Thank you all for following Nathan and Travis' SPS FKT efforts. We'll leave this site up forever, but we won't be updating it any longer. You can reach us at team@sps2022.com or follow Nathan and Travis on Instagram.
Travis still feels deeply fatigued from the SPS FKT and could tell as early as the start of the JMT on the Mount Whitney summit that this effort wouldn't be to his standard. While disappointed, he understands that he must listen to his body and continue to recover.
I have dreamed of hiking the John Muir Trail since high school when I first heard about it. The trail is considered one of the most beautiful routes in the whole world. Nüümü Poyo is the original name of the trail by the indigenous people who used it as a trade route long before John Muir came to the Sierra.
It has been nearly three weeks since I finished the SPS list and I still haven't fully processed the adventure. Since my legs are strong and the weather is good, I figured running the JMT would be an excellent way to tour the Sierra one last time this season.
During the project I hiked about 70% of the JMT to access the peaks in the High Sierra but have yet to piece it all together as a continuous journey. My main goal is to reconnect with all of my mountain friends that stand alongside the trail and feel their presence again.
My secondary goal is to go fast. The overall unsupported FKT is 72 hours and 47 minutes set recently by a fellow I really admire, Jeff Garmire, running north to south. Although many talented mountain athletes have run the JMT, there has yet to be a sub 3 day unsupported effort.
I have never done a multi-day adventure like this, and I've never even run more than 50 miles in one push. Chances are I will fail, but if there is one thing the SPS list taught me, it's to try. As the legend Peter Croft said, "better the magnificent failure than the mediocre success."
Whether I finish the JMT or not, I am sure it will be magnificent! I'm starting at noon at Whitney Portal on Wednesday, September 7.
Go to the full size, interactive tracker.
We apologize for falling a bit behind on updates. There are about 7 more days of photos and at least one more story to publish. We should be able to publish regularly again starting tomorrow. Thank you!
Travis finished the list today on San Joaquin Mountain!
Nathan enjoyed having the FKT for just over a month before Travis claimed it with a time of 117 days, 8 hours, and 34 minutes, more than three weeks faster than Nathan! He averaged more than two summits per day over the course of his effort.
More to come… check back soon!
Update: After yesterday's big Ritter Range linkup, today is Travis' last day!
He's climbing San Joaquin Mountain starting from the Minaret Summit trailhead around 9am. He'll be going at a casual pace with his family and would be thrilled to have additional company. Come on out if you can!
Follow along on the live tracker.
Update: Congratulations to Nathan for finishing the Glacier Point Infinity Loop. His inReach died around hour 28. His watch made it about 46 hours, and he finished in 54 hours and 49 minutes. Distance came in aroud 107 miles.
Update: unfortunately it looks like his tracker died somewhere around halfway.
Nathan is attempting the first ever Glacier Peak Infinity Loop. This loop will circumnavigate Washington's Glacier Peak and ascend it twice. Nathan estimates is will be approximately 120 miles and 40,000' of climbing.
Follow along on Nathan's live tracker.
The 2022 Sierra Challenge runs from August 5th through 14th and we're happy to host a few participant's live tracks:
Send us an email at team@sps2022.com if you'd like your tracker added to this list.
We'd like to extend our sincere thanks to Bob Burd for his dedication to running the Sierra Challenge for the last 20 years and for his website, an incredible resource for Sierra Nevada explorers.
Update: watch the video of this event.
The Eastern Sierra Chapter of the American Alpine Club is hosting Nathan on Wednesday, August 3 at 7pm for "tales of epic ski descents, massive peak link ups, and more" at Mammoth Brewing Company in Mammoth Lakes, CA.
More information here.
Jason Hardrath is continuing on after finishing the Norman's 13 FKT and attempting to break the self-powered California 14er FKT held by Ryan Tetz in 8d 8h 39m.
Note: these times are based on inReach locations and are preliminary. We'll update with more accurate times when we receive them.
- 90h05m (7:05pm): Start climb of White Mountain
- 82h45m: Arrive at base of West Ridge of White Mountain
- 80h00m: Start riding from South Lake
- 74h24m: South Lake Trailhead (Norman's 13 FKT finished)
Unfortunately we are unable to provide tracking since our map data only includes the Sierra Nevada. You can follow on the Garmin site.
Note: these times are based on inReach locations and are preliminary. We'll update with more accurate times when we receive them.
Congratulations to Jason Hardrath on setting the new Norman's 13 FKT in 74 hours and 24 minutes, nearly 9 hours faster than the previous FKT.
- 74h24m: South Lake Trailhead
- 72h00m: Bishop Pass
- 68h50m: summit of Thunderbolt Peak
- 67h10m: summit of Starlight Peak
- 66h20m: summit of North Palisade
- 65h10m: summit of Polemonium Peak
- 64h30m: summit of Mount Sill
- 58h15m: summit of Middle Palisade
- 54h00m: Mather Pass
- 53h10m: start from camp
- 50h50m: camp near at lake under Split Mountain
- 49h00m: summit of Split Mountain
- 41h35m: Pinchot Pass
- 34h30m: Glen Pass
- 30h00m: Forester Pass
- 27h40m: start from camp
- 23h15m: camp near Shepherd Pass
- 22h12m: summit of Mount Tyndall
- 18h31m: summit of Mount Williamson
- 11h27m: summit of Mount Russell
- 9h10m: summit of Mount Whitney
- 8h25m: summit of Mount Muir
- 3h20m: summit of Mount Langley
- 0h00m: started on time at 1:00am
We're excited to guest track another Sierra FKT: Jason Hardrath and Chris Gorney are attempting the “Norman's 13.” They plan to start around 1am on Wednesday, July 20th (updated).
From the FKT site description: “The route is the brain-child of Andy Gohlich. The idea is a continuous link up of the thirteen 14ers in the Sierra Nevada Range, similar to Nolan's 14 in Colorado's Sawatch Range.”
According to the first finisher, Ryan Tetz, this route is 107.5 miles and has 40,000+ vertical feet of climbing over mixed terrain: 60 miles on the JMT, miles-long stretches of talus, and 5th class technical cruxes in the Palisades.
They are aiming to finish in 71-76 hours. The current record is 83 hours and 18 minutes by Matt Zupan.
They are staged with caches in position and Ashly and Nathan will join them for portions. This will be the first "supported" style attempt of Norman's.
If everything goes well they will roll straight into CA 14ers by bike FKT attempt by riding from South Lake trailhead to White Mountain and then to Mount Shasta.
Watch their progress on the full size, interactive tracker. Note: they are borrowing Nathan's inReach.
Congratulations to Ashly Winchester for setting the new women's unsupported southbound JMT FKT: 5 days, 20 hours, and 4 minutes from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, and 6 days, 4 hours, and 20 minutes to Whitney Portal.
We were excited to be able to show her progress on our live tracker and thank her again for her support to the SPS 2022 effort.
Ashly has shown incredible consistency over the last couple of days as she made her way from LeConte Canyon to Guitar Lake. The Tracker breaks up the track if more than three hours elapses between inReach pings. Over the course of 44 hours and 70 miles¹ she never stopped for more than an hour or so.
¹ - the 55.67 mile figure shown in the image is a very rough estimate based on distances between inReach pings.
Watch her progress on the full size, interactive tracker.
Around 3:30am, after about 24.5 hours on the move, 113.5 hours and 173 miles into her effort, Ashly took what appeared to be a 30 minute break (catnap?) at the Rae Lakes on the climb up to Glen Pass.
Ashly has approximately 38 miles to the summit of Mount Whitney and an additional 11 to Whitney Portal and is still tracking ahead of record pace.
Watch her progress on the full size, interactive tracker.
Note: Ashly's long, continuous effort has revealed an issue with the tracker crashing on mobile devices. We've attempted to fix this, so if you were having trouble, please try again. Thank you.
Travis has been working through his remaining peaks in the north. Over the last three days he's ticked Mokelumne, Highland and Leavitt, and Black Hawk and Disaster. Today he's planning on finishing his last far northern peak, Stanislaus, before heading into the northern Yosemite backcountry for Piute, Volunteer, Pettit, and Tower.
After that he's planning to finish his remaining Yosemite area peaks over three days:
- Matterhorn, Whorl, Virginia, and Twin
- Dunderberg, Excelsior, and Warren
- Dana, Gibbs, and Koip
Follow along on the live tracker.
Around midnight, after more than 23 hours on the move, 86 hours and 135 miles into her effort, Ashly made camp in Le Conte Canyon.
88 miles to go. She is averaging ~38.5 miles per 24 hours which is still on record pace.
"This hurts. Alot. I'm digging deeper than I ever have."
Watch her progress on the full size, interactive tracker. Note: she is borrowing Nathan's inReach.
At 9:35pm, approximately 60 hours into her effort, Ashly sent a message of "100", indicating she had crossed the 100 mile mark.
100 miles down, 123 miles to go. She is averaging ~40 miles per 24 hours placing her about 12 miles ahead of record pace going into the night.
Earlier today she said, "today may have actually felt a little better than yesterday, I hope tomorrow is even better".
Watch her progress on the full size, interactive tracker. Note: she is borrowing Nathan's inReach.
As of 48 hours, Ashly has travelled 80.5 miles and climbed 21,000' vertical. After bouts of nausea and dealing with heat blisters, she had a sleep around 11:30pm at mile 70 of her journey.
After her rest she reported, "better this morning after dumping half a ramen packet in my mouth and guzzling some water."
Her split through 48 hours shows a significant slowing of her average pace from 45mi/day to 40mi/day, probably due to her longer sleep.
"Yesterday was rough with the heat blisters and electrolyte issues", she wrote. However, her spirits appear high as she closed with: "Today is a new day. I'm on the JMT. ALL HEART!"
Watch her progress on the full size, interactive tracker. Note: she is borrowing Nathan's inReach.
At 10pm, 36 hours into her effort, Ashly has covered approximately 67.4 miles with 17,370' vertical. Her 45mi/day pace puts her about 16.5 miles ahead of record pace.
In a message she describes having "some foot pain", "taping her feet", and that she is "struggling now".
In 2021, she had a permit and better training lead up - without catching Covid or injury - but got shut down by the California statewide fire closure mere days before she was to start.
Watch her progress on the full size, interactive tracker. Note: she is borrowing Nathan's inReach.
Ashly surpassed 45 miles and 12,600' gain at the 24hr mark for her JMT FKT attempt putting her approximately 11 miles ahead of record pace.
A general message sent out on tracker says "feeling good all things considered. Feet hurt. Soaking them in cold creek. Not sure I will be able to do 45 miles again. ALL HEART."
"ALL HEART" is written on her forearm as she hikes - acknowledging not everything has been right for the training and lead up for this dream effort - two bouts with Covid, injuries, last minute permit - but she is going to focus on the deep love and meaning she finds on this trail to sustain her through the lows.
"ALL HEART"
Watch her progress on the full size, interactive tracker. Note: she is borrowing Nathan's inReach.
Well, it’s done! After 138 days and 247 summits, I have completed the SPS list.
It has been an incredible and formative experience. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to fully express myself and my love for the mountains in a creative way. I was able to experience many of the best routes in the Sierra. Along the way, I have met many wonderful humans and have explored some wild, rugged, and beautiful terrain. I felt humbled and empowered, terrified and fearless, exhausted and elated.
I would encourage you to find what you love, what truly sets your soul afire, and do everything you can to do it as often as possible. Challenge yourself to do things that seem impossible. Regardless of the outcome, you will emerge as a new person, with expanded horizons and a new relationship with the universe.
Nathan adds from Instagram: "Headed back into the mountains for a week of decompression. Stay tuned for trip reports, photos and stoke when I return!"
Ron Bartell (SPS finisher #21 in 1982) writes to inform us that Nathan is not the youngest finisher of the SPS List. That honor belongs to Frannie Hoover, age 20, in 1983. Her brother, Nathan, finished at age 22 years 4 months in 1981.
Assuming there are no others, that would make Nathan the third youngest at 22 years 9 months.
Thanks to Ron for pointing this out and we are happy to hear any other comments or corrections at team@sps2022.com.
We've just received Nathan and Travis' pictures from their last couple of weeks (approximately 45 peaks worth) and will be working through posting them over the next few days.
Nathan took a rest day and is heading back into the Sierra for some relaxation by the side of a lake. And some mountain climbing.
Travis also took a rest day and is heading north today to resume his effort south of Lake Tahoe.
We're calling Nathan's time as 138 days, 14 hours, and 1 minute from Feb 20, 9:57am at the Mount Rose trailhead to Jul 9, 12:58am at the South Lake trailhead. He has submitted his time to the Fastest Known Time website.
The nüümü poyo (also known as the John Muir Trail) is a 213-mile trail that travels through the heart of the Sierra. The route was traditionally used by the indigenous people of the area as a trade route. Today, it is one of the most popular backpacking routes in the world.
Starting on the morning of July 10th, Ashly Winchester is attempting to set the women's solo and unsupported Fastest Known Time on this iconic trail.
We thank Ashly for her support to Nathan and Travis' effort (including a resupply delivery into Dusy Basin) and are excited to have her FKT attempt tracked here.
Go to the full size, interactive tracker. Note: she is borrowing Nathan's inReach.
Update: Ashly started at 10:04am.
After nearly 21 hours on the move and 7 peaks climbed today, Nathan has done it!
First to finish the list in a single season, youngest ever finisher (22), and, of course, fastest (for now!): approximately 138 days and 14 hours!
Based on the inReach, the clock stopped at roughly 12:58am on July 9, 2022. We'll refine that when we get the GPS watch data.
Correction: Nathan is not the youngest finisher.
More to come… check back soon!
After completing the southern Palisade Traverse, Nathan has now climbed 240 peaks, leaving just the 7 northern Palisade peaks to go. Even after their epic day yesterday, he and Travis intend to climb the remaining peaks in a single push tomorrow, Friday, July 8: Temple Crag, Gayley, Sill, North Palisade, Thunderbolt, Winchell, and Agassiz.
Nathan hopes to arrive on top of Agassiz somewhere around 7-9pm. Nathan would be stoked for company on the ascent (SE face) or summit of Agassiz. They'll be descending via Bishop Pass and South Lake at which time Nathan will officially stop his clock at approximately 138.5 days.
Keep up by watching the live tracker.
Update
They are on the move again and heading for the Birch Lake Trailhead.
Original Post
Nathan and Travis completed their traverse from Palisade Crest to The Thumb but found that their planned descent via Southfork Pass didn't go, at least in the dark. After being on the move for around 20 hours, they've decided to wait until morning and then head out via Birch Lake.
We are in contact via Travis' inReach. You can keep up-to-date by watching the live tracker.
Nathan has now climbed 235 peaks, leaving just 12 to go. He and Travis intend to climb the remaining peaks in two days:
- Wed, July 6. A five-peak, north-to-south traverse of the southern Palisades: Palisade Crest, Norman Clyde, Middle Palisade, Disappointment, and Thumb.
- Thurs, July 7. A seven-peak south-to-north traverse of the northern Palisades: Temple Crag, Gayley, Sill, North Palisade, Thunderbolt, Winchell, and Agassiz.
If all goes to plan on Thursday, Nathan hopes to arrive on top of Agassiz somewhere around 7-9pm. Nathan would be stoked for company on the ascent (SE face) or summit of Agassiz. They'll be descending via Bishop Pass and South Lake at which time Nathan will officially stop his clock at approximately 137.5 days.
Keep up by watching the live tracker.
Nathan and Travis have just entered the backcountry for a 13-day, 12-night, 41-peak (see edits) 12 day, 11 night, 36 peak odyssey. Assuming everything goes to plan, this is their itinerary:
- ✓ June 24, (1) Enter and Mount Lamarck
- ✓ June 25, (5) Goddard, Reinstein, Scylla, Charybdis, Black Giant
- ✓ June 26, (3) Hermit, Emerald, McGee
- ✓ June 27, (6) Evolution Traverse: Huxley, Fiske, Wallace, Haeckel, Darwin, Mendel. Note: Nathan and Travis are soloing in opposite directions. After this day, we'll remove the dual trackers.
- ✓ June 28, (1) Giraud. Resupply received from Ashly Winchester in Dusy Basin, thank you!
- ✓ June 29, (3) Devils Crags, Wheel, McDuffie
- ✓ June 30, (1) Observation
- ✓ July 1, (3) Split, Prater, Bolton Brown
- ✓ July 2, (3) Cardinal, Striped, Goodale
- ✓ July 3, (3) Ruskin, Marion, State
- ✓ July 4, (4) Arrow, Pyramid, Pinchot, Wynne
- ✓ July 5, (3) Perkins, Colosseum, Baxter and exit
On July 6, as a dayhike, they'll do a 5-peak southern Palisade traverse: Thumb, Disappointment, Middle Palisade, Norman Clyde, Palisade Crest.
For Nathan's finish on July 7, 137 days after starting, they'll do a seven peak northern Palisade traverse: Temple Crag, Gayley, Sill, North Palisade, Thunderbolt, Winchell, and Agassiz. They'll exit via Bishop Pass and South Lake before stopping Nathan's clock.
Nathan would be stoked for company on the ascent (SE face) or summit of Mount Agassiz. As we get closer, we'll update the site with more specific plans.
We'll be watching the live tracker and communicating via inReach and a couple of resupplies so we'll update the plans as needed.
Edits
- Swapped Goddard+4 with Hermit+2. They indicated before the trip that ideally they wouldn't do the two biggest days (Goddard and Evolution) back-to-back, so there's a good chance that Hermit+2 will be tomorrow and Evolution the day after.
- Swapped Hermit+2 and Evolution traverse. They sent a message confirming Hermit+2 happening before Evolution Traverse.
- Dual trackers have been removed.
- Thanks to Ashly for resupply!
- Southern Palisade traverse to be done as day hike after this trip. Swapped Cardinal+2 and Ruskin+2 days.
Congratulations to the team for setting the FKT in 84h 47m 07s.
Jason Hardrath, Vitaliy Musiyenko, and Ryan Tetz have teamed up to become the second team to complete "Convoluted Bliss" - a 69 mile route with 27,220 ft of elevation gain and 40 miles of technical ridge travel.
Prior to Vitaliy's "Goliath", Convoluted Bliss was the longest completed alpine ridge traverse by distance in the United States (longer than WURL in Utah). It traverses around the entire Merced Lake Drainage in southeastern Yosemite, climbing a total of 51 peaks. It was first climbed over 8 days in August 2017. While small sections of the route require low 5th class scrambling, most of it involves class 2 boulder hopping.
Detailed route information by the first ascent team can be found on the Peaks for Freaks page.
Jason, Vitaliy, and Ryan have teamed up to not only to be the second team to complete it, but to climb all 51 peaks of this traverse in under 5 days.
These guys have been very supportive of Nathan and Travis's SPS FKT effort and we're excited to share our live tracking tech while they're on route.
Go to the full-size, interactive, Convoluted Bliss live tracker. The tracker has been disabled.
Congratulations to Travis for passing the halfway mark (124/247) on his ascent of Dicks Peaks.
In 65 days, Travis has covered just over 1000 miles and ascended 390,000 vertical feet.
Compared to Nathan at his halfway mark, he's traveled about 55 miles more and ascended about 25,000 vertical feet less. He's 17 days ahead of Nathan's time.
Nathan, meanwhile, has reached 197/247 summits, leaving just 50 peaks remaining!
Nathan is resting today while Travis continues bagging peaks in the north. They will be meeting in Bishop in a few days to start a huge backpacking trip.
Onward!
Travis is heading to the far north to climb peaks that Nathan did in February and March while Nathan finishes off a few easy peaks around Sonora Pass. We've added a second live tracker for while they are apart.
The mini-trackers are on the main landing page and full screen trackers are also available: Nathan's tracker and Travis' tracker.
Nathan Day 110, Travis Day 54
Nathan and Travis have a rest day today as they drive to Yosemite. They'll be in the park for the next week where they hope to climb 16 peaks in 7 days. Say "Hello" if you see them out there!
Nathan Day 92, Travis Day 36
Nathan and Travis are taking a well deserved rest day as they transit toward Mineral King. We hope to get a bunch of pictures and stories from their Great Western Divide trip and will post them as soon as possible.
Nathan and Travis climbed Kennedy Mountain and Mount Harrington on Tuesday, May 17 and Goat Mountain on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they haven't connected to the internet to provide any pictures or data.
Today, Thursday, May 18, they are scheduled to head deep into Kings Canyon National Park to visit the Great Western Divide and arguably the most remote peaks on the list: Picket Guard Peak and Kern Point.
While they're out for the next few days, we'll post the remaining pictures that they've provided so far.
As I prepare to transition to foot travel, ending the first phase of the SPS project, I am happy to say that I have a very successful and enjoyable two months of ski mountaineering to look back on. The snow conditions have varied wildly, from knee deep powder to glazed blue ice to horribly deep, 3D sastrugi. Temperatures have displayed similar extremes, ranging from stiflingly hot as the Sierra sun beats down, bright white snow turning the world into a convection oven, to bitter cold with howling winds threatening to blow me right off the ridge tops.
I’ve seen painfully beautiful sunrises, the soaring granite walls of the Eastern Sierra escarpment exploding into an awe inspiring display of alpenglow. This beauty is rivaled only by the flaming beams of sunset, shadows of peaks stretching long across the valley, the classic “Sierra Wave” lenticular clouds reflecting the setting sun’s final rays. I have enjoyed the blissful solitude and quiet of the mountains in winter, reveling in the simple joy of moving through a clean, unblemished landscape, leaving behind the sweeping curves of ski tracks in soft snow.
Now, the season is changing. Creeks are swollen with spring runoff, patches of alpine meadows seeing the sun for the first time in half a year. The Sierra are waking up, and with each new day I see more wildlife, hear birds chirping with growing vigor. The morning breeze sometimes carries a pleasant hint of warmth. Thus begins a wondrous period of growth and life in the mountains. I am eager to continue my journey, now with Travis, drawing strength from the challenge of the mountains and from the beauty of springtime.
The current plan is for Nathan to hang up the skis after he returns from his current ski tour. Then, on Monday, April 18, Travis will start his clock and the two of them will do the bulk of the list together.
Now and in the coming days, you'll notice some changes to the website to accommodate Nathan and Travis having separate timers, stats, etc.
Day 53, Rest day
Nathan took the day off today to do some planning with Travis (more news on that coming shortly!) and prepare for a multiday trip into the Mount Royce region.
Day 51, Rest/weather day
Nathan will be taking today off to sit out some poor weather.
Now's a good time to catch up on the Clyde Minaret trip report or to learn a little more about the 3D mapping on this site.
Check back soon for more trip reports.
Day 48, Rest day
Nathan will be taking today off after his Ritter Range ski tour.
The Iron Mountain trip report is now up!
Update: The McGee Creek ski tour trip report is now up!
We'll be working through the rest of the Ritter Range trip reports and photos from this tour over the next couple of days.
Day 43, Rest day
Nathan will be taking today off. Assuming conditions are good, he's looking at a three peak linkup tomorrow.
Now would be a great time to read the Bloody Mountain trip report. The Mount Baldwin report will be coming up soon as well.
Day 37, Rest/weather day
Nathan will be taking the day off to rest and wait out a short storm after his big day climbing Pilot Knob and Mount Goethe.
Now's the perfect time to read his new report from Diamond Peak and Black Mountain. And we'll try to post reports from Emerson, Pilot Knob, and Goethe ASAP.
Prompted by watch and inReach battery failures at the end of his ski out today, we added a brief section to the About page to explain how we calculate the "Latest Stats". Bear with us as Nathan tunes his gear and settings to ensure battery longevity.
Day 32, Rest day
After knocking off several ski descents in the Onion Valley area, Nathan is taking a rest day. We'll get his report from Dragon Peak and Mount Gould up later today. If you haven't already, be sure to check out his reports from the last couple of days: Kearsarge Peak and Independence Peak and University Peak.
Day 28, Rest day
As Nathan takes a rest day, you can catch up on yesterday's ski descent of Birch Mountain or read about Travis' recent Grand Canyon FKT.
Day 22, Rest and weather
After starting up toward Bloody Mountain, Nathan thought it would be better to take the rest given 100+ mph winds forecast in the Sierra.
Nathan's trip report from Dunderberg and Excelsior is up now and we'll try to get the Matterhorn one up as well today. And the Matterhorn trip report is now up.
Hello friends! I am currently 19 days and 21 peaks into the SPS 2022 effort. So far, it has been a wonderful success, with some excellent days in the mountains and even some great powder skiing!
I began the effort in the Lake Tahoe area. My little sister Elsa joined me for the first two peaks, Mt. Rose and Castle Peak. She was my very first rock climbing partner and is one of my favorite adventure buddies, and we had a great time enjoying the stormy weather together. After Elsa left, I went on a tour around the region, with successful summits of all the SPS peaks from Highland Peak north. Highlights included skiing powder on Dicks Peak that was so good I took a couple “bonus laps”, a lovely summit siesta on Freel Peak as I waited for the snow to soften for better skiing conditions, and dropping in on a rarely skied descent on the west face of Highland.
After finishing the Tahoe area peaks, I headed down to the Eastside, one of my favorite places on earth. It is home to massive lines that rise thousands of feet straight up from the desert to high alpine summits. I hoped to start with a big linkup near Bridgeport and simply work my way south. Unfortunately, a storm with significant wind, creating potentially dangerous wind slabs, forced a change of plans. I picked some more moderate routes that avoided the potential instabilities, and successfully skied off the summits of Warren, Koip, and San Joaquin. After a very dry January and February, snow conditions in the Sierra are very challenging, with lots of bare aspects, exposed rocks, wind-sculpted snow, and very firm surface conditions. However, I was still able to make ski descents of the Dana Couloir and Coke Chute, after a big day summiting both Dana and Gibbs. I’ve been enjoying some extra rest and recovery due to very high winds forecasted in the area today, but am excited to be back at it bright and early tomorrow morning with a big linkup in the Sawtooth Range!
Edit: this post and many before had days misnumbered due to not accounting for a rest day. They have been corrected. The timer in the upper right has the correct running time.
The forecast changed for the worse (up to 90mph ridgetop gusts) so Nathan will be taking Thu, March 10 off. Nathan's looking forward to his big day tomorrow.
Nathan will be taking Wed, March 9 as a rest day.
Update: we couldn't get the schedule to work out for the IG Live so we'll try again soon. Be sure to watch the live map tomorrow, Nathan's looking at a big day...
We hope to have Nathan do an Instagram Live with Jason Hardrath in the next couple of hours. We'll update with the exact time once scheduled.
If you haven't already, be sure to read about Nathan's recent mini-epic on Koip or challenging Mount Dana ski descents.
Update: The writeup for Mokelumne Peak is below.
Update: The writeup for Highland Peak is below.
Nathan will be taking Fri, March 4 off for some well-deserved rest as a storm blows through the Sierra. Check back soon, though, as he promises to get us up-to-date with writeups for his ascents of Mokelumne Peak and Highland Peak.
Nathan will be taking a rest day today. The last couple of days have been pretty demanding in the soft snow and he wants to keep a long-term sustainable pace until at least June. Hope for better skinning conditions tomorrow.
Be sure to read his write up from yesterday's trip up Lola and English.
We've made several changes to the website to address a number of usability issues around mobile and tablet usage. In particular, the 3D maps and activities now have pinch-zoom and rotate and several controls that were too big or improperly positioned have been fixed.
Please let us know if you run into any issues or if you have any suggestions: team@sps2022.com.
Travis and Nathan went for a training outing up Laurel Mountain and skied down the Pinner Couloir.
Travis took a quick walk around Convict Lake to test a variety of the tech they'll be using on their adventure. Specifically:
- Garmin inReach integration. We'll be tracking their inReach every 10 minutes the whole time (batteries permitting).
- Coros Vertix 2 GPS data and Strava integration.
- Photo download and georegistration.
View the activity here.