SavageLlama
06-21-2004, 09:58
Saw this article from AP...
Man to try again on speed hiking record
June 18, 2004
06:22 pm
Associated Press Newswires (javascript:NewWindow( 'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=aprs');void(0);)
(c) 2004. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
JAY, Vt. (AP) - Ted E. Keizer is trying again: Next week he will attempt to better the speed record for hiking the 273-mile Long Trail, a mark of four days, 15 hours and 19 minutes established four years ago by Connecticut's Ed Kostak.
"This is all about fun and adventure and being with friends," Keizer said. "It's not about a crazy mania. It's about pushing the limits. Definitely, it's an extreme sport, but it's not meant to be some sort of obsession."
Keizer and his support crew of friends and family -- each sporting a canine alias and collectively known as "the Dog Team" -- swung and missed at the Long Trail record last summer. A series of pitfalls combined to sabotage the attempt and leave Keizer hallucinating and babbling incoherently 17 miles shy of the Massachusetts state line.
"We had an enormous amount of unfortunate circumstances, many unforeseeable," Keizer said. "It was pretty much a disaster."
A standing front that baffled even the Weather Channel's anchormen soaked the state during the entire week of the attempt. The phones went out at one of the team's base camps, cutting off communication between support crews, and the main support van broke down. An expedition meticulously planned down to the last minute, mile, pound and calorie unraveled in the August rain.
"In the end, during the Long Trail Record Challenge, I did not have support crew in the backcountry where I was expecting them in nine separate locations," Keizer wrote in "Descending into the Maelstrom," a essay recounting last summer's failed attempt. "It would be better not to have scheduled re-provision and just take a bit more weight to cover the distance without assistance. However, when one is trying to break records, you trim everything possible to push the limits.
"It is the nature of the game. It's not everyone's game. In fact, it is very few people's game; but it is my game."
Keizer owns speed-hiking records around the country. He climbed the 46 Adirondack "High Peaks" in three days, 18 hours and 14 minutes. He climbed all 55 peaks over 14,000 feet in Colorado in 10 days, 20 hours and 26 minutes. Last June, he covered 303 miles and 40 peaks over 6,000 feet in the Southern Appalachians in just under five days.
He funds his record-attempts by working all winter as a proofreader for Houghton Mifflin, literally doing the math in high-school textbooks before they are published. He also enjoys some sponsorship this summer from outdoor gearmakers GoLite and High Gear.
Keizer will set out from the trail's northern terminus on the U.S.-Canada border in Jay at 4:15 a.m. Wednesday hoping to average about 60 miles a day. He will hike almost continuously, mostly alone, although members of his support team will hike with him at night. A rolling command center -- a motorhome the team has nicknamed "The Kennel" -- will link up with him at many of the 30 road crossings along the way to supply food, water and changes of shoes and clothes.
Keizer's aim is to reach the southern terminus in Pownal at 7:33 p.m. Sunday -- one minute ahead of Kostak's record pace.
"You never know," Keizer said of his chances. "This is, quite possibly, the fastest, multi-day, mountainous-trail speed record in the world. Even if everything's perfect, you can't expect anything. I feel if things go our way this year, we have a good shot at it."
Man to try again on speed hiking record
June 18, 2004
06:22 pm
Associated Press Newswires (javascript:NewWindow( 'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=aprs');void(0);)
(c) 2004. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
JAY, Vt. (AP) - Ted E. Keizer is trying again: Next week he will attempt to better the speed record for hiking the 273-mile Long Trail, a mark of four days, 15 hours and 19 minutes established four years ago by Connecticut's Ed Kostak.
"This is all about fun and adventure and being with friends," Keizer said. "It's not about a crazy mania. It's about pushing the limits. Definitely, it's an extreme sport, but it's not meant to be some sort of obsession."
Keizer and his support crew of friends and family -- each sporting a canine alias and collectively known as "the Dog Team" -- swung and missed at the Long Trail record last summer. A series of pitfalls combined to sabotage the attempt and leave Keizer hallucinating and babbling incoherently 17 miles shy of the Massachusetts state line.
"We had an enormous amount of unfortunate circumstances, many unforeseeable," Keizer said. "It was pretty much a disaster."
A standing front that baffled even the Weather Channel's anchormen soaked the state during the entire week of the attempt. The phones went out at one of the team's base camps, cutting off communication between support crews, and the main support van broke down. An expedition meticulously planned down to the last minute, mile, pound and calorie unraveled in the August rain.
"In the end, during the Long Trail Record Challenge, I did not have support crew in the backcountry where I was expecting them in nine separate locations," Keizer wrote in "Descending into the Maelstrom," a essay recounting last summer's failed attempt. "It would be better not to have scheduled re-provision and just take a bit more weight to cover the distance without assistance. However, when one is trying to break records, you trim everything possible to push the limits.
"It is the nature of the game. It's not everyone's game. In fact, it is very few people's game; but it is my game."
Keizer owns speed-hiking records around the country. He climbed the 46 Adirondack "High Peaks" in three days, 18 hours and 14 minutes. He climbed all 55 peaks over 14,000 feet in Colorado in 10 days, 20 hours and 26 minutes. Last June, he covered 303 miles and 40 peaks over 6,000 feet in the Southern Appalachians in just under five days.
He funds his record-attempts by working all winter as a proofreader for Houghton Mifflin, literally doing the math in high-school textbooks before they are published. He also enjoys some sponsorship this summer from outdoor gearmakers GoLite and High Gear.
Keizer will set out from the trail's northern terminus on the U.S.-Canada border in Jay at 4:15 a.m. Wednesday hoping to average about 60 miles a day. He will hike almost continuously, mostly alone, although members of his support team will hike with him at night. A rolling command center -- a motorhome the team has nicknamed "The Kennel" -- will link up with him at many of the 30 road crossings along the way to supply food, water and changes of shoes and clothes.
Keizer's aim is to reach the southern terminus in Pownal at 7:33 p.m. Sunday -- one minute ahead of Kostak's record pace.
"You never know," Keizer said of his chances. "This is, quite possibly, the fastest, multi-day, mountainous-trail speed record in the world. Even if everything's perfect, you can't expect anything. I feel if things go our way this year, we have a good shot at it."