[pct-l] Alpine Style Thru-Hiking?

[blisterfree at isp01.net (Brett)]

>>Greylock to Gorham would be about 160 miles, vs. the Long
Trail's 270 from end to end.


Self-correction. The above "160 miles" would be about the 
distance from Greylock MA to Hanover NH. Continuing on to 
Gorham, however, does get you in the ballpark of the LT's 
full distance. (But how would one miss resupplying in 
Hanover, which the AT passes through?)

- bf

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Julliard" <atjulliard@yahoo.com>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 5:58 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Alpine Style Thru-Hiking?


> (This is in reference to someone's questions about
> Coup's hikes at
> http://www.golite.com/team/athletes/coup/index.asp)
>
>  I saw this site a couple of months ago when I was
> looking at modifying my GoLite Gust pack.  I had to
> chuckle to myself.  From the website:
>
> "Alpine Style Thru-Hiking entails doing a hike on a
> major trail from one end to the other continuously
> without any re-supply or support of any kind. Other
> than water, readily available from sources on the
> routes, everything will be carried from the very
> beginning including every bit of clothing, equipment,
> and food."
>
> "Enjoying an alpine style thru-hike of a trail as long
> as the Colorado Trail wasn't even thinkable a decade
> ago" said Coup. "Now with 1 ? pound packs, 1 pound
> shelters, 1 ? pound sleeping bags, ? pound
> waterproof-breathable parkas and the like, it's
> totally achievable."
>
>  As I am a climber who has climbed some "alpine
> style" in the mountains, I know what it means.  Since
> he did not define it, I will.  Basically, "alpine
> style" originated in the Himalayas in opposition to
> "expedition style" which involved large parties of
> climbers with porters carrying all of their gear,
> moving slowly and establishing multiple camps for
> climbers to move between; this was the original method
> of climbing big mountains.  Alpine style meant small
> teams (usually 2) carrying everything themselves,
> minimal gear, moving quickly to minimize the exposure
> to risk, as if the climb were in the Alps, hence
> alpine.  Retreat is almost impossible in true alpine
> style so you better know what you are doing.  Most
> climbs are done alpine style now.  GoLite's twist of
> semantics when referring to thru-hiking is quite a
> stretch even if they do bear a resemblance.
>  But what gets me is acting like this is new.  Gee,
> where were you guys decades ago?  On the AT in 1974,
> because of the bizarre way I did food drops every 20
> days (!), I went from south of Mt. Greylock all the
> way to Gorham without resupply; isn't that about the
> same distance as the entire Long Trail?  Certainly
> going 17 days from Highway 178 to Mammoth Lakes
> without resupply in 1975 was a lot further than the
> John Muir Trail, covered much of the same ground plus
> I was in the snow most of the way; I was supposed to
> get the next drop at Tuolumne but the PO wasn't open
> yet, hence Mammoth, though I had enough food to go on
> the 2 - 3 more days.  Take into account that I was
> carrying a lot of heavy gear, substitute today's light
> gear and you could easily add 10 more days of food and
> still have a lighter pack than I had.  So, although
> doing the entire Colorado Trail in one go is
> impressive, I would not doubt that someone did it a
> long time ago.  Considering all the people out there
> doing unpublished megahikes for years and years, I
> would be very reluctant to claim the first on
> anything.  Just look at Eric Ryback!
>  Of course, its all just more hype, something we have
> come to expect from gear companies.  I wonder if Coup
> and GoLite have figured out yet that they have done
> the only trails they are likely to ever do in this
> fashion since most long trails go through towns and
> such.  Me, I am starting a new style myself, which I
> have exercised on a thru-hike of the Cotswold Way with
> my family and friends, that is, carry no supplies but
> stop at every pub along the way and partake of goods
> found within; I call it "Alpine style thru-pubbing".
>
> ;-)
>
> Alan
>
>
>
>
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