After hiking Echo Canyon on 4/19/2011 we were talking to some ASU students about the official time trial we are going to have soon to determine who is the fastest up and down Echo Canyon.
We have heard rumors that the fastest time is 16:02 which can even be found documented on ClimbCamelback.com, however according to a very nice guy named Mike, the fastest time is much faster.
According to him an older guy by the name of Tom Hayes has put up a time of 14:48. This came as a shock and is a blistering time to say the least. Can this time be beaten by anyone besides Lance Armstrong? We will find out…
sure, he did it in 14:48. and i did it in 13:03… (sarcasm)
I did it under 20 and so far I personally meet only 2 persons who could do it under 20: a guy, and a girl. I know it’s hard to believe that a girl could do it under 20, but it’s true.
There is a professional athlete (Lewis) who claims he did it in 16:20, I never met him but I believe him. Otherwise all the other “documented” times on climbcamelback.com are only self submitted times, so please, take them with a huge grain of salt.
I am willing to meet anybody who claims he can do it under 20 and time him/her.
It was hard for us to believe as well, that is why we are planning to hold on official time trials to settle the record once and for all.
How do you plan on doing these trials? Parking is a pain and logistically it’ll be a nightmare. If you have a lot of time in your hands you can go there often and get to meet the regulars (some come in the morning, some in the afternoon, but not in weekends) find out about who is fast and try to catch them.
You are not going to get a PR against the watch; you need someone fast to push you hard.
I time myself once in a while but the fun part is chasing (and catching) the person in front of me while keeping it under 35 minutes round-trip up-down including the breath catching stop at the top. Probably 21-1-11 — 21 min up, 1 min break at the top, 11 min down.
Because of how crowded the trail gets during peak season, the trials will need to be done when it is a little hotter. One guy at the bottom and one at top with synchronized watches should do the trick.
The trials will be held from early morning until mid afternoon with an open format. We will be taking donations for charity and will post the times later in the day. We may even have prizes.
We had talked about doing it this May will probably push back to September.
Just some thoughts suggestions are welcomed of course.
Though I live in Flagstaff, I would love it you would keep in the loop for future “record” pursuits. I am down in Phx now & again.. and I would love to meet up for a fast effort. I have a couple posts on my blog of past runs on camelback (http://jasonwolfe.blogspot.com/)… Best of Luck!!
Will do, thanks Jason