This weekend I went skiing for the first time in my life. Had a great time with some people that I will starting work with next week. This was up at Cannon Mountain in the New Hampshire White Mountains. For what its worth, I don't suggest starting your skiing adventures at Cannon Mountain. For the new skier there are probably better options. Regardless, I had a great time. Enough about me tho. Follow me below the orange ski bindings to find out about a truly inspirational event.
I found out this morning that somebody else was on Cannon Mountain this weekend doing something truly amazing, and something which I have been thinking about doing for a long time but have never managed to set the time aside to tackle.
This weekend Randy Pierce finished climbing all 48 peaks in the White Mountains that are over 4000 feet, gaining him entrance into a very select group The Four Thousand Footer Club. Not only that, he climbed all 48 peaks in Winter, something which only 408 people had done at last count (2008). Since only around 15-20 people complete this each year, the current count is probably closer to 500.
Not only that, he did this all over the course of a single Winter season, most people spend two or more years completing these climbs, so to do this all over a span of 3 months is just mind boggling to me.
Oh, and Randy happens to be blind and the founder of a non-profit called 2020 Vision Quest. NHPR did a story on Randy this morning: Challenges Met.
So, in honor of Randy I'm finally going to get started on my own personal quest to hike these peaks. My hope is to finish them by my 48th birthday (gives me two years) and to finish with Cannon Mountain.
Thank you Randy for providing the inspiration for me to finally get this started. It will be an honor to follow in your footsteps.