News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Brent McGregor on Middle Sister. photo provided
Sisters mountaineer Brent McGregor set a blistering pace in a solo climb of all three Sisters mountains September 30, traveling trailhead to trailhead in 11 hours and 54 minutes.
The 50-year-old adventurer had climbed every peak of note from Mount Shasta to Mount Rainier (the only peak he didn't summit) and he was looking for a new challenge.
"I'd been thinking about doing this for about three months and I waited for the right day," McGregor said.
McGregor acknowledged the risks of a fast, solo climb.
"I deliberately wanted to go solo, even though I know your risk is increased when you go solo," he said.
McGregor is an experienced mountaineer and he said that, even though he was moving fast, he never pushed beyond his personal safety limits.
"I went as fast as I safely felt good," he said. "I never seemed spooked or out of my element."
The "Sisters marathon" is an informal challenge; there are no records of times to measure oneself against. The general goal is to bag all three peaks in 24 hours.
According to McGregor, the accepted first successful completion of the marathon occurred in 1931. Since then, many climbers have taken up the challenge, some adding additional peaks like Broken Top into the effort.
McGregor said he didn't specifically set a time goal for the climb, but he figured that he'd be happy if he completed the marathon in 15 hours.
He started out from the Pole Creek Trailhead at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, September 30. He climbed North Sister, then Middle Sister, then South Sister.
His pace and route-finding success put him ahead of schedule.
"When I got to the top of South Sister in 10 hours, it hit me that I could do it in 12 hours," McGregor said.
The lanky mountaineer ran down the last five miles of trail on South Sister to break the 12 hour barrier with six minutes to spare.
There are no prizes or ribbons for a fast time on the Sisters marathon. The rewards are strictly personal.
For McGregor, there is a euphoria produced by working that hard, moving that quickly in the high country. There is intense satisfaction in testing one's mountaineering skills, pushing the limits, meeting challenges.
McGregor said he trains very deliberately for his adventures, monitoring his heart rate and learning to use diet and hydration to help his body achieve more than seems possible.
He credits that conscious training for his success on his recent climb.
"Proper eating and hydration really helps on a long adventure like this," he said.
McGregor already has his sights set on another adventure in his backyard.
He hopes to tackle the marathon again, this time adding Broken Top and Mount Bachelor.
He wants to climb all five peaks in 24 hours without the use of a car shuttle.
McGregor is active in the local Cascades Mountaineers organization in Bend.
That organization will cover the Sisters Marathon in-depth at its February meeting, McGregor reported.
For more information visit www.cascadesmountaineers.org/.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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