{"id":7010,"date":"2020-08-06T07:19:33","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T14:19:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christofteuscher.com\/aagaa\/?p=7010"},"modified":"2022-12-31T12:58:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-31T20:58:13","slug":"news-3rd-eagles-33-peak-bagging-fkt-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christofteuscher.com\/aagaa\/news-3rd-eagles-33-peak-bagging-fkt-attempt\/","title":{"rendered":"NEWS: 3rd Eagle\u2019s 33 Peak Bagging FKT Attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\r\n Update<\/span>: On Wed, Aug 12, 2020, I wrapped up my entire Eagle’s 33 Challenge<\/a> route in 110h 17min (4d 14h 17min), a lot slower than my spreadsheets predicted. The execution wasn’t 100% perfect either, with a rather bittersweet ending: I ate my last CLIF Bar 8h before I reached the car and due to imperfect homework and a lack of appropriate climbing gear, I was unable to fully traverse the last 300 horizontal feet of the ridge to the very last (33rd) summit (Needle Point, 9,018ft). Stay tuned for a detailed report and movie in the near or far future.\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\nT<\/span>he Eagle’s 33 Challenge<\/a> consists of summiting all 33 peaks<\/a> over 9,000ft (2743m) with at least 300ft (91m) of prominence in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness<\/a> (aka Wallowa Mountains) in a single push. And did I mention that there’s no trail for this?\n
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Bird’s-eye perspective of the area with the 33 peaks over 9,000ft. For a complete list of the peaks, see Eagle’s 33 Challenge<\/a>. In my 1st<\/sup> attempt (2018)<\/a>, I managed to climb 14, in my 2nd<\/sup> (2019)<\/a>, 31 peaks.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although I was very<\/em> certain after my 2nd<\/sup> attempt in 2019<\/a> that I would never ever attempt this challenge again (see movie<\/a>), I will make a 3rd<\/sup> solo and self-supported attempt at this challenge on Sat, Aug 8, 2020. The start is exactly a year after my 2nd<\/sup> attempt<\/a>. I’m not sure what kind of omen that is.<\/p>\n

“Never say ‘no’ to adventures.”
\n\u2015\u00a0Ian Fleming<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The 1st<\/sup> attempt in 2018<\/a> did not go well (14 peaks in 51h42min), and neither did the 2nd<\/sup> attempt in 2019<\/a>. In 2019, it took me 85h46min to climb 31 peaks (93.8mi, 50,784ft of EG). Clearly, more homework (and also better weather) was needed.<\/p>\n

[pullquote]While I might be a little wiser now, I’m also a year older and weaker.[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

I heard the call clear and loudly: more time was thus spent to further optimize the route and to climb peaks individually. My tentative new route for this 3rd<\/sup> attempt is slightly over 100 miles long (probably a lot longer in reality) with about 53,000 feet of elevation gain. Nothing too crazy. While I might be a little wiser now, I’m also a year older and weaker.<\/p>\n

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\r\n For comparison: Nolan’s 14 routes<\/a> are generally shorter than 100 miles and add up to about 44,000ft of elevation gain; the famous Bob Graham Round<\/a> in the English Lake District has 42 peaks and the distance is somewhere around 70mi with about 30,000ft of gain. Also, compared to the Nolan’s 14<\/a>\u00a0or the Sangre de Cristo Traverse<\/a>, there is no obvious and easy way to link up all 33 Eagle Cap Wilderness peaks.\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\n

For your entertainment, here’s the movie of the 2nd<\/sup> attempt:<\/p>\n