General Statistics

Compiled by Cave Dog

-Name for the Speed Record for Climbing All of Colorado's Fourteeners:  Mighty Mountain Megamarathon(M4 )

-Definition of a Fourteener:  A natural geographical point with an elevation between 14,000 and 14,999 feet that descends in every direction and has been demeaned by the mountaineering community to be significant. (Recently, the Colorado mountaineering community has been using an elevation gain of 300 feet from the saddle with the parent peak [the 300 Foot Rule] as a determiner of a peak's significance; however, a peak's difficulty, distance from the parent peak, and climbing heritage are also taken into consideration.)

 
Cave Dog's M4 Challenge

-Start Time:  September 4, 2000 at 2:30 am
-Finish Time:  September 14, 2000 at 10:56 pm

-Total Time on Trails:  7 days, 7 hours, 51 minutes
-Total Time in Support Vehicle:  3 days, 12 hours, 35 minutes
-Total Time Not on the Trail or in the Support Vehicle:  0
-Total Time:  10 days, 20 hours, 26 minutes
-Percentage of Total Time on Trail:  67 percent
-Amount of Time Less than Previous Record:  1 day, 19 hours, 9 minutes

-Number of Peaks Climbed Completely at Night: 12
-Number of Peaks Climbed Mostly at Night:  4
-Number of Peaks Climbed with Some Darkness:  6
-Total Number of Peaks with at least Some Darkness:  22
-Total Night Climbs:  16
-Percentage of Climbs at Night:  29 percent

-Number of Peaks with Strong to Severe Winds:  12
-Number of Peaks with Lightning:  3
-Number of Peaks with Falling Snow:  4
-Number of Peaks with Snow on the Ground:  12
-Number of Peaks Iced Over:  5
 

 
Peaks per Day*
Vertical Gain per Day*
(in feet)
Mileage per Day*
Day 1
7
14,654
 
Day 2
6
15,542
 
Day 3
5
11,109
 
Day 4
5.2
10,271
 
Day 5
3.8
9,412
 
Day 6
4
16,165
 
Day 7
4
10,990
 
Day 8
3
9,995
 
Day 9
6
14,396
 
Day 10
7.6
17,025
 
Day 10 5/6
2.4
8,999
 




Total
55
138,558
 
Most in 24 Hour Period
8.2
 17,989
 
Average in 24 Hour Period
5.1
13,578
 

            *Please note that each day is based on a race day, from 2:30 am to 2:30 am.

-Total Vertical Loss:  143,183 feet
-Difference between Vertical Gain and Vertical Loss:  4,625 feet (more vertical loss)

-Average Amount of Time Spent on Each Peak Including Driving:  4 hours, 44 minutes
-Average Amount of Time Spent on Each Peak Climbing:  3 hours, 12 minutes

-Number of Singular Climbs:  15
-Number of Double Climbs:  6
-Number of Triple Climbs:  4
-Number of Quadruple Climbs:  1
-Number of Quintuple Climbs:  1
-Number of Septuple Climbs:  1
-Total Number of Mountain Groups:  28

-Number of Traverses:  7

-Number of Peaks Summitted Solo:  50
-Peaks Summitted with a Climbing Partner:  La Plata, Grays, Torreys, Bierstadt, and Evans
-Peaks with a Climbing Partner for the Approach but not the Summit or the Descent:  Needle and Quandary

-Number of Class 1 Routes:  9
-Number of Class 2 Routes:  67
-Number of Class 2+ Routes:  5
-Number of Class 3 Routes:  22
-Number of Class 4 Routes:  16
-Total Number of Routes:  119

-Subpeaks Over 14,000 Feet Cave Dog Climbed Incidentally during the M 4:  Cameron, West Mt. Wilson, South Bross, and North Snowmass

-Number of Routes Done for the First Time During the Challenge:  1 (the Snowmass/Capitol Traverse)
-Number of Times Cave Dog Attempted the Snowmass to Capitol Traverse during Training:  4 (foiled by lightning twice, a wrecked car, and a body recovery effort)

-Number of Times the Order of Mountains was Changed during the Challenge:  2

-Weight Loss:  Approximately 10 pounds (Cave Dog's lowest weight since Sophomore year in high school)

-Age:  29
-Height:  6' 0''
-Normal Weight:  150-155 pounds

-Number of New Shoes Used Up during the Challenge:  3
-Number of New Gloves Used Up during the Challenge:  2
-Number of flat tires during the Challenge:  3

-Minimum Starting Weight of Pack:  3 pounds
-Maximum Starting Weight of Pack:  6 pounds
-Minimum Weight of Clothes:  5 pounds
-Maximum Weight of Clothes:  6 pounds
-Total Starting Weight of Gear:  8 to 12 pounds (including all incidental weight such as a watch and glasses)

-Number of Fourteeners Summitted with a Dime Mistakenly Carried Along Much to Cave Dog's Horror at the Extra Weight:  21
-Amount of Lift Estimated to be Required to Carry One Ounce to the top of All 55 Fourteeners:  70,000 pounds

-Number of Climbs that a Map was Brought Along:  2 (Culebra and the Capitol Group)
-Number of Climbs a Map was Used:  0
-Number of Routefinding Mistakes that Took More than a Few Minutes to Rectify:  0
-Number of the Ten Essentials Brought Along:  3 1/2 (food/water, clothing, a watch compass that was never used, and sometimes a headlamp)
-The Ten Essentials:  Map, compass, sunglasses and sunscreen, extra food, extra clothing, headlamp/flashlight, first aid supplies, fire starter, matches, and knife

-Number of People Involved or Contacted in Resolving the Culebra Question:  22

-Number of People in The Dog Team:  6
-Number of Support Crew Members:  5
-Number of Primary Support Vehicles:  3
-Total Number of Support Vehicles:  6

-Number of Miles in a Train with Cave Dog Aboard:  about 12
-Number of Miles on an ATV with Cave Dog Aboard:  about 4
-Number of Miles the Support Crew Hiked:  about 37
-Average Number of Miles a Primary Support Vehicle Drove:  about 2,500
-Number of Miles Driven with Cave Dog Aboard:  1636.8
-Number of Pages in the Dog Team's Driving Directions:  35
-Number of Indications on the Dog Team's Driving Directions:  979
-Estimated Amount of Time Lost Due to Driving Errors While Cave Dog was in a Vehicle:  3 minutes

-Cave Dog's Times for each of the Mountain Ranges that were Climbed Continuously:

San Juans
1 day, 23 hours, 54 minutes
Sangre de Cristos
1 day, 14 hours, 7 minutes
Tenmile/Mosquito
13 hours, 47 minutes
Front
1 day, 2 hours, 55 minutes

(There has been some speculation that each of these four 14er range times are records in themselves.  There appears to be scant information on such a contrived distinction; so, one cannot know for certain.  However, the San Juan Range time is the most likely to be a record.  It should also be noted that the San Juan Range time was started 3,000 feet below the summit of Windom according to the rules of the M 4.  The Front Range time was stopped 3,000 feet below the summit of Longs.  These are unlikely locations for starting and stopping points for a range time.)

 
Cave Dog's Training

-Number of Years Cave Dog Planned on Making a Challenge:  4 1/2
-Number of Years Cave Dog Trained and Scouted:  2 1/2
-Amount of Time Taken Off the Record During the 4 1/2 Years Cave Dog Planned on Making an Attempt:  2 days, 18 hours, 20 minutes (15 days, 9 hours, 55 minutes to 12 days, 15 hours, 35 minutes)
-Number of New Records During the 4 1/2 Years Cave Dog Planned on Making an Attempt:  3 (14 days, 16 minutes; 13 days, 22 hours, 48 minutes; and 12 days, 15 hours, 35 minutes; plus a new women's record of 14 days, 14 hours, 49 minutes)

-Number of Times Cave Dog has Summitted a Fourteener:  Approximately 250
-Number of Times Cave Dog has Summitted a Fourteener Solo:  Approximately 225
-Number of Times Cave Dog has Climbed Most of the Fourteeners:  4
-Number of Times Cave Dog has been Chased Off a Fourteener Because of Lightning:  Approximately 35
-Number of Times Cave Dog has Heard the Rocks Buzz on a Fourteener:  1
-Number of Times Cave Dog's Hair has Stood on End on a Fourteener:  4
-Number of Times Cave Dog has Heard Zippers or Other Metal Buzz on a Fourteener:  8
-Number of Times Cave Dog did Not Summit a Fourteener for Some Reason other than Lightning:  3 (group got tired, blizzard, and body recovery effort)
-Name of Cave Dog's Nemesis:  Lightning
-Number of Fourteeners Cave Dog has Climbed Completely at Night:  30
-Cave Dog's Usual Companions on a Fourteener:  Picas and marmots during the day and bats at night
-The Longest Cave Dog has Bivied on a Fourteener:  36 hours (the Needle)
-Cave Dog's Most Unexpected Find on a Fourteener:  A thirty passenger plane wreck
-Most Number of Consecutive Days Cave Dog has been Snowed on while Climbing Fourteeners:  7 (June)
-Most Amount of Snow Fallen on Cave Dog while on a Fourteener:  14 inches (October)
-The Highest Wildflower Cave Dog has Found on a Fourteener:  14,400 (near the summit of Massive)
-Longest Fall Cave Dog has had on a Fourteener:  5 feet (microburst in the Wilsons)
-Number of Times Cave Dog has been Injured on a Fourteener beyond Abrasions:  1 (crushed foot on Eolus)
-Number of Times Cave Dog Almost Killed his Climbing Partner on a Fourteener:  1 (Accidentally dislodged a 10 foot long boulder that came within 18 inches from his climbing partner on Snowmass)
-Number of Times Cave Dog Thought He Saw Human Remains on a Fourteener:  1
-Number of Flat Tires Cave Dog had Scouting out the Fourteeners in the Summer of 2000:  11
-Number of Years Cave Dog Climbed Fourteeners:  2 1/4
-Cave Dog's Favorite Mountain:  Teocalli Mountain
 

Fourteener Statistics

-Estimated Number of Times a Colorado Fourteener was Climbed in the Summer of 2000:  200,000

-Name of the Main Nonprofit Organization to be Credited with Enhancing Fourteener Trails in Recent Years:  The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative(CFI)

-What is the 300 Foot Rule:  One of the considerations for a point to be considered a peak is that it most rise at least 300 feet from the saddle to its parent peak.
-Number of Peaks Over 14,000 Feet that Meet the 300 Foot Rule but are not Considered 1 of the 55 Fourteeners:  0 (North Massive is estimated to have a rise of 280 feet from its saddle with Massive; if the estimate is low, it may become the 56th Fourteener)
-Number of the 55 Fourteeners that do not Meet the 300 Foot Rule:  2 (North Maroon, a rise of 234 feet, and El Diente, a rise of 259 feet)

-List of Fourteeners with Elevation:
 

 Peak
Elevation in feet
Peak
Elevation in feet
Sunshine Peak
14,001
Mount Oxford
14,153
Huron Peak
14,003
Tabeguache Mountain
14,155
Mount of the Holy Cross
14,005
South Maroon Peak
14,156
North Maroon Peak
14,014
El Diente Peak
14,159
San Luis Peak
14,014
Kit Carson Peak
14,165
Wetterhorn Peak
14,015
Mount Bross
14,172
Wilson Peak
14,017
Mount Yale
14,196
Pyramid Peak
14,018
Mount Belford
14,197
Redcloud Peak
14,034
Crestone Needle
14,197
Mount Sherman
14,036
Mount Princeton
14,197
Little Bear Peak
14,037
Mount Shavano
14,229
Ellingwood Point
14,042
Mt. Wilson
14,246
Mount Lindsey
14,042
Longs Peak
14,255
Culebra Peak
14,047
Mount Evans
14,264
Handies Peak
14,048
Castle Peak
14,265