I am going to follow Teddy’s rules. To me they seem to be grandfathered in at this point, and it seems that they are written down and pretty well thought out, so if we have to have rules I think they are a pretty good set to follow.
In addition to Teddy’s rules I have added a couple of my own that I believe all competitors should follow:
- First, from here on out everyone should carry a satellite GPS tracker. The use of the tracker provides several advantages:
- A safety net. If a record attempter is injured then having a tracker would expedite a rescue. In the past this kind of safety net was completely lacking.
- Proof of accomplishments. In the past it was left to the honor system, which I think worked fine at the time because it had to, but satellite trackers are better. Nowadays there is very little talk about if what you accomplished was possible because you have visual proof to provide the naysayers. Don’t underestimate how nice that it!
- Allows the mountaineering community to follow along, participate, and help out.
The tracker should always be used to mark starting trailheads, summits, and finish trailheads. GPS units are not perfect and have a margin of error. So perfection is not required in finding the 3000 foot starting and ending points on peaks but the competitor should make their best effort to find the proper location.
Satellite trackers of course are not infallible. They can run out of batteries, they can stop working, or may accidentally be left behind by a tired competitor. In their tired mental state it would also be easy for a competitor to press the wrong button or forget to mark a summit or trailhead. These errors are expected but the competitor should make every effort to make sure they are using the satellite tracker properly and remembering to mark the trailheads and summits.
- Second, I have also made it clear to my crew that I prefer all traffic laws to be obeyed. It is not worth the risk to anyone for us to be speeding or breaking other traffic laws. The crew is often sleep deprived and I do not want any accidents!
Finally, a clarification. In 2015 the question was asked if it was ok for a competitor to ask a private landowner for special permission to cross their property. The issue was whether that was fair for future or past competitors who may not have or have had access to the private landowner.
The granting of special permission of use of private property has a long precedent in the 14er speed record history. Since Culebra was closed in 1999, all 4 of the record attempts in 1999 and 2000 required special permission from the landowner for the competitor to enter Culebra property at a time that the landowner deemed appropriate. Also the Denesik 2000 attempt was able to secure special permission to open the locked gate on the Silver Pick road so they could begin their attempt right at the 3000 foot mark, an advantage not available to the general public.
With such an established precedent it would of course be unfair to future competitors to try to add some sort constraint making it impossible to ask for special permission to use private property. Competitors are encouraged to look for new routes and linkups that will allow them to push the record to faster and faster levels, and if that requires help from private landowners then so be it!