Andrea Sansone climbs 12 14ers in under 24 hours setting new FKT

• Andrea Sansone climbed 12 14ers in 22hrs16min (supported).
• Eric Lee set the previous men’s and overall FKT with 11 14ers in 21hrs50min (supported) on 9/19/2020.
• Becca Jay set the previous women’s FKT with 8 14ers in 18hrs33min (supported) on 7/8/2020.
• FKT = Fastest Known Time

“This project has been a long time coming and there was so much effort from all ends. I didn’t want to let anyone on support down so when I doubted myself during the hardest moments I just had to do what I knew how to do – and that was hike,” said Andrea Sansone after setting the new overall 14er 24 hour FKT.

14ers climbed

• Columbia, Harvard (2)
• Belford, Oxford, Missouri (3)
• Democrat, Lincoln, Bross (3)
• Grays and Torreys (2)
• Bierstadt, Evans (2)

Weather

Andrea Sansone and Andrew Hamilton are gracious hosts. We were sharing a wonderful enchilada dinner when the conversation quickly pivoted and Andrea said, “We’re going to start the FKT attempt on Thursday and finish Friday.” I said I need to look at those dates – I think that coincides with a Monsoon surge.

I’ve worked with Andrea and Andrew numerous times and they’re great friends. They’ll climb through almost anything. But, a 24-hour record really needs a cleaner forecast. So, we changed dates.

Making it happen

Andrea shot this video on Mount Belford. You’ll notice the thunderstorms in the distance. At this point, Andrea is moving ahead and away from the thunderstorms.

Andrea shot this video on the Decalibron loop almost on the summit of Democrat. By this point the afternoon thunderstorms are dying quickly and she’s home free.