Total Elevation?

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xoomboy

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Math geeks with spare time on their hands, unite! Wondering if anyone can calculate the total elevation gain for the 48 (or 67) 4000-footers? Obviously there are many ways to go about bagging each peak, so minimum/maximum figures would probably be the most useful.

Extra credit: Include min/max mileage, too!

Matt :)
 
Wouldn't the total of that be highly dependent on the trails you'd take? I'm guessing someone here already has the numbers from the trails they took.
 
Absolutely, that's why I was thinking the best values to calculate would be minimum and maximum possible elevation gains
 
The minimum would be close to what the guys who set the records do. Presumably they have optimized the route rather well.

Here's Tim Seaver's numbers from his 2003 record: total Mileage 184.4 miles, total Vertical Gain 62,436 feet. See Tim's numbers.

Cave Dog's 2002 numbers used to be out there somewhere, but I can't find them at the moment.

You will need to adjust these if you are interested in a particular set of "rules" (please don't hijack this thread over this issue!), but these numbers will give you an idea.

The Winter record numbers may be closer to reality, since the record holders generally went home each night. That was 230.7 Miles 71,396' Elevation Gain. See the recent thread 48 in record time?

The Maximum: Would be infinite, no? Say you did each peak by walking from your home. Or from China? You decide. Or probably hike each peak separately from the furthest trail head? Sounds good but it would probably be many times the minimum and rather useless, since no one is going to do the presidentials one at a time from say Gorham.
 
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Maximum is easy to compute: use the route with the most elevation gain, and do the peaks one at a time.

Minimum demands that you minimize the number of trips from the valley to the ridge: thus Presi Traverse versus one by one (or pairs) Presidential peaks, a variant of the Pemi Loop to get all the peaks on Franconia, Garfield, Twins, Bonds ridges plus Hale, a big traverse to get the Wildcats, Carters and Moriah, and so on. All can be done, either by superhikers or by sleeping on the trail (huts or tent).

Whether anyone would want to do it is another matter :D
 
The Maximum: Would be infinite, no? Say you did each peak by walking from your home. Or from China? You decide.

Or: start anywhere. Walk half distance to peak. Take gratuitous detour, get lost, wind up back at start. Walk 3/4 of distance to peak. Detour back to trailhead. Walk 4/5 of distance to peak. Detour back to trailhead. Continue in this pattern...

I think the question assumed a finite set of acceptable trails (including the Owl's Head slide and maybe a few of the "standard bushwhacks"), which implies a corresponding finite set of acceptable trailheads. If you count distance by redlining, the maximum distance is the combined length of all the trails. (You'd have to plan your itinerary carefully if you're obeying the AMC rules, or you might accidentally end by reaching a trailhead after your last summit, without having redlined some other trail(s) to the same mountain from a different trailhead.)

You could constrain the maximum further with additional rules, such as:
- visit each peak exactly once
- no trail section may be traveled more than once (with the exception of returns along summit spurs). Thus, no loops and fewer silly branches.
Note either of these rules would make it impossible to "do the peaks one at a time" using maintained trails. (West Bond, for example...)

What you really want is some way of saying "no crazy side trips" - not sure how to say that while still permitting not-quite-crazy ideas like doing Carrigain "the back way" (via Desolation Tr). I guess you could specify acceptable trails *for each peak*.
 
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What you really want is some way of saying "no crazy side trips" - not sure how to say that while still permitting not-quite-crazy ideas like doing Carrigain "the back way" (via Desolation Tr). I guess you could specify acceptable trails *for each peak*.
May I be bold enough to suggest using my web site for a list of "acceptable trails"? For what it's worth, it does mention Carrigain via the Desolation Trail (a not at all crazy way, IMHO).
 
Largely following Mohamed's recommendations, I finished up with:

Peaks: 48
Trips: 26
Miles: 288.8
Elevation: 93,060 feet
Average miles per trip: 11.1
Average elevation per trip: 3580 feet
Total Time: 191:20
Average speed: 1.5mph
Average elevation: 485fph

Tim
 
It helps to be a math geek ... 215955/48 = 4499, and I cannot imagine a "reasonable" way of climbing the 48 that would average 4,499 feet per hike, can you :confused:

That is the total elevation (stack them one atop the other) of all the peaks above sea level. I get 215975 when I use the application spreadsheet from your web site.

Tim
 
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My bad. The number was clearly ridiculous in the context we are discussing, and I failed to think of a context in which it would be meaningful :eek:

So I guess that Jason has committed to hiking them all from the sea coast :D
 
Great answers, guys, thanks for joining in and providing the links :)

I definitely see the point about establishing constraints -- ie, is it single-peak only, or can you string peaks together across longer traverses, which would greatly change the potential minimum gain. As far as max gain, yes, my original thought was along the lines of using the longest trail described in the WMG or something like that.

A fun diversion, most definitely.

Cheers,

Matt :)
 
Winter Boredom and Cabin Fever have clearly set in.
Yup, sure has!

In addition to websites where the starting elevation is available, you can also find the info in the WMG and subtract it from the summit elevation. On a few trails, like Howker Ridge, the total gain is a bit more because of minor peaks and cols on the way to Madison.
 
Mats' page is down, so I can't find his numbers. From the appendix of Steve and Mike's book:
Folsom Diretissima: 244mi, unspecified feet
1991 "Hike from Hell" 250mi, unspecified feet.
(Mohamed calculates 208mi, 69,000')
Tim Seaver 184.4mi, 62,436' (as posted by Papa Bear)
Stinkyfeet/Frodo winter 2003-4 227mi, 71,000'
Tim and Cathy winter 2005-6 230.7mi, 71,396'

No surprise that doing it in fewer/longer days saves some elevation from dropping to the valleys. Much lower Dunkies count that way, too.
 
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