Mt. Defiance is the highest peak in the Columbia River Gorge. Two trails reach the 4,960 feet summit from the Starvation Creek trailhead. The round trip is roughly 11mi with close to 5,000ft of elevation gain. It is commonly considered the most difficult day hike in the region. For comparison, climbing Mt. Hood from Timberline is about 6.7mi round trip with 5,600ft of elevation gain.
A decent mountain runner with fresh legs can do the the round trip in less than 3 hours. Elite ultra endurance runner Max King and winner of the 2014 100km world championships needs a bit more than 1h to reach the summit. According to a 2013 article, Dan Howitt holds the Fastest Known Time (FKT) for the round-trip with 2:55. No official FKT is listed, however. Hikers typically need 5-7h for the round-trip.
Now, a legitimate, obvious, and beautifully simple question is:
“How many climbs can one do in 24h?”
That’s precisely what I want to find out.
This Saturday, Jan 24, 2015, starting at around 7am, I will attempt as many climbs as possible within a 24h window. I expect this challenge to be immensely demanding, both physically and mentally. Am I ready for this? Hell no. This is way out of my comfort zone. And it’s not the kind of challenge you are ever really going to be ready for anyway.
So, how many climbs do you think I will be able to do in 24h? One climb = Starvation Creek trailhead to summit and back to the trailhead = 11mi/5,000ft EG. Cast your vote:
This poll is no longer accepting votes
I’ll be carrying a SPOT transponder in case you are interested to follow me: http://bit.ly/24hDefiance. Summit messages will also be posted automatically on my Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ChrisTeuscher. Follow me if you want to receive updates.
I like to believe that I have a plan A and a plan B. If that is not enough, the alphabet has 24 more letters.
“A man has got to know his limitations, so that he can move beyond them.” – Dean Karnazes