"Ultra.m.ountaineers"?

Has anyone heard this term for speed-hikers? (Or is it a typo?) In any event, this piece is mainly about Dave Bellemare's and Lei Wang's extreme hiking and Bellemare's plans for the Canadian Rockies. Seth Levy of the AHS attributes it to novelty (fewer new mountains left to climb so find a different way to climb them) and time constraints (climb in a day what you might otherwise do in a whole weekend).

Edit p.s. Why did the title show up as "..."?

A few thoughts.

1) Title is "..." perhaps because you put the title in quotes? (Just a guess.)

2) It's a typo. They mean "ultra-mountaineers". Google around and you'll find the most hits for "ultra-mountaineering". Note that the hits you'll find use the term as in the article: distance-hiking in mountains.

3) I'll start by saying that any such feat is undoubtedly challenging, and worthy of respect. Nevertheless, I wonder about calling it "mountaineering", let alone "ultra-mountaineering". I recently participated in a discussion of "what is ski mountaineering?" where I presented the liberal view that it's "mountaineering with skis" or "a trip where ski skills and mountaineering skills are needed". The more difficult question may be, "what is mountaineering?" Much as everyone would like to feel good about their hiking adventures, I question whether "mountaineering" as such is involved.

I have few answers, and many questions!

Waumbek said:

Has anyone heard this term for speed-hikers? (Or is it a typo?) In any event, this piece is mainly about Dave Bellemare's and Lei Wang's extreme hiking and Bellemare's plans for the Canadian Rockies. Seth Levy of the AHS attributes it to novelty (fewer new mountains left to climb so find a different way to climb them) and time constraints (climb in a day what you might otherwise do in a whole weekend).

Edit p.s. Why did the title show up as "..."?

Click to expand...

FWIW, Dave Bellemare and Lei Wang are Crazy Dave and Mountaingirl on VFTT. I thought the story sounded familiar!!

Fewer mountains left to climb? Let's see Cavedog's record for the NE3000'ers!!

-Dr. Wu