SummitPost.org

Reviewing a Sierra Club website, it looks like 68 folks have completed climbing this 248 peak list. So, I had some questions related to this goal or accomplishment.
What is the longest time to complete the list start to finish?
What is the shortest time to complete the list?
What is the youngest age to complete the list?
What is the oldest age to complete the list?
How many folks are currently pursuing this goal?
How many folks are currently pursuing this goal as day hikes?

Thanks,
Scott

ocmousepad wrote:How many folks are currently pursuing this goal?
How many folks are currently pursuing this goal as day hikes?

Thanks,
Scott

Hundreds are pursuing it, just some more actively than others. I was exploring 10 to 15 a year, but the child-rearing phase of my life has kicked in, so this is a goal to picked up later. I do still peruse the list and maps; can't help it.

As day hikes, Bob Burd and Matthew Holliman have already completed it. Daria and a few others (Rick Kent, I presume) are also after this. I expect that now that Bob and Matthew have proven it possible, we'll see more of these.

ocmousepad wrote:Reviewing a Sierra Club website, it looks like 68 folks have completed climbing this 248 peak list. So, I had some questions related to this goal or accomplishment.
What is the longest time to complete the list start to finish?
What is the shortest time to complete the list?
What is the youngest age to complete the list?
What is the oldest age to complete the list?
How many folks are currently pursuing this goal?
How many folks are currently pursuing this goal as day hikes?

Thanks,
Scott

Doug Mantle probably has the shortest time on one of his laps, something like three years. If you only want shortest time for first effort, that might be Matthew with something like 6 years. Longest? That one doesn't seem too interesting because someone could have climbed Half Dome in their youth and not got around to seriously hiking the list until decades later. Scott Sullivan tells me there were a couple of guys that finished in their 70s. The youngest? Dunno, but probably not under 30yrs. The only other person I know seriously pursuing the dayhike effort is Bob Sumner - he has about 50 left to go.

Which peak has the longest approach in summer and has it been ascended in winter ?

There will be one more person added to the list in early summer. A friend of mine has 2 peaks left to complete the list.

For sure more than 68 folks have completed this peak list, just maybe not affiliated with Sierra Club.
In case anyone is interested in looking at the Sierra Club SPS list it can be found at
http://angeles.sierraclub.org/sps/spscomp1.htm

Palisades79,
Bob lists over 20 day hikes that lasted over 18 hours to complete on his website. Sounds intimidating me! I need a more modest goal of maybe 10 or 15 shorter distance, lower class SPS peaks per year. I retired a year ago at 61, but we will see how my body holds up with this type of goal. Glad to hear in a post here that a few guys in their 70's completed the list. We'll see.

Doug Mantle has finished the list at least six times
http://angeles.sierraclub.org/sps/spscomp3_4_5_6.htm

I read that he has now completed the list seven times as well as the Seven Summits (continental)

Cy,
Yes, the Doug Mantle accomplishment of completing the SPS list seven times is a bit hard to comprehend. That sounds like a record that will not be broken. Both Mantle's accomplishment and Bob Burd's day hiking the SPS list bring up an interesting question. Are there limits to goal setting through physical exercise? At one time the four minute mile run was thought to be a barrier, but Roger Bannister and followers proved otherwise.

I once read a powerful quote by British sportswriter Brian Glanville:

The Importance of Athletics
They demonstrate the scope of human possibility,
which is unlimited.
The inconceivable is conceived,
and then it is accomplished.

Cy Kaicener wrote:Doug Mantle has finished the list at least six times
http://angeles.sierraclub.org/sps/spscomp3_4_5_6.htm

I read that he has now completed the list seven times as well as the Seven Summits (continental)

I was lucky enough to hike with Doug this past October (just by chance) and he was also trying to be the first to climb the high points on all the major islands of the world. Some one had just beaten him to that but I think he accomplished that as well.

As you look down the Sierra Club's list of SPS finishers mentioned in a previous post; you see some familiar names out of Sierra climbing history. Names like Andy Smatko, Gordon MacLeod, Barbara Lilly, Doug Mantle, etc. Not to be a Sierra Club apologist, but they do have a cool page at their website which provides short background sketch and pictures of these leaders. Cool if you like history! See it at: http://angeles.sierraclub.org/about/greatleaders.asp

I was curious about the lowest climbing class route for the 248 peaks. Looking at Sierra Club class info this is what I found:
Class 1 route on 52 peaks (21%), class 2 route on 133 peaks (53%), class 3 route on 40 peaks (16%), class 4 route on 19 peaks (8%), and class 5 route on 4 peaks (2%). When summit block had a higher class than the peak class, I used summit block class to arrive at these statistics. I didn 't see any distance or elevation gain data at this website. That is obviously important too. Bob B. has this type of info in his trail reports, but many times he climbs multiple peaks in a day.

ocmousepad wrote:I was curious about the lowest climbing class route for the 248 peaks.

From a technical standpoint, those with trails to the summit would have the lowest rating - Whitney, Dana, Half Dome, Alta, Rose, Sierra Buttes and maybe a few others. If you're wondering about the easiest, it's probably Lamont Peak - less than two miles one way and not quite 2,000ft of gain. A few other easy ones that come to mind are Dana and Bloody. Mt. Lola could be the easiest of all since you can ride a snowmobile to the top during winter or spring.

You can take the lift most of the way to Granite Chief.

Bob,
Thanks for mentioning Rose and Sierra Buttes; I need to check out the Northern Sierra someday. Also, Lamont Peak looks to be about my speed. I was a little surprised that 90 percent of the SPS peaks have a class 3 or less route on them. But I guess it makes sense given that most peaks have many routes on them. One thing I like about the SPS list is the representation of many areas throughout the Sierra Nevada mountain range. For SC warmup this summer I am considering three days to do Warren, Vogelsang, and Gibbs. We'll see.