"The Grid" has replaced "The List"

[dr_wu002]

Back in 2004, "the list" (NH48) was still a big thing. And to a lot of people, it still is and if they finish it and they're proud of their accomplishment, I wouldn't take anything away from them. Way back 50 years ago the NH48 (or 46 back then) was a real big thing. Now, I guess there's easier access and maybe in general, hiking has attracted people who are really focused about doing things that the significance of doing "the list" has been replaced by "the grid." Also, people seemed to have figured out that you can actually do the 48 in a few months, weeks or even days, even in winter, so there's a new challenge, especially considering the more obsessive and planned nature of it: juggling 576 things rather than just 48.

A few years back people thought that the 100 Highest or even the 3000'ers would be the next thing and nobody even really talked about The Grid except for a few eccentrics that finished. Now, my guess is you're going to start seeing ~10-20 grid finishers a year, especially considering if you really try you can do it in 3-4 years. I'm thinking that in some ways, it's the new standard.

My feeling on it is I guess the grid is actually pretty cool, especially doing all the 48 in all the months. I like the mountains. I like the various seasons. But I'm not organized enough (nor have the desire to) to avoid having the logistical nightmare of having to do Tecumser or South Carter 11 times in one year to finish up. I'd freak out. I only finished the 48 simply by randomly accumulating peaks. Operating with the same mindset, I wouldn't be able to complete the grid in one lifetime. But kudos to anyone that does it, especially Grid Finisher #11.

-Dr. Wu

 

[DougPaul]

I think it has to do with the severity of one's OCD...

Doug

 

[Tom Rankin]

I think it has to do with the severity of one's OCD...
Doug

To me, 'Gridiot' sums it up!

I try NOT to hike high peaks in April and November!

That's what Views and Brews is for!

 

[Snowflea]

my guess is you're going to start seeing ~10-20 grid finishers a year, especially considering if you really try you can do it in 3-4 years.

If you really, REALLY try -- and are eccentric, organized, unemployed, and hiking is your life -- you can do it in a year.

Who's gonna be first?

 

[Craig]

I think it has to do with the severity of one's OCD...

Doug

Ya, doing the same thing over and over is just crazy.

 

[TrishandAlex]

If you really, REALLY try -- and are eccentric, organized, unemployed, and hiking is your life -- you can do it in a year.

Who's gonna be first?

I brought up that possibility on Rocks on Top a couple of years ago and everyone thought I was nuts. I know I can't do the Grid in the year, but I'm 100% confident someone will eventually do it. You'd have to be unemployed for that calendar year and have a huge amount of drive and determination...and a bit of luck as far as the weather is concerned...but anything's possible. Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[MichaelJ]

I think it's not so much that the grid has replaced the list, it's that the majority of the community here on VFTT, which has for a long time been fairly unchanged, have finished the 48 or the 67 or the 100, and a number of them became interested in moving on to the larger list challenges.

There are still plenty of people out pursuing their first all-season 48, they're just not all VFTT members.

 

[Raven]

I think it's not so much that the grid has replaced the list, it's that the majority of the community here on VFTT, which has for a long time been fairly unchanged, have finished the 48 or the 67 or the 100, and a number of them became interested in moving on to the larger list challenges.

Agreed. Also, the Whites are the big, beatiful mountains that we all have right here. They're nearby to those doing the grid and they're the highest around. It's only natural that lists are somehow going to be spinoffs of the 48. At some point someone will probably summit all the NE peaks over 10 feet, but I for one really like the idea of hiking many of the same mountains in vastly different conditions, on different trails, and under differing circumstances each time. The shoulder seasons now provide the solitude that's harder to find in summer and even winter and provide a different set of challenges.

I'm sure many of us would like to take on the 14ers, etc. next but I can't get to any of those in an 1 or 2 hour drive.

I've done the math for my age of completion of the grid given my current rate of hiking and presumed continued health. I think it would be a great lifetime fitness plan.

Regarding finishing the grid in a year, I've been waiting for someone to attempt this. I think the largest challenge in this would be maintaining physical health and avoiding chronic injury with that constant abuse over a year. It doesn't leave much rest time. I totally believe it will be done though, and IMO soon.

 

[spencer]

I think Wu just likes to say he doesn't care about a list And doesn't need to finish. And since he succumbed to the temptation and finished the 48 he needs a new list to poo poo...

 

[Craig]

As a side thought, given the fact that many more people are finishing the grid in NH than are finishing in NY does that mean the Whites are a lot easier than the Adirondacks?

 

[dr_wu002]

I think Wu just likes to say he doesn't care about a list And doesn't need to finish. And since he succumbed to the temptation and finished the 48 he needs a new list to poo poo...

No, I think the grid is cool, just not for me. I like obsessing about things but in a random, unfocused way. I'm just amazed how many finishers there have been in the last year or so compared to the entire last decade.

I think another thing is enough people have "broken the seal" that it seems attainable by ordinary people and you don't have to be Ed Hawkins or Sue Johnston or Cath Goodwin to do it in a few years.

-Dr. Wu

 

[una_dogger]

Who's gonna be first?

One or two come to mind

Agreed.
I think it would be a great lifetime fitness plan.

I totally agree!

 

[NewHampshire]

REAL hikers Grid the Trailwright 72 (with the x12 on the 72 hours of trailwork as well)

Brian

 

[TrishandAlex]

REAL hikers Grid the Trailwright 72 (with the x12 on the 72 hours of trailwork as well)

Brian

There's the next new thing, right there.

 

[dr_wu002]

There's the next new thing, right there.

Doubtful. (not that you're seriously implying that it is). 864 individual hikes vs. probably 200-300 individual hikes to complete the grid. Plus the Trailwrights list is even more arbitrary in terms of criteria than the NH48 (which at this point is pretty much ingrained in people's heads)... West Osceola? Mt. Lethe? WTF? And why isn't Ball Crag on the Trailwrights List but Mt. Franklin is?

FWIW, I can't imagine the 12 x 50 Finest taking off either. Not contained enough to a concise area and too many strange peaks (Mt. Grass?) on it. The NE67 maybe but that's a ways off.

There was ~10 Grid finishers up until say 2010. My guess is by 2020 you have >100.

-Dr. Wu

 

[dug]

This Saturday I am going to hike a trail, not to a summit or pond, that I have already been on before. When I reach a non-descript location, I am going to turn around and hike out.

To some, that is a complete waste of time.

 

[bjc]

West Osceola? Mt. Lethe? WTF?

Where's Mt. WTF ?

 

[ColdRiverRun]

Where's Mt. WTF ?

I think it's West of TF mountain? Of course I think I heard Mr Kill say something like WTF, JF, so maybe we should ask, JF?

 

[Tim Seaver]

Beyond the Grid...lies The Matrix

If you really, REALLY try -- and are eccentric, organized, unemployed, and hiking is your life -- you can do it in a year.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

... probably 200-300 individual hikes to complete the grid.

It is probably safe to say that, on average, the NH48 can be done in 24 hikes (or fewer). A lot depends on conditions, especially in winter, but if you average 2-3 peaks per hike in good conditions and 1-2 peaks in tough conditions, then 300 would seem a reasonable ceiling. If you're pursuing the grid, you probably aren't a single-peak-and-done hiker.

From my own experience with the NH48 and Winter 48, I did

Any: 48 peaks in 26 trips (1.85 peaks/trip) for 289 miles and ~93K feet in 192 hours (~11 miles/trip, 3600 feet on average).

Winter: 48 peaks in 30 trips (1.6 peaks/trip) for 304 miles and ~100K feet in 199 hours (~10 miles/trip, 3400 feet on average).

To do the grid in a year probably means you have to be willing to solo and break trail which reduces your average. At 2 peaks/trip average, you have to hike 4 out of every 5 days. Having a helpful crew to aid in breaking trail would make this much more achievable but arguably less sporting. You have to stay uninjured and not get sick.

Tim Muskat did three rounds in winter 2010-2011, so the winter part is doable. Shoulder season may be harder than winter proper (I don't much, if any, hiking during April...)

Tim
p.s. Let me apologize in advance for being "too number-ish" You know who you are