Most consecutive Skyline trips

[zippetydude]

Hey, has anyone here ever done Skyline on 3, or 4, or 5 ... consecutive days? I don't think it would be fun to do the whole C2C because the downhill after the peak could cause sore joints after a day or two. However, Skyline could be a different story. I was just wondering if anybody kept a streak alive for a few days.

The idea came from the fact that I hate dieting. I figure, if I could do Skyline - which burns about 4000 calories usually, every day for a week, then I could eat normally and still lose about 7 or 8 lbs. If it worked, I could always do it again around the holidays (unless there's too much snow) and that would be fun. Picture that - skipping something I hate (diets) and doing a whole bunch of what I love - trails.

Anyway, just a thought. Anyone ever try such a kooky idea?

z

[Rick M]

Once upon a time, after having done a "one-a-day" climbing trip in the Canadian Rockies the previous year, we thought about climbing all 14,000'+ peaks in California in two weeks and try to average one a day. After Langley, rest day, Muir, Day & Keeler, Whitney, Russell, rest day, then after Sill, just ran out of steam and knees gave out. Only then did I start to think about "not over doing things" as a youth so I could continue later in life.

I couldn't see doing Skyline day after day myself just to lose weight. I hate diets (do or did too many all-you-can-eats) but read that if you want to lose weight, just get up. I think the thought behind that was if you're up doing things, you're not eating or around food and doing things keeps your mind off of food. I have done many consecutive climbs/day hikes and enjoyed doing them as long as the terrain was different and had people to do them with

[Cy Kaicener]

Stan - Are you thinking Guiness Book of World Records
After two consecutive Skylines the body becomes very dehydrated and the knees sore I would think. Ten years ago I did three in one week with two days rest in between. After three I was a mess. In 2004 i did 54 Skylines in one year and contacted Guinness. They did not want to have anything to do with it
Scott Swaney of the outdoorsclub led two consecutive c2c's on a Saturday and a Sunday.
My current goal is to do 10,000 ft elevation gain per week. The best policy is to do a little bit every day preferably in the morning. There is less strain on the body.

[FIGHT ON]

Cy, On my first Skyline last year one of the guys from the other group on one of our breaks told that it was his goal to do it three times in one day. Was I correct in thinking that he was dreaming or do you think that it could be done? BTW, to be clear about what is Skyline and C2C. Is Skyline from the Museum to the tram only? And is C2C from the Museum to the tram and then on to San Jacinto Peak and back to the tram? I think that's right but never got the "official" definition. He specifically said he would have just enough time to catch the last tram down after his third assent. What is the time of the last tram down? So he would have to start at 12:00 am and be there waiting for the first tram down, and do it two more times. What time is the first tram down? I can still remember his face smiling at me after he announced this. And I remember thinking to myself, "Dude, we all are almost dying here and we have 3 miles to go". Do you think it's possible? Maybe this is a job for..... Look! up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's RICK KENT!!

[AlanK]

I think that most people use "Skyline" for the hike to the tram and C2C for the hike to the peak and back, to either the tram or the bottom. Some people use C2C2C for the latter. But I ahve seen a lot of variations in the terminology.

I have heard of people doing C2C twice in a day. Three times would be even more impressive!

On the business of streaks: Most people consider marathon to be a long race, but there are people who have run that distance every day for long stretches -- a year or more.

[Cy Kaicener]

Fight On - I think he was just dreaming. Have you heard of anyone doing it twice in one day?
Skyline is just to the tram, C2C is the continuation to the peak.
The last tram is at 9.30 pm and the gates are closed from about 10 pm to 5 am. He would need a super shuttle of three cars to get around the gate problem
Wasnt it Rick Kent who said that What doesnt kill you makes you stronger

[AlanK]

I have heard of people doing C2C twice in a day.

Have you heard of anyone doing it twice in one day?

Just to clarify my comment: Back in 2002, a few weeks after my son and I did C2C for the first time, we met a woman on the top of San Gorgonio who had just done C2C herself for the first time. She swore that she would never do it again, but she mentioned two people who were with her group who did it twice that day. They were training for the Eco Challenge. It was not clear if they used the tram to go down. I just thought it sounded like a feat that is possible but not tempting to try myself. So, when I said "people" I did not mean to imply that I knew of large numbers of people!

[zippetydude]

I think 3 times in a day is very possible, but you'd have to do it smart. You'd have to know the trail well, be in good shape, catch the weather nice and cool, and have water cached in advance so you could move swiftly. You'd probably need to be able to do a single Skyline in less than 4 hours, though you might be okay with a sub 5. (The reason I mention this is because if you're used to 8 hours, a 10 hour Skyline feels easy. To make 3 trips in a day, a 5 to 6 hour pace will need to feel smooth and comfortable.)

Let's say you are well rested, and you start around midnight. This will be your slowest pace, to save energy for later. Figuring a 6 hour pace, you get to the tram, relax, eat, and rest for a couple of hours. Take the first tram down at 8:00, well rested and ready to begin again. You start your second ascent at 8:45. You'll go a little faster on this one, figuring around 5:15 to 5:30. It's 2:00 at the tram, around 2:45 when you start your third attempt. You now have 6:40 to make it to the last tram. You'll press the pace a little, shooting for about 6 hours, but allowing a 40 minute buffer in case you go a little slower when it gets dark.

I know, I know, you're going to be getting tired by now, and you're probably going to be miserable, and what if you miss the last tram . . .

That's why I wouldn't want to do it, it sounds horrible. But certainly possible. You'd get a 2:45 break and another 45 minute break, so you'll get a lot of time to recover. Well, maybe not a lot.

In any case, back to the original question, on consecutive days, since there's no downhill, I wonder if you'd actually get sore, or if you'd just get increasingly tired, or if you'd be fine?

I don't think I'll ever try 3 in a day, but I might try 3 days in a row sometime, or start a streak just for fun and see how many I can do consecutively before I get warning signals from my body that say "Stop this foolishness." I'm not planning on it, but I'll post if I do it so SAR can get a heads-up on the rescue prep!

z

[FIGHT ON]

Z.
It would be great drama for the final assent to make the last tram. I am a fan of great feats. If you ever try it please let me know. You know actually you could start way before 12 am so long as you finish your final assent before the time you started. As long as you finish within 24 hours. More of a rest period before the second trip up. DUDE I'M SERIOUS, YOU SHOULD DO IT! I bet NOBODY has done that. You could change your name to ZZZ.
And Cy, Did Rick Kent really say that? If anyone else said that, It would have a completely different meaning to me. But because he said it, it inspires me.

[zippetydude]

Sorry, FIGHT ON, but Rick Kent wasn't the first person to say that. It was originally by Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher. Wiki can tell you more if you're curious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche

I hate to disappoint, but the 3 in a day seems very unlikely to make it to my list of challenges anytime soon. I'm a family guy, and I probably wouldn't sacrifice an entire weekend (I imagine the next day would be nothing but sleep as I recovered) away from the wifey and critters. On the other hand, if they should go out of town for a week or something like that, I'd give it some consideration. If I should ever give it a try, I'll definitely post, and hopefully share some cold ones and some Mexican food with a few folks from this board if anyone would be willing to wait for me that late.

I do agree with you that ridiculously hard challenges are an awful lot of fun.

z