. As usual, Seeber's project was followed on 14ers.com, and this long thread includes an in-depth discussion of what might constitute winter "rules" for a Colorado 14ers speed record - there are many nuances that may differ from the better-established summer "rules" followed by Andrew Hamilton and others. In summary it appears that the community has not yet come to consensus on winter "rules". It is of note that Seeber was more or less "self-supported" in that he had no designated support crew, though he often climbed with others. He sometimes used skis or snowshoes, and rode a bicycle to the top of Pikes Peak. His peak list for the season is given here.
Bill Wright has collected various ascent and round-trip FKTs for individual 14ers. These records depend of course on starting location and route, so record keeping for the individual peaks is complex, plus Bill hasn't been keeping this up to date, but anyway Bill's information is a good place to start. Below are some newer FKTs than what's shown on Bill's site.
Longs Peak overall (round trip, via North Face), Andy Anderson, 1h56m48s (ascent in 1h14m08s is also the FKT), 8/8/2012.
Longs Peak Keyhole Route (round trip, sticking strictly to the official route), Anton Krupicka, about 3h15m (ascent in 1h41m58s is also the FKT), 6/8/2012.
Longs Peak Kieners Route (car-to-car), Anton Krupicka, 2h26m11s (ascent in 1h34m54s is also the FKT), 6/24/2012.
Huron Peak, Eli Zabielski, 1h49m35s (ascent in 1h06m52s), 8/25/2013.
Pyramid Peak, Anton Krupicka, 2h23m18s (ascent in 1h24m55s), 6/19/2012.
La Plata Peak, Anton Krupicka, 1h19m50s (ascent only, Northwest Ridge), 6/4/2012.
La Plata Peak Ellingwood Ridge, Anton Krupicka, 2h57m46s (ascent in 2h21m33s), 6/21/2012.
Mt Elbert (Northeast Ridge), Anton Krupicka, 1h42m55s (ascent in 1h11m58s), 6/29/2012.
Mt Elbert (Northeast Ridge), Sage Canaday 1h7m16s (ascent only), 9/3/2014.
Capitol Peak, Anton Krupicka, 3h38m22s (ascent in 2h8m40s), 9/9/2012.
Capitol & Snowmass, Anton Krupicka, 6h58m11s, 7/3/2013.
Sunlight, Windom & Eolus without the train, Anton Krupicka, 7h58m34s, 7/15/2013.
Crestone Group (from upper South Colony TH, 9900'), Eric Lee, 9h17m05s, 8/4/2012.
Grays & Torreys (from Stevens Gulch TH), Anton Krupicka, 1h30m57s, 6/27/2012.
Uncompahgre & Wetterhorn (from Matterhorn Creek Rd), Eric Lee, 5h32m46s, 2013.
Quandary, Tobias Albrigtsen, 1h22m6s, (ascent in 53m47s), 9/3/2014.
Mt Bierstadt, Andrew Terrill (ascent 54m) and Scott Spillman (ascent 52m), 1h25m20s, 9/21/2014.
Blanca Peak (ascent only, from 2WD TH at 8200'), Jackson Cole, 2h15m, 9/17/2017.
Colorado's famous Maroon Bells in winter (photo by Justin Becker)
