What is Dirrettisima?

[tomcat32]

I saw the post about a couple doing the Dirrettisima and never heard of that. I'm guessing it has to do something with hiking all 48 NH 4Ks at one shot or within X number of days. Can someone educate me on this?

 

[vegematic]

I think it means in one long hike, without driving between trailheads. Someone will chime in if I am wrong.
-vegematic

 

[Early Bird]

I've seen it spelled different ways and I'm not sure which is correct. This link may help.
Or this one.

 

[Maddy]

I think it means in one long hike, without driving between trailheads. Someone will chime in if I am wrong.
-vegematic

Maybe it has more than one meaning.
Diretissima is also the name of the trail "for hikers desiring access to the Glen Boulder Trail from Pinkham Notch Visitor Center."
"It eliminate a road walk on NH 16." courtesy of the AMC Guide Book

There are lots of Diretissimas on the web when you do a google search.

 

[Jeff List]

In international climbing circles the term “direttissima” simply means the most direct, and often hardest, route to a summit. For example, here’s a book on the Eiger direttissima:
http://www.amazon.com/DIRETTISSIMA-...8&qid=1343002989&sr=1-1&keywords=direttissima

However, in a December 1971 story in Appalachia Magazine, Rev. Henry T. Folsom defined the White Mountains Direttissima as a continuous footpath connecting the summits of the (at the time) 46 mountains over 4000 feet, and further specified, upon throwing out the challenge to others, that whatever route chosen only include established, signed trails and roads assessable to cars. He did his route in 1969, starting at Cabot and ending at Moosilauke, taking 19 days, and spending some nights on the trail and some at home. Clearly Rev. Folsom’s route was not a direttissima in the standard mountaineering sense of the word, as that would involve a huge amount of bushwacking in the Whites.

In 2007 Mats Roing accomplished the closest I’m aware to repeating a Folsom Direttissima, continuously hiking the now 48 4000 footers in under 11 days, as reported in this thread:
http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?18251-The-48-Direttissima-in-progress-update
However, Roing used several paths, including the Lincoln Slide and the Fire Warden Trail on Mt. Hale, that Rev. Folsom probably wouldn’t have including in his definition of a White Mountains Direttissima. Not that it matters—the Roing hike was, as far as I know, the fastest continuous, and almost completely unsupported, thru-hike of the 48 4000 footers by any route.

 

[JacobH]

I think the literal definition is "most direct route".

Here is a discussion of the most direct route to hike the nh 4ks:

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthre...-New-Hampshire-4000-ers&highlight=diretissima

Also this thread (with links to other threads) discussing attempts to "thru hike" a dirrettisima of the whites:

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthre...ima-Hikes-in-the-Whites&highlight=diretissima

I think the word has sort of become an eponym or metonym for a thru hike without refueling? At least in this community.

edit: Aaaand Jeff List beat me to it by 6 minutes.

 

[Stan]

Yeah, I thought it was a direct tough hike, too, as in time di restimma butt.