Nolans 14 - 1999 Run Report


Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 10:29:26 -0600
To: ultra@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU
From: "Blake P. Wood" bwood@lanl.gov
Subject: Re: Any word on Nolan's 14?

"Robert Youngren" asked:
>Just wondering if there were any Nolan's 14 survivors?

At least two of us, and I assume Fred's okay too.

Very briefly: we only had three runners start: Gordon Hardman, Fred Vance, and myself. We all went over Shavano and Tabeguache together, then Fred dropped back. We all progressed much slower than any of us had anticipated, and unfortunately two aid stations in row (the backcountry ones) had pulled out before we arrived, following the schedule that had been set up earlier. Lightning chased Gordon and I off Princeton's summit. It rained off and on the first day and night, and drizzled almost continuously the second day, with the summits socked in with clouds. This left the lichen covered rocks very slippery, and every descent and traverse across a boulder field became an excrutiatingly slow hands-and-feet rock-to-rock crawl. It took Gordon and I 33:30 to get to the top of Harvard (the seventh summit). Huddled on top of Harvard in a snowstorm, out of food (due to the missing aid stations), faced with an estimated 20 hours before the next food/aid (at Winfield, four summits later), Gordon's usual mild pulmonary edema kicking in, no communication, and our second night out starting before our next summit, Gordon and I realized we'd used up our safety margin, and decided to call it quits. Ironically, after we had made this decision the weather cleared, but I think we did the right thing anyway. We hiked out at Pine Creek in the dark and tried to hitchhike back up to Winfield, since Gordon had busted the antenna off his radio in a fall. Our attempts to fashion an antenna out of his headlamp battery cable on Harvard's summit were unsuccessful. For some reason, no one would stop in the dark to pick two scruffy guys dressed in tights (Gordon) and a clown suit (me in my homemade windpants-of-many-colors). Jim Nolan drove by us muttering "kayaker scum", but luckily recognized my clown suit and came back to give us a ride to Winfield.

Gordon and I assumed that Fred must have dropped out by now, but discovered that he was still in the run, about 8 hours behind us on Columbia's summit (#6) and accompanied by Jon MacManus for safety (given the weather conditions, I think it would have been suicide to travel alone - every descent was one slippery misstep from a leg-breaking fall). He was planning to continue through the second night. I don't know how far he got, as there was no word yet from him (via radio) at Winfield the next morning when I left for home. I assume he got farther than Gordon and I, but probably not farther than Winfield in 60 hours. Winfield would have been eleven summits. I'm sure Fred will let us know via email as soon as he gets access.

To sum it up: It was an exciting, breathtakingly beautiful adventure, but much slower than we had expected, in part due to the poor weather. In better weather, and with some logistical glitches fixed, I think it is feasible to do all 14 summits in 60 hours. I hope we'll get the chance to try again. Fred put an incredible amount of work into this run, arranging a pre-run dinner, renting a cabin, enlisting lots of volunteers, and supplying beautiful "Nolans 14" shirts - all without charging any sort of entry fee. He deserves a loud and long round of applause, both for this and for apparently "winning" this run.

Fred, Gordon, and I shot several dozen pictures during the run. Mine are being developed now, and I hope to post some of them in a couple weeks. I'll let you know when they're up.

- Blake

Note: I later learned that Fred made it to the top of Harvard about 12 hours after Gordon and I, and called it quits.


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