Last summer, Andrew Hamilton set out to conquer what seemed to be impossible. In nine days, 21 hours and 51 minutes, the father of four successfully climbed all of Colorado’s 54 Fourteeners and established a record that made jaws drop. We sat down with the Golden resident (and now national legend) to find out what makes him tick, what it took to gut out the record and to learn about his plans for the future.
What drove you to keep going, despite all the challenges you faced
during the attempt?
Going into something like this you know it isn’t going to be easy. You know things are going to happen that you just can’t prepare for. In fact, I was always well aware that one unlucky step could cause an injury and the attempt would be over, just like that. That happened in 2014, I was on day eight and moving pretty well. All of a sudden, I developed an injury that I just couldn’t overcome. You know, in the grand scheme of things, this record is completely unimportant, so it’s not worth risking life or limb. As many people say, the mountains aren’t going anywhere (well, not quickly anyway). But despite all that, there is a pretty strong instinct I feel that makes me want to overcome the challenges and do everything in my power to achieve the goal. Having so many people following along adds a little bit of pressure too, you don’t want to fail in front of your friends and family, or in front of thousands of people who are following your every step. And it’s fun for me. I just like to do it.
What was your biggest “oh shit!” moment?
There were more than a few…close lightning strikes, injuries, lots of stuff like that. One that really stuck out was when I was coming down off Mount Lindsey in the rain on day three. I was ahead of schedule and was actually a little annoyed when I arrived at the trailhead and my support crew was not there. So far that day I had climbed across the Little Bear–Blanca traverse, one of the most exposed ridges you can imagine, I had downclimbed the Gash Ridge of Blanca, a pretty technical undertaking that in itself is a good challenge, taken cover from a nasty hailstorm, braved the terrifying buzzing sound in the air that portends an impending lightning strike and raced down the mountain in pouring rain trying to gain a few minutes here and there. Somehow, despite all that, I was ahead of my planned schedule. So then here I am at the Lindsey trailhead standing in the pouring rain wondering what could have happened to my crew. Well, Kyle and Andrea show up a few minutes later and Kyle mentioned having some difficulty with some muddy spots, despite driving his awesome 4Runner with huge clearance and large tires. He drove down the road and we joined up with my wife who was driving our van, but then as we tried to continue we had to stop: During the time they had driven up the road and picked me up and come back, mudslides had taken out the road. We were trapped! My first thought was that the attempt was over. In the end, it only cost a couple of hours as Andrea and I were able to run down the road for a couple of miles past all the mudslides and meet up with my sister in another vehicle. At the time, we just left my wife and Kyle stranded up the road with the other vehicles. That road to Lindsey is still closed and you can no longer get all the way up to the Lindsey trailhead.
In what ways did your kids inspire you during your attempt?
To tell you the truth, getting out and climbing peaks and hiking with my kids and overcoming their emotional rollercoasters can be just as challenging as trying to climb all the Fourteeners in under ten days. There was definitely something in me that wanted to do something where one day the kids would be able to look back and be proud of what we accomplished. I also carried a little glass jewel with a picture of my daughter on it with me the entire time. I would often stop and look at the picture, give it a kiss and move on. Going ten days as hard as you can on very little sleep is tough, and often I would just out of the blue get very emotional and it was nice to have that picture to look at.
Which 14er is your favorite and why?
That’s always been a tough question for me to answer. I can’t really name one favorite, but instead I can name a group of 14ers that I like the best. Oddly enough, I think the Fourteeners that I like the best are the same ones that I liked the least on the record trip—the more technical ones that require scrambling on class 3 and 4 rock. I love Capitol, Little Bear, the Crestones, the Maroon Bells, Longs, all the more challenging, technical ones. But during the record there was always a huge sense of relief when I had each of those in my rear view mirror. I think I just enjoy them under normal circumstances because I like to be scrambling around on rocks and having to think about the route more than lugging my body up a big slog of a well-worn trail.
Can you Describe the respect you have for the mountains, specifically Colorado’s Fourteeners?
I do have a lot of respect for the mountains. In fact, I find it almost offensive when I hear people use the term “peak-bagging,” or suggest they have “bagged” a peak. Any of these mountains, under the right or wrong conditions can be extremely dangerous. And strangely enough, the two peaks on this attempt I had the most difficulty with (Quandary and Holy Cross) are not peaks that you would expect to be the difficult ones. So if you make it up and down any of these mountains in one piece, I think you should thank your lucky stars that the mountain was in a good mood that day. Back in 1999 when I first attempted this record, I was a little more careless and cocky on dangerous mountain terrain until I ran across a fallen climber. The image of his body lying broken on the rocks is a memory that was burned into my mind and hasn’t left me since. I don’t think I have ever really been the same in the mountains, and although my actions in these record attempts may seem reckless to some people, I always make sure to proceed with a very healthy amount of caution whenever I am out in a potentially dangerous position.
Any big plans for the summer of 2016?
I am planning on hiking some of Colorado’s high Thirteeners (known as Centennials) with the kids, and maybe a trip to California to see their Fourteeners. The last two years, I have been kind of selfish and gone for the record, this year will be devoted to the family.
