JMT speed record attempt

[Michael Popov]

Ouch.

[Reinhold Metzger]

<"Reiny, you are a riot">

Sarah, you are the only girl besides "CATRA" to ever call me Reiny.

CATRA and I met on a moonlit summer night on top of Mount Whitney, in the summer of 2004.
I was sleeping in the Whitney Hut, on the eve of my "Sub Five Unsupported JMT" attempt and CATRA had just completed the first half of her JMT yo-yo, when she burst into the hut and into my life.
We both were lonly and needed each other…but soon she was gone and I was left there all alone.
Then shortly after midnight I was speeding down the JMT on shaky knees with CATRA on my mind.
Needless to say, I was unsuccessful in my sub-five attempt
and finished in 5 days, 7 hrs, 45 minutes.

JMT Reinhold
Still dreaming about CATRA.

[Reinhold Metzger]

RATS!!!……I woke up this morning and realized I just turned 69…..BUMMER!!!

Boy, that's getting up there in age…suddenly I feel old.
I guess that means my window of opportunit for a
"Unsupported Sub-Five JMT" is closing fast.

My wife is shouting…"THAT WINDOW SLAMMED SHUT LONG AGO.
Yeahh…Well…we'll see…but I tend to agree with her that at age 69 I am, perhaps, getting a little old for this extreme stuff.

Perhaps I should, instead, hang around the Sr. Center and play bridge and lawn bowl.
Yes,….I think that is what I will do.

JMT Reinhold
Your lawn bowling trail buddy

[Aaron Sorensen]

Oh come on Reinhold.
69 should be your favorite age?

[mark henley]

69 isn't old anymore …. when you get to 89 you may have to look at supported trips instead of unsupported.

As they say, It's not the years, it's the miles. That is, as long as you lube and change the oil regularly.

[Aaron Sorensen]

There is going to be a time soon, and was supposed to be Kilian this year, when some super Ultra Runner comes along and takes the JMT Record down well below 3 days.

Since that day has happened yet, there is still a great potential to go after the Supported record.
In order to make this happen, there may be one last group effort.

While going Unsupported means carrying 15-20 pounds, it is not the option to get the fastest speed on the trail.

So the plan is to have 4 points along the trail that will act as a "HUB" for us.
We get there, pick up the next day’s food and have a hot meal. We'll also be able to change socks and have access to a blister kit and at best be able to pick up a rain jacket.

So we only have to have one day of food at a time and have the ability to sleep "if you want" or at least take a quick nap at a hub.

We will carry our own sleeping bag the whole time, or at least at best have 2 people at the 1st hub so we can pick it up at the end of the first day.

I started my Unsupported trip with just over 15 pounds, (without water). Ten of that was food.

A sleeping bag a ground cloth will weigh less than two pounds, so I will be looking at carrying 7 pound less food, and a pack weight, (without water) around 7 pounds.

I'm not too sure that I will even be one of the ones going for the attempt but will at least help out

[Cayenne Redmonk]

Seems like a great way to drive the psyche of the athletes challenging the record. A group attempt like this should drop the record by a massive amount, good luck !

[Denis Hazlewood]

Extreme Bingo! That's a good game for us oldsters.

[Art …]

Aaron
I think this is a really interesting idea except for one major hurdle.
Organized race events are not allowed in the National Parks and I'm sure the Park service would frown on this venture and quite possible try and put a stop to it.
My suggestion, if you are serious, is that you keep it a bit more under the radar.
p.s.
while I'm way past my prime for that sort of speed, I might be interested in some support capacity if the timing is right.

Art

[Aaron Sorensen]

Hey Art,
This is just people going on a hike with a backpack on.
You have to get your own permit anyway, so as soon as you do, it is all good.

A group of hikers doing the trail in 3 weeks would put a 100 X larger imprint on the trail than us.
I believe that is the point of what something organized would do?

Even the people at the hubs would not need a permit as they would just be considered day hikers.
Doing the hubs and going about it in a group start is actually much safer than one person being out there going for the attempt themselves.

I'm sure this is the reason a few people out there that may want to try an attempt won't do it. There can be big changes in the weather even in the summer and loosing the ability to stay warm while going solo and not having enough gear is not safe.
Plus the factor of a possible injury while going for an attempt is greater. It's not like they can just pitch a tent and wait for someone to come along to help.

[Art …]

Aaron
I like the idea and agree the impact would be minimal.
Its just that the Feds could have a different view, even to the point of having someone at the summit revoking permits for everyone up there. They sometimes get very prickly about rules.
Low Key …

[Reinhold Metzger]

Aaron said….Oh come on Reinhold.
69 should be your favorite age.

---

Ohh "YES" Aaron….69 is my favorite age…I have been waiting 69 long years for this.
Besides, I have been told some things get better with age and I just may be one of those rare gems that get better with age.

I'm so excited about this…I can't sleep…I can barely wait until I'm 70, knowing im getting better every day.

JMT Reinhold
Your excited trail companion

[Reinhold Metzger]

I'M AFRAID WE HAVE CREATED A MONSTER!!!!!!!!

JMT Reinhold

[Reinhold Metzger]

The JMT is like a beautyful woman…"once bitten forever hooked".
I got "bitten" in 1996 and every summer since she has been calling me.
I call it the "JMT Fever"…there is no cure…the only relieve is to hike the trail.
I am not the only one…..there others…just like.
Take the JMT record speed junkies…Brett, Jeff, Ian, Michael, Aaron, John, Al, Brian, Peter, Buzz,…they all have it…it is abvious…I call them "The Herd".
Even Brad Alan Lewis, whom I have met more then once on the JMT, is aflicted by the "JMT Fever" and as a result, like me, is drawn to that beautyful lady year after year.
Alan, the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal winner in the double scull is a very strong and determined person, but not strong enough to withstand the lure of that beautyful lady.

The "HERD", as I call them, is calm now…but come summer
the "HERD" will become restless and anxious to stampede down the JMT again.

JMT Reinhold
Your "JMT Fever" suffering trail companion

[Jorge DeLaSierra]

Brett:

I have been reading your training logs. Thank you so much for your input and generosity. Looking at your pics, I was hit by the perpetual "I've seen this guy before". Then it hit me again. I saw you wearing your black gloves in one of your pics and remembered seeing you (or someone incredibly similar to you)on Sept 3rd in the vicinity of Bubbs Creek; poss by Vidette Meadow. I do believe now that you were on your 1st day — N/B on your wat to Glenn Pass. My wife and I were on our way to Forester Pass. I asked you for weather information. You seemed incredibly focused and did not have much info to pass. Had we known… we would have cheered you on!! Good job!

[Brett Maune]

Hello Jorge,

Time is really starting to blur my memory of the encounters I had on the two runs. I saw so many people on the first day of the first attempt it's hard for me to keep straight which encounters belong to which run. After thinking about it I'm fairly sure I encountered a man/woman couple coming down the steep trail ~1/4 mile from the trail junction in Vidette Meadow. I also vaguely remember someone asking me about the weather in that general area, but I didn't know anything. I probably didn't slow down at all during the encounter. I wasn't trying to be rude. I was in a hurry! With the exception of Ian on Whitney, I don't think anyone else has said they 'saw' me on the trail. You may be the only ones.

Good luck on your planned ~5 day future fast pack. I highly recommend hiking as much of the JMT beforehand as possible. Not knowing parts of the trail could cause major problems for something like this.

Brett

[Reinhold Metzger]

I am somewhat puzzled and amused by the controversy over the start and finish of the JMT.

It was very clear in my mind, back in 1996, that the JMT is
"That stretch of the trail between Happy Isles and the summit of Mt. Whitney" and all official refrences indicate the Southern Terminus of the JMT is MT. Whitney and the Northern Terminus is Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley.

The JMT is what it is and no convenience or inconvenience factors for race purposes will change that.
Anything more or less will simply make it a JMT + or -.

I don't buy the argument, "Since you have to walk up or down the Whitney Trail to get to Mt. Whitney or down to Whitney Portal it is therefore part of the JMT and Reinhold
did not fly a helicopter to the top of Whitney".

The Whitney Trail does not become part of the JMT just because one starts at Whitney Portal.
The Whitney Trail is merely one of several trails to the top of Mt. Whitney.
You could go with the Mountaineering Route from the Portal.
You could go via New Army Pass from Horseshoe Mdw.
You could go via Old Army Pass from Horseshoe Mdw.
You could go via Cottonwood pass, or you could take the Moutaineering Route from Sky Blue Lake to Whitney….
I could go on, but I think I made my point….The Whitney
Trail is not the only way to get to or from Mt. Whitney.
As a matter of fact, the last few years, because of the heavy traffic and difficulty of obtaining a permit starting at the Portal, I have used all the above routes
and equally valid arguments could be made that the above trails are part of the JMT.

So where does the JMT start & finish?
It starts and finishes wherever you want it to start and finish as long as the start and finish are Happy Isles and the summit of Mt. Whitney.
Anything more or less will just make it a JMT + or -.

It might help to defuse the confusion if those who start at the Portal would call it the "Whitney Portal to Happy Isles High Sierra Race", or something like that, to distinguish it from those who do the pure, official JMT route…"That stretch of the trail between Happy Isles and
the summit of Mt. Whitney".

JMT Reinhold
That is my perspective

[Mark Davis]

Brett, one of my shipmates told me of an ultra-runner from Australia named Cliff Young. I looked up the story about him and I though that you would be interested in his ultra-running strategy. If you get any time read about him. You will think it's pretty cool. I hope everything is going well with you and your family. Mark

[Sarah Spelt]

"So where does the JMT start & finish?
It starts and finishes wherever you want it to start and finish as long as the start and finish are Happy Isles and he summit of Mt. Whitney."

Ha! I love it!

[Jack H.]

I agree that the JMT starts at the summit of Mt. Whitney. Someone could make a poll.

[Reinhold Metzger]

Jack,
Those folks that start at Happy Isles might disagree with you.
The JMT does not have a official start and finish, just a Southern Terminus (Whitney) and a Northern Terminus (Happy Isles)….No poll needed
The same goes for the PCT, CDT and the AT.
It starts wherever you want it to start as long as the start and finish are Happy Isles and the summit of Mt. Whitney.

JMT Reinhold

[Art …]

Reinhold
You are allowing yourself to be controlled by the arbitrary declaration of the Federal Govt (regarding JMT terminus) rather than the "Natural Flow" of the wilderness.
If you want to live your life that way … so be it :-(

The Wilderness knows where the ""Trail"" begins and ends.

Art

[Cayenne Redmonk]

Do people that Yo-Yo the JMT have discussions about where the turn around point is ?

[Reinhold Metzger]

Oooohhhh…Art,….
Go with "The Natural Flow" of the wilderness…I like that.

I must write my Congressman immediately to repeal all wilderness rules and regulations.
No more permits, no more bounderies, no more trails from here to there, we will just flow with "The Natural Flow" of the wilderness.

The JMT will start at my front door….I like that idea!!!

JMT Reinhold

[Brett Maune]

Mark,

That story is amazing! Words don't really do it justice…It sounds like he never slept at all yet he seems coherent in all the youtube videos. I don't know how that's possible…

[Author]

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