10 Colorado 14ers in less than 24 hours? Mission accomplished.
Josh Sanders, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, has officially broken a new world record. He successfully climbed 10 Colorado 14ers in one day.
Read that again. 10 Colorado 14ers in ONE day!!
Do you realize how insanely awesome (and difficult) that is?? Colorado 14ers are already fairly difficult when you're climbing one of them, but to successfully climb 10 in less than 24 hours? It's pure madness, and it's AWESOME. We applaud Josh for having that kind of stamina and determination to complete such a daunting task!
Courtesy of Josh Sanders (Facebook)
He started his journey at midnight on Friday, June 29. He didn't finish until 11:33 p.m. that same day.
Josh Sanders' Colorado 14er Timeline:
12 a.m. – Start
1:28 a.m. – Torrey’s summit
2:53 a.m. – 3,000’ descent
3:43 a.m. – Start
6:22 a.m. – Summit Evans
8:03 a.m. – Summit Bierstadt
9:10 a.m. – 3,000’ descent
10:19 a.m. – Start
12:10 p.m. – Summit Democrat
1:25 p.m. – Summit Lincoln
1:59 p.m. – Summit Bross
2:58 p.m. – 3,000’ descent
5:16 p.m. – Start
7:11 p.m. – Summit Missouri
9:31 p.m. – Summit Oxford
10:21 p.m. – Summit Belford
11:33 p.m. – 3,000’ descent
Miles: 45+ miles
Elevation Gain: 18,000+ feet
Time: 23 hours, 33 minutes
And how did Josh celebrate this incredible accomplishment?
"I ate a bowl of Reece's Puff cereal, took a 15-minute shower to get all of the mountain dirt off my body and went to sleep," he wrote on Facebook. Honestly, we'd probably do the same exact thing if we'd been moving constantly for 24 consecutive hours on just a couple hours of sleep. It's exhausting breaking world records!
Last year, Josh had attempted to break the record but due to the poor weather conditions, he was forced to stop at only five peaks. "I had five peaks before 10 a.m. last year, but as I was going to Bierstadt and trying to cross the sawtooth, a pretty aggressive-looking storm was moving in and, unfortunately, you have to call it at that point," he told 9NEWS.
Luckily, the weather was more cooperative this year and that helped give him the motivation to try again. "It was that 'failure' that had the most to do with this year's success."
If you're interested in reading more about Josh's journey, in his own words, visit the 14ers.com Facebook page where he shared his entire experience in full detail. You can also see Josh's progress (via GPS) throughout the trip on Saved by SPOT and STRAVA.com.
Congratulations, Josh!! What an amazing accomplishment!
Well, what do YOU think? Do you believe you could ever successfully climb 10 14ers in a single day? How many Colorado 14ers have you climbed? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and let's get the conversation started. We'll see you out there, Colorado!