Moving this post over here:
It would be nice if you could change an original subject of a thread you started but since you can't, I'll try this with the correct subject one more time...

The JMT is heating up again.
This year there is no unsupported or supported record.
The record of 86 was made unsupported, so beating it supported just gets the supported record.

So who is it this year that's heading out to beat the elusive time.
Well it's the same guys that have been out there doing it all along.
This year I am going for the Supported Record and Ian Alloway is going to go Unsupported.
The battle even heats up around the same time as we will both be up there for August's full moon.
This year I'll have Michael Popov helping me in the pacing. It's about time. I've driven about 1200 miles each year for the support of him over the past two years. He will be pacing me from Mono Lake to Reds Meadow and from Tuolumne to the finish.
Sarah Spelt from PCTR will be with me the final night from Reds Meadow to Tuolumne.

The gear list this year is as minimal as possible.

Pack: Salomon XT Wings 5 Pro Backpack
Jacket: The North Face Zephyrus Insulated Pullover
Vest: Mont Bell Down Inner Half Sleeve Jacket
Rain/wind shell: North Face Triumph Anorak

Other gearworn or carried ; Rail Riders Long Sleeve Shirt and Pants, a light Nike cap, REI hat, Injungi Socks, Asics 2150 Trail shoes.

2.5 pounds per day of an assortment of
Hammer Jel Perpetium, Hammer Jel Heed, Amino Vital, Gue and Honey. Maybe a few snack stuff thrown in.

The Rest: MP3 player, Camera/ video, Coast Lensor H7 Headlamp, Time splits/small map, 1aaa extra battery, safety pin and Leuko tape for blisters, deet, and TP.

Thats it. Hoping to keep weight with water under 7 pounds at all times.
I'll have a person at Taboose Trail Jct to re-supply and a few hours sleep at mile 67 before a 2nd 67 mile day to Edison/ Mono at mile 134.
After that the pacers get to carry the pack!

Hoping to get out of Mono in under 48 hours. Yikes!!!

For now I'm in Louisiana helping with the clean up so its running in 90* weather on sand.

Good luck, Aaron!

I met some people on the JMT last week who are trying for a different kind of record: age records.

These 12-year-olds are trying to set an age record for the JMT yo-yo: http://didnt.doit.wisc.edu/outdoor/Muir2009/calendar/calendar.htm Met them at MTR. They seem like very nice kids.

There is also a 6-year-old trying to set an age record for completing the JMT. Her mother carries her across high creek crossings. I passed them near the San Joaquin, didn't find out until later that they were actually attempting the whole JMT. Does anyone know any more about them? I'd like to be able to check back in August and find out if they made it, but I don't know their names, just said hi to them on the trail. There was a violent hailstorm July 17, which pretty thoroughly intimidated me -- stones the size of peanuts, with enough of them falling in 15 minutes to bury things and build up snowdrifts. I met another JMTer who weathered that storm in the same tent with the girl and her mom, and apparently the girl was very calm and quiet, only remarking after a while, "That's loud."

Edited by bcrowell on 07/27/2010 22:49:33 MDT.

Wow Aaron, best of luck. Quite. a. hike. I trust you'll really make the most of the full moon.

And a pair of 12 year olds yo-yo-ing is very impressive. Does anyone know about unsupported JMT age records? I've never seen much of anything about that.

Edited by benjammin21 on 07/31/2010 18:37:21 MDT.

5 more days and I'm out of here.

Ian will have a spot on him so if anyone is interested here is the link so you can follow along.
he is up there now, so it is alread active.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0BLMNqO1sFKfJjiFBbp6mjcXU4qvO85Ui

Aaron:

Good luck on your run. The Charlotte-Whitney Portal trail is good-to-go with some snow patches still hanging out at Forester's upper north side. I will check out Ian's spot as well as yours. Happy trails Bro and most of all, stay safe.

jd

The 12-year-olds completed the JMT, but they didn't do the yo-yo. I emailed with the dad, Peter Burke, and there were some fairly serious health issues. Too bad -- they seemed like really nice kids -- but they seem to have felt like it was still a positive experience.

Peter Burke also has contact info for the 6-year-old (she turned 7 on the trail) who was attempting the JMT with her mom. I don't know if they want their names made public on the web. Peter is going to check with them to see if they made it. He says, "I'm pretty sure they made it, because [the girl] really didn't seem to realize that hiking this trail was something that may be considered as "strenuous" by some :-)."

Edited by bcrowell on 08/09/2010 15:17:22 MDT.

Hi Aaron,

Your starting date of 21 August also happens to be my 70th birthday. So good luck.

I downloaded your gear list for this hike. When you mention what you are carrying I think on one thread you said some of your stuff was going to be waiting for you at your rest stops, do I recall that correct?

The list of gear in this comment of yours seems to list a few different items.

This hike seems to be better organized with your support and with the help of your pacers who "get to carry the pack" toward the end. Not to take anything away from you, you still need the stamina to get to the end.

Best of Luck.

Finally !!!
Something incontrovertible for record attempters.
If Ian is carrying a Spot he is doing it right.

Hey everyone,
Thank you for the replies.

I'll be starting at Wednesday at 4am on the 18th.
To be ahead of the record it puts the finish at Happy Isles by 6pm on Saturday.

Heading up to 12K' on Friday to acclimatize.

I am not going to have a spot due to the sheer fact that I will have several people that are able to confirm my location on the trail.
If I were going unsupported, I would bring the spot.
I'll also had out cards to fellow hikers that have all the info on the card so I won't have to take 2 minutes to explain it to them.

Gear picked up each day will be 2 1/4 pounds of food, three-123 batteries, 2- aaa batteries. the luxury of going supported also gets me a change of socks, and fresh sunscreen, yyiippeee!

I haven't weighed the pack yet, but it is somewhere around 5ish and probably 7 pounds with 24 ounces of water.

Ian may not go now. He just got back from doing the Rae Lakes Loop and twisted his ankle a little.
He may join me on day 2, Upper Basin to Edison???

Edited by awsorensen on 08/11/2010 20:57:27 MDT.

At some point, you just have to put some trust in people's honesty and sportsmanship. What are we going to do next, institute tests for blood doping? Last I heard, this wasn't a sport where people make big money from endorsements. Same thing with climbing. I don't need Hillary and Norgay's SPOT data to believe that they made it to the summit of Everest.

"At some point, you just have to put some trust in people's honesty and sportsmanship"

unfortunately there is a long and well established history of members of the human race cheating for Fame, Fortune, and Glory.

as long as things don't matter and no one really cares, then your concept of trust is fine.

Trail Speed Records, especially the JMT, have entered the era where it matters, enough people pay attention and actually care. Witness Killian Jornet's attempt last summer to turn it into a helicopter monitored media circus.

Its time for Real verification.

People Trusted Bernie Madoff.
Just look at at all the scandals in the Olympics and Tour de France. If its possible to cheat, someone will. The main criteria is whether enough people care.

p.s.
I've spent 25 years in the climbing world, and I can assure you climbers fudge and embellish the extent of their accomplishments ALL the time. Its not about money, simply about false credit.

Edited by asandh on 08/12/2010 10:43:14 MDT.

I'm also not clear on what SPOT would really prove.

You've got other ways of proving that he left one trailhead at a certain time and arrived at the other end at a certain time.

If he's going for the unsupported record, SPOT won't detect whether he actually got support.

He could take a shortcut, but isn't the JMT pretty much the most efficient path between Whitney and YV anyway?

He could ride an animal part way, but SPOT won't detect that.

He could conceivably hike out to a road and get a ride in a car. That seems extremely farfetched to me, and it would be difficult to do without risking being noticed. If the point is that the sport is getting a high enough profile to give an incentive to cheat -- isn't that a high enough profile that people are going to say, "I saw Killian Jornet going over Bishop Pass on Wednesday?"

AFAIK, people going for the record in recent years have had pretty good methods of proof that didn't involved SPOT. I think one guy handed out cards to people on the trail, and I recall another who had a video camera mounted on his hat that recorded the whole trip. Both of these seem more reliable than SPOT, not less.

Ben you are correct on all points.
ITs time for an official record committee of 200 to stand one mile apart on the JMT and verify all attempts.

My only point is that "something" is better than nothing.
We are past the era of blind trust.

Hey everyone.
I'm out of here in the morning, Friday the 13th.
I'll have my dad make a post here after he sees me off on day two from Edison.

You guys have excellent arguments about "self proclaimed records".
No trails that we go for are a race by any means and should not be treated like one.
You should still leave as little of a footprint as possible and not take anything away from the trail, (other than memories).
I was amazed last time I was on the JMT as I did not see one single piece of trash the entire time on the trail.
This is more important than what anything else were are arguing about.

Hey, sorry to pick up an old thread but I was still wondering. I wan't specific enough in my question.

Does anyone know of the youngest unsupported JMTer? And their speed? I'm curious. Thanks for any answers or resources that could lead to answers!