Anyone who climbs a mountain over 14,000 feet has a certain super human quality about them. Being able to climb 58 of them in less than 10 days, now that is something else.
Stay at home father of four and mountaineering superstar Andrew Hamilton touched all 58 of Colorado’s peaks over 14,000 feet in nine days 21 hours and 51 minutes, eclipsing all previous speed records.
On a website dedicated to Colorado’s peaks at 14ers.com, viewers who followed Hamilton’s course in July through GPS praised his efforts. One reader commented, “History is in the making. This is so exciting.”
“This is an amazing feat,” wrote another. “I can’t even imagine doing this on any level. I do wonder, how does Andrew even go on a “normal” hike after this? I bet his family are great hikers but how do they keep up?”
Between peaks, Hamilton had assistance from a dedicated group of supporters who helped transport him to trail heads and let him get some rest. He reportedly only rested during drives and for three years before one of the climbs. One of his supporters, wife Natalie could hardly contain how proud she was.
“Having a goal and wanting it and succeeding in doing it. It’s like a dream come true,” she told Denver 9 News.
Hamilton crossed the imaginary finishing line descending below is beginning altitude at 2:21 am. Last year he attempted to break the record also, but was set back by injury. The previous record at more than 10 days was set by Teddy Keizer in 2000.
“You have to have a certain amount of intensity to be able to keep going when things are really rough and it’s two in the morning and you are on some vertical cliff with 500 feet of exposure and there are 20 mile-per-hour winds and you are all by yourself and you are fatigued,” Keizer told the Denver Post.
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