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Roger wrote:Does a sea to summit begin at the Coastline or does one travel up the many rivers to a point where boat travel ends then go on foot?

Is a sea to summit by fair means one that follows a road or by following the many paths of local tribes?

Does one carry all gear? Should a porter be used? Summit solo? Bring your own food or eat with villagers?

Are you going to paddle a kayak or canoe up the rivers? Or take a powered boat?
Are you going to ride a bike on the road, or walk, or take the bus?
Are you going to ride a bike on the local paths? Ride a pack animal? Walk, with a pack animal to carry your stuff? You could take a whole train of mules...you could ride a camel. If you are alone, riding a horse, is that "solo?" I honestly don't know.

I am a mere hiker, who aspires to someday climb "real mountains." But I don't even know what that means. I climbed six 14,000-foot peaks this summer. Are those real enough? Everything about CLIMBING IS SUBJECTIVE.

The point is that somebody is always going to second-guess your "style" or "ethics," and the greater your achievement, the greater the scorn from your peers. Climbing is inherently competitive for many people (obviously not all), but the competition is indirect. As many great climbers will admit, part of the competition merely has to do with storytelling, and when appropriate, shooting down the stories of others. Unfortunately, this leads to people being harsh and judgmental in instances where it is not at all warranted.

It sounds like you have an ambitious goal. Don't worry what anyone else thinks about your accomplishment, just plan it how YOU want to do it, and go try. If you make your plans based around the way others will judge your accomplishment, then your trip is already diminished, before you even begin...you will be sure to find yourself doing something, that you would prefer not to be doing...



edited for grammar

This sounds like a fascinating way to do an expedition. Any suggestions for some really epic and exciting (but attainable in terms of packing your supplies, etc) sea to summit expeditions?

I like the idea of a bicycle with your gear. Can you buy food en route?

How about the 7 summits, sea to sky, that would be an epic accomplishment! Hahaha.

watch our little movie
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/vide ... 5874490298

Here is a website that covers it
http://www.angelfire.com/or/petermarsh/sts.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/or/petermarsh/stsclimbs.htm

The western slope of Mount Fuji goes right down to the Pacific, so climb it on foot from there. That will be 3774 m (12,528 ft.).

Mauna Kea (13,800'/4200m) on the Big Island of Hawaii would be a relatively easy 4000m+ mountain to do from ocean to summit.

Of course to really do it properly you have to start from the base of the mountain at -12,000' on the sea floor, in which case you'd not only be climbing from ocean (floor) to summit, you'd also be summiting the highest mountain in the world, as measured from base to summit. Finding someone to rent you a DSV (Alvin or MIR would work) might be expensive, but not beyond the resources of many seven summiters I'd guess

As I say, set your own path and be honest about what you've done.

I've always thought that taking a fishing boat in, and skking and hiking into peaks in the Mt Fairweather area of British Columbia, Canada would be fun.

Check the TRs for Mount Olympus (Washington), I believe some SPers have done that from the ocean.

In the Goran Kroop film in the Banff series he is clearly shown solo climbing and bypassing the route constructed through the icefall . The whole ascheivement and particularly his deciscion within sight of the summit to stick to his turn-around time plan on his first attempt was inspiring .

Roger wrote:I would like to get readers feedback on what it is believed constitutes a true Sea Level to Summit expedition.

Easy answer, Mount Fairweather on the Alaska/BC border. The mountain is accessed from Glacier Bay (14 miles east) and has seen very few ascents.

there was a cat that rode his bike from Badwater in Death Valley to Denali and summited - thats a bit of gain -

TLP wrote:I read a book a few weeks back about this. It was called A Most Hostile Mountain by Jon Waterman. He sailed to Alaska from Seattle, and then attempted Mt. St. Elias. It's probably the ultimate sea to summit climb.

St. Elias is the greatest vertical rise in such a proximity to the ocean in the world... and has never been soloed in winter. Anyone need a new challenge?

Easy answer, Mount Fairweather on the Alaska/BC border. The mountain is accessed from Glacier Bay (14 miles east) and has seen very few ascents.

14 miles as the crow flies!!! That's a serious 30+ mile trek by foot due to the fact that air traffic is illegal within the park. Better plan for up to 30 days to complete this sea to summit.

Roger wrote:I would like to get readers feedback on what it is believed constitutes a true Sea Level to Summit expedition.

Should it be Solo, guided, with porters and so on?

If a road exists should this be considered acceptable to hike along the road near to a peak?

How should Sea Level to Summit success be measured

What evidence is required?

AS numerous people have attested to having done sea to summit there must be some sort of guidline to measure the accuracy of any claims.

Let me hear all your thoughts, ideas and feedback

Cheers

Roger

Hi, I did a sea to summit on my bike last year. I parked at a public beach near the sand and under some palm trees. I rode up the road and into El Yunque National Forest and up the forest access road up to about 2100 ft then up the last 1300 ft up a very steep and slick closed road with grades up to around 27% to the 3400 summit. It can be done walking up to around 1700 ft and then climbing up a trail all the way to the top. Total distance is about 20km and of those 14-15km is uphill.

I would have loved for the climb to be 100% trail but either way its tough.

I know I know, 3400 ft is kid's stuff compared to the huge Alaskan Mountains but beleive me, its tough in the oppresingly humid tropical heat oven.

Besides Alaska I think Hawaii has the highest sea to summit posibilities, more like beach to summit

sneakyracer wrote:Besides Alaska I think Hawaii has the highest sea to summit posibilities, more like beach to summit

Not just Hawaii, most volcanic islands anywhere in the world do also provide short sea to summit routes.

The Andes have plenty of possibilities, where you can easily start on the Pacific shore and climb 6'000ers, some of them higher than Denali in Alaska, with a relatively short access.

Another interesting option is to start at -154m in the Turpan Depression (second lowerst point on Earth after the Dead Sea), and climb peaks in the Tien Shan or the Kunlun Shan. OK, Turpan is one of the most continental place on earth, but still below sea level.