Description:

Colorado is home to 54 distinct peaks of 14,000 feet or more, and another few mountains that reach 14,000’+ but are not categorized as distinct peaks because there is not a difference in altitude of 300’ between them and the neighboring 14er. For purposes of this Challenge we are recognizing each and every 14,000-foot summit across the state. We’re not called Suffer Better for nothing.

For your information, and with big thanks to FastestKnownTime.com, Andrew Hamilton currently holds the speed record for climbing all of the state’s 14ers, in just 9 days, 21 hours and 51 minutes, done in 2015. Danelle Ballengee is the women’s FKT holder, accomplishing the feat in 14 days, 14 hours and 53 minutes in 2000. Joe Grant did them all self-supported and self-powered (by biking and hiking the entire route) in 31 days, 8 hours and 33 minutes in 2016. For those chasing these records, or just doing it for fun, getting to the top of all the state’s 14ers amounts to somewhere around 320 miles and 154,000 vertical feet.

There are, as you can imagine, a variety of ways to reach the summits of each of these peaks and there are a number where it makes good sense to tag two or more peaks in a single slog. With that in mind, we’ve arrived at the following general numbers for purposes of this Challenge:

1. To reach the summits of each of the 14ers, using any of the “standard routes” for each, an individual would need to walk, hike or run a total of anywhere from the 150 to over 300 miles, give or take. That’s a lot of miles. For purposes of our current challenge we’re going to call it 225 miles.

2. And depending upon how you approached each summit and including the various summits that can reasonably be combined into a single effort, reaching the summits of them all over the course of all those miles means you’ve climbed somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 vertical feet. That’s a lot of vert. For this challenge we’re going to call it 180,000 vertical feet.

3. And, while you can hike them all or ski them all (well, sort of), you cannot actually bike them all, because there are a number in designated wilderness areas where bikes are not welcome. But we want to welcome all those willing to take on the challenge – by foot, bike or skis.

4. So there it is, the big challenge: Over the next six months we’re challenging you to run, ride or ski 225 miles and accumulate 180,000 vertical feet.