Pretty sure DD/Brian has done a double up and down Mt Lemmon (~2500 Tucson to ~8200 at Summerhaven). That's gotta be 18k+ total. Pretty simple and do-able in under 10 hours.

ETA: Although I guess that's technically not JUST a single round trip.

can't really count that. the idea is it's got to be one ascent. this almost mandates a multisport effort. hence the idea ;-)

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Ha yea, I realized that almost as soon as I replied. But I wanted to insert a nice vicarious humblebrag for Brian so decided to leave it ;)

I think the most elevation gain would be achieved by doing road climb laps... on a fairly steep road near sea level... that allows full speed descents (ie no braking needed on turns). A tailwind on the climb would also help.

Think I could do ~30,000 ft in <24 hrs without too much trouble.

You can't just say under human power. Someone on a bike could probably get 75k pretty easy, maybe even 100k. In my town we have a ski hill that is only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is pretty popular to go skin a few runs after work, or on snowy days when they cancel work. There is a guy I know of who did 10 runs in a day, so he did probably close to 10k. The rim-to-rim-to-rim at the Grand Canyon has to be around 12k, and of course the Hardrock claims 34k of climbing, and the fastest times are around 24 hours. You would have to think under ideal road conditions a runner could climb and descend close to 50k in 24 hrs.

FWIW I couldn't find any Guinness world records for cycling elevation gain, a category that has to be ripe for the picking.

If it has to be a single round trip ... is para sailing back down allowed?

   


>LATE ADD: okay, how about orizaba, mexico, to pico de orizaba. 4000' to 18,500'. there's 14,500' available. i think that's do-able, bottom to top and back, in a day.[/quote]


Dude. Look in your backyard. Badwater: -282'. Whitney: 14,505'. Bike the Badwater Ultra course, then run the little jaunt up to the summit. Turn around and head back. And the total is quite a bit more than 14,787', as anyone who's done Badwater can tell you.

EDIT: OK, that would be hard in one day, but some variation on it might be possible.

Hi Dan,

First of all, to set the story straight, the plan this year was to just get to 10,000 feet from sea level, but Jonathan Toker and I only did 5000 feet from the saddle road at 6000 feet doing 3300 feet to the visitor center by bike and then 2000 more running the gravel road (I still owe a write up on the recce mission and we're laying down the gauntlet for those that want to try a ride to the visitor centre from sea level and a run shuffle walk to 13800 feet from there).

I have done a few loops in the Alps that added up to 15,000 feet in a day. Many do the 3xVentoux in a day which is in the range of 18000 feet. Typically L'etape du Tour cyclosportif is in the 15,000 range as they trace the queen stage of the TdF. The Marmotte which does Croix de Fer, Telegraphe, Galibier and Alpe d'Huez as a cyclosportif every year is also in the 5500m range.

I believe the fastest way to gain vertical is biking.

John McGovern has run from sea level to the summit of Mount Fuji. I'm working on an article on that run with him. That thing ends at around 14,000 feet. It may however start at around 3000 feet and not sea level. I need to find that out. This is an official race on Fuji and may in fact be the race with a single largest amount of vertical in one day by foot, although perhaps the mountaineering types can correct me.

The Lake Placid 50K XC ski loppet does 4500 feet of vertical in around 2:30 for the winners. That is a ton of climbing and descending. If you were to ski all day and aim for 150K you could get 15,000 feet, but that would be harder than any bike event I am aware of. In the past it has taken me between 2:50 and 3:10 for 50K with the 4500 feet and I was basically cripple for the next few days. It would take a giant engine to last even double that distance (having said that, the course in LP is not conducive to even pacing....it has a ton of very very short and steep climb along with some long steep climbs).

Perhaps a really fast way to gain vertical would be to do 3xKaloko from Kailua Pier. That would get you around 15,000 feet in 8-9 hours, but you just might not make it up the third time.

Dev

OK, sorry, I did not read carefully that it had to be a single ascent. Mauna Kea may be as good as it gets because it starts at sea level and ends as 13,800. If you start any higher, you're basically really suffering on elevation. There is nothing in Europe that will beat Mauna Kea, and I am not sure there is anything in continental US that would beat it without already starting around 5000 feet. Fuji beats Mauna Kea and you can bike from sea level to the 5th station at 2000m and then run/shuffle the final 2000m.

None of the tall mountains could be done in one shot here in Canada. In fact, the highest single sustained paved climb in Canada may not really be that high. The Apex mountain climb out of Penticton gains you 5000 feet in one shot out of Penticton. I am not aware of any other climb that is paved that gains you that much. Then you could run/mountain bike another 2000 feet or so.

I am sure there are some in Chile that might be pretty substantial that would allow you to start at sea level and get pretty high.

"is para sailing back down allowed?"

you'd have to parasail up. here's the rules:

1. must be under human powered locomotion. can be mechanically aided, i.e., a bicycle, and it can be wind aided i guess, if you were to count a trailing wind up a mountain. but, that's it.
2. must be net elevation gained, top to bottom, counted once. if you want to do laps, fine, but, you only get to count one of them.
3. must be round trip.
4. must be achieved in 24hr.
5. the trip down must be achieved the same way the trip up was achieved, using the same sports, the same tools. however, you could use a different "tool" on the descent. for example, if you wanted to ride down a hill using a different bike than you used to ride up, okay, but it must be a bike.

until i think up more rules, those are the rules.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

OK, I think I will be breaking your rules....my hope in the next 2 years is to swim in Kailua bay, bike to the visitor centre at 9300 feet and then run the 7 mile 4400 feet to the Mauna Kea Summit. I think the uphill leg alone would take all available daylight and plan to get a lift down the mountain.

"There is nothing in Europe that will beat Mauna Kea, and I am not sure there is anything in continental US that would beat it without already starting around 5000 feet."

i don't see the high elevation as an overcoming problem. i've gone from 7,800' to 18,000' and back, and did it in 10hr while not being in that great of shape. it's doable in 7hr. (the route i did, at least). i think orizaba to orizaba is it.

now, yes, somebody pointed out badwater to whitney and, yes, you get to ride up to about 9000' (i've done the ride from lone pine to the portal, it's hard but not overwhelming), the problem is the distance. if you started at badwater, just to lone pine is 123mi. then it's another 14mi to the portal. that's 275mi round trip, and you haven't actually climbed whitney yet ;-) so, that's a no go.

i'm saying it's orizaba. that's the most gain with the least pain.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I think the Badwater thing is possible for someone very fit. Individuals have done the Whitney Classic in ~10 hours. Say 6 hours trail running. Then 8 hours back. Do-able.

OK I THINK you may be able to do Col de Bonnet Restefond from Nice up over 10,000 feet twice in a day using slightly different routes to meet your criteria but you'd be repeating some of the route. This climb is the single longest sustained uphill in Europe that I am aware of.

It was on the Tour de France in 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttOjcBn7l8c


Galibier and Tourmalet, as well as the likes of Gavia don't get high enough and they start too high.

if you start in cordoba, mexico, about 2600 or 2700 feet, i think it's about 45 or 50 miles, more or less, one way, to parque nacional pico de orizaba. i don't know if it's paved the whole way, but, if you can get yourself up to 13,000 feet or so on the road bike, then it's another 5,500' to the summit. that's very close to 16,000', top to bottom.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

dev. bottom. pick a number. top. pick a number. that's what's countable. if you find 6 different ways to get from sea level to 3,000', that's not 18,000'. it's 3000' with a lot of extra credit.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I believe this record has been broken, but here is documentation of 132 climbs of the Cathedral of Learning, for a Double Everest in vertical climbing. 450 feet, 36 floors, 764 steps up, elevator down repeated 132 times in 24 hours = 60,000 feet of vertical climbing in a day.

http://www.dannychew.com/CoL2everest.html

i just wonder what the record is. does anybody know? i mean, the record for low elevation to high and then back down. or, even just low to high.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I wonder if Aconcagua or Kilimanjaro would be suitable for this? Even possibly Mt Vinson?

Look at some of the numbers put up by ultra distance cyclists. The solo course record for the Furnace Creek 508 is about 27 hours. It has about 35,000 feet of elevation. And although hard for other reasons, its not overly hilly compared to some of the double century rides in Cali that have 16-20,000 ft of climbing that get completed in about 12 hours.

Don't know if it is close to a record but there was a Kiwi MTB'er who did the Yunga's Rd (worlds most dangerous rd) from Corioco at 3,900ft to La Cumbre Pass at 15,200ft before connecting to the road to Chacaltaya Ski Lodge above La Paz at 17,400.I believe he did the 80k'ish in around 9hrs on a MTB.

I used to ride from La Paz to La Cumbre as a hard uphill TT once a week...Damned near killed me.


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When i did the Mt. Evans road race we started in Idaho Falls i think it was, maybe around 6500ft. The finish at the top of the paved road was 14k+ ft and the ride was just over a couple hours. What i don't know is if there is a much lower start point nearby, and if you could keep running up after the bike finish. Any local CO folks know the area??

Sounds like you might have to become a race director (maybe pink)

I havent checked but from the top of my head going from somewhere bellow of los andes in chile at 2600 feet altitude as far up as possible to the peak of Aconcagua should be a contender.