Climbing America's

batical leave in Scandinavia, I finally reached the 5895m summit of Africa’s highest mountain. In 1986, the year after I climbed Kilimanjaro, Dick Bass, Frank Wells, and Rick Ridgeway published Seven Summits, an account of Bass and Wells’ attempt to climb the highest peak on each of the world’s seven continents. I bought their book and devoured it. Inspired by it, I devised my own climbing goal—to climb at least ‘Three-and-a-Half Summits’: namely, at least three of the six highest of the Seven Summits plus Australia’s Mt Kosciuszko, which is a mere 2228m above sea level (i.e., less than half the height of Antarctica’s Vinson Massif, the sixth-lowest of the Seven Summits), and Kosciuszko can therefore, as a Kiwi I quipped, really only be regarded as a half-summit. I made reasonably quick progress towards achieving my goal. In August 1994, I climbed Russia’s Mt Elbrus, 5642m, the highest mountain in Europe. In December the same year, I summited 6962m-high Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain in South America (which I like to tell people is ‘the highest mountain in the world outside Asia,’ and then hope their geography is so weak that they don’t realise how huge an exclusion clause those two words, ‘outside Asia’, are). I then decided to have a crack at climbing Denali, and on 6 July 1997 stood proudly on the 6194m-high summit of North America’s highest peak and held up a t-shirt from Victoria University (which is where I taught political science for many years). Having climbed four of the Seven Summits, I’d surpassed my ‘Three-and-a- Half Summits’ goal. Somewhat serendipitously, however, a new climbing goal emerged seven years later. In Roger Marcus (left) and 2004, I was back in the USA—not to climb, but to research aspects of the various voting systems used for Eric Hodge celebrate their United States elections. It so happened that my son was also in the USA, doing a PhD at the University of successful ascent of Mt Minnesota, and—as a belated 60th birthday present for me—he and his fiancée treated me to a brief holiday Hood (3426m), the high- on the north shore of Lake Superior. While there, the three of us decided to hike up Eagle Mountain, the est mountain in Oregon. Nigel Roberts standing CLIMBING AMERICA’S highest peak in Minnesota. The summit is a mere 701m above sea-level, and after the climb—which took Nigel Roberts climbed on the summit of Denali us through pristine forests in The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness—I was intrigued to learn that Mt Hood on his second (6194m) and, instead ‘PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTIES … although Eagle Mountain is the 37th highest of the US’s 50 state highpoints, it’s ranked as the 18th hardest attempt, two years later. of a flag, holding up a to climb. Pondering these facts had a major effect on me. In light of the fact that my son was marrying an Victoria University of FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA’ American and I knew that in the long term they intended to live in the USA, I was sure I would be going to Wellington t-shirt. Denali the United States frequently to visit them. I concluded that as I’d already climbed Denali (which is unsur- was not only the fourth Successfully ascending the highest peak in each of the fifty US states prisingly not only the highest of the United States’ 50 state highpoints, but also ranked as the hardest to of the Seven Summits climb), I would try to climb all 13 mountains that together constitute the ten highest and the ten hardest of that Nigel climbed, words and photographs by NIGEL ROBERTS the state highpoints. They also account for all the US state highpoints that are over 3000m high. but—looked at from a After reading as much as I could about the remaining 12 of the 13 highest US state highpoints I had different perspective— decided to climb, I concluded I should initially tackle them in order of difficulty. After Denali, Wyoming’s the mountain was also t was the end of a quest when I reached the rocky summit of Mt Marcy, the highest peak in the state Gannett Peak (4207m) and Montana’s Granite Peak (3901m) are ranked as the second and third-hardest the first of the US state of New York, at noon on Sunday, 10 September 2017: I became the first resident of the southern hemi- ascents respectively, and in July 2006 I was lucky enough to succeed the first time I attempted them. The highpoints that he sphere to have climbed all 50 US state highpoints. According to data compiled by the United States’ three-day trek to the base of Gannett Peak, which is in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, took me through climbed. IHighpointers Club, I also became the 298th person ever to have successfully ascended all 50 peaks. Compare some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting. The Titcomb Basin—a U-shaped this with the facts that about 500 people climb Mt Everest each year, and that by the end of 2017 a grand glacial valley dotted with lakes and fields of wild flowers, and surrounded by soaring granite peaks—puts total of 4833 people had done so. Gannett Peak very high on my ‘I-wish-I-could-go-back-there’ list. Granite Peak was especially memorable My goal of climbing the 50 US state summits (or, to use the words of the famous song, America the too, because it is the only US state highpoint that requires technical rock climbing skills in order to ascend Beautiful, the country’s ‘purple mountain majesties … from sea to shining sea’) was one that evolved slowly it. That’s the reason why it was the last of the state highpoints to be climbed. It was first scaled only in over many years—decades, in fact—with multiple twists and turns. In December 1959, when I was a 15-year- 1923—a full ten years after the first ascent of Denali. Fortunately for me, the rock climbing necessary to old high-school student in South Africa, I was fascinated by Mt Kilimanjaro, and—thanks to very tolerant, reach the summit was the type of rock-climbing I like best: somewhere around New Zealand grade 13 on liberal and trusting parents—I hitch-hiked nearly 10,000 kilometres from Johannesburg to Moshi (in what good, clean, solid rock. was then Tanganyika) and back, and tried to climb the mountain. I failed to reach the summit, but my dream Early in 2007 I asked my Canberra-based climbing partner, Eric Hodge, if he wanted to climb the remain- of doing so did not fade and 26 years later, while I was on my way back to New Zealand after a period of sab- ing ten peaks with me, and I was extremely fortunate he agreed to join me in my highest-and-hardest 84 OVERSEAS CLIMBING OVERSEAS CLIMBING 85 highpoints venture. It took Eric and me almost eight all the way back to the trailhead—was both long (13 years—during which time we went on five long road hours) and tiring. Our one-day hike up Mt Whitney trips covering more than 9300 kilometres—to climb (4419m), the highest mountain in California (and the ten peaks. In mid-2007 we tackled the fourth and until Alaska and Hawaii were formally admitted fifth-hardest state highpoints: Washington state’s as states in 1959 and 1960, the highest mountain 4392m-high Mt Rainier and Oregon’s 3426m Mt in the USA) was also long and tiring. Unlike New Hood. We reached the summit of Mt Rainier on 4 Zealand’s national parks, visitor numbers to the July 2007—American Independence Day—so I left a Whitney Zone (which straddles the Inyo National note in the Mazama climbing club’s summit register Forest and the Sequoia National Park) are strictly pointing out that, unlike America, New Zealand had limited. Only 150 people are allowed into the area been ‘a colony that was loyal!’ per day on one-day permits, and to get a permit, you Unfortunately, though, the consequences of an need to take part in the Forest Service’s Mt Whitney earlier illness and a resulting lack of fitness meant Lottery (if only a system like this could be imple- that I failed to climb Mt Hood the first time Eric mented for the Tongariro Crossing). Eric and I were and I tackled it. Even though Eric and Roger Marcus lucky enough to win a permit that entitled us to be in (a friend I first met when I climbed Kilimanjaro the Whitney Zone for no more than 24 hours on 19 in 1985) did make it to Hood’s summit after I July 2012. As a result, we started out on the Mount turned around roughly 300 vertical metres below Whitney Trail at 1.40am; reached the summit of the the summit, Eric proved to be at least as loyal as New mountain at 9.25am; and—buggered but elated—got Zealand: he agreed to accompany me when I tried to back to the trailhead at 3.45pm. Nigel Roberts rock- climb Hood again two years later. In 2016, Eric and I reviewed the ten US state highpoints that we’d climbed Eric and I had now successfully ascended nine of the ten US state highpoints that we wanted to climb Ascending 17 of the 50 US climbing on Granite Peak together.

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