Mike Summers was in good company last week as he relaxed in a leather conference chair, munched on a supreme slice from Tano’s Pizza and sipped a Sprecher’s Hard Root Beer.

At the end of the conference table was Tim Malzhan, 59, who thru-hiked the 1,200-mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail more than 25 years ago. Across the table to his right was Luke Kloberdanz, 40, who hiked the trail in one continuous trip in 2003. And seated directly across from Summers was Dave Caliebe, 34, who in 2010 thru-hiked the trail that winds through Wisconsin along the terminal moraine created by a glacier that receded more than 10,000 years ago.

The trio all work for the Ice Age Trail Alliance, a nonprofit based in Cross Plains that builds, maintains and promotes the trail. Malzhan, Kloberdanz and Caliebe all did their hikes in summer and fall. But on this day, they gathered in the Alliance’s conference room to welcome and refuel Summers, a skinny, bearded 26-year-old from Portland, Oregon, who is attempting a winter thru-hike of the trail, something never before accomplished.

He started the trip at Potawatomi State Park near Sturgeon Bay on Dec. 22, 2016 and is hoping to be at the trail’s western terminus at Interstate Park near St. Croix Falls by mid-March.

Read full story…

As Gathman stumbled across the adjacent, exposed ridge of the 4,145-foot West Peak, he faced whiteout conditions, with the temperature dropping to -20 degrees and wind gusting up to 70 mph. Gathman’s face mask was tucked securely in his pack and stopping to put it on would take time, so he pushed ahead, vying to reach the cover of trees before frostbite set in.

“I was fully, totally exerting myself for each individual step just to push through the wind,” Gathman saidin January as he resupplied near Hanover, New Hampshire, 200 miles south of Mount Bigelow. “I could feel the stinging sensation starting and turning into numbness on the exposed skin on my cheeks and nose and near my eyes.” After suffering exposure on the ridge for nearly 10 minutes, Gathman escaped below the tree line into relative safety.

That harrowing experience was just one of countless hazards encountered by the Real Hiking Viking as he attempts to become the first person on record to complete a solo, southbound winter thru-hike of the AT, having started in December. On December 4, Gathman set out from the 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine. Many of the thousands of hikers who attempt the trail each year start at Springer Mountain in Georgia and head north during the spring thaw in March or April. A handful have left in December heading south but, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s records, no one has ever successfully finished.

Read full story…

The two men had just completed what’s thought to be the first documented, wintertime through-hike of the iconic, 2,650-mile footpath from Canada to Mexico. “My heart is still racing,” said Forry, 33, moments after touching the trailhead marker. “It is a pretty joyous moment.”

Before their start date October 21 Forry told friends he calculated their odds of succeeding at 17 percent. But those odds took a sharp jump for the better a few weeks ago when the duo descended from the High Sierra tired, hungry but otherwise unscathed.

For people in the hiking community who track accomplishments on the Pacific Crest Trail the successful culmination of a wintertime hike is considered a monumental accomplishment.

Read full story…

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is closer to the forefront of popular culture. But tackling the 2,650-mile trail during winter is an unheard-of feat — for now. That’s something backcountry adventurers Justin Lichter and Shawn Forry want to change.

The two men are embarking on an attempt to traverse the entire route during a season when conditions are at their most treacherous and unforgiving. The attempt takes all the challenges of grueling, multi-month backcountry journeys and adds freezing weather, deep snow, avalanches and even more isolation to the mix.

“We’ve been thinking about this trip for five years,” said Lichter, 34, of Truckee, during a recent interview. “If it is a weak winter it increases our odds,” added Forry, 33, of Midpines, Calif. “But it also takes a little away from it.”

While the PCT has been part of the National Scenic Trails System since 1968, there’s no official record of anyone having made a recent credible attempt to through-hike it during the winter months, said Jack Haskel, trail information specialist for the Pacific Crest Trail Association.

Read full story…