Mt. Rainier Speed Ascent Record: Some History, Some Insight, And A Whole Bunch Of Controversy

I posted an article yesterday about Justin Merle’s recent speed ascent of Mt. Rainier. I have not noticed this story in the press, even though from what I have seen, this is being listed as an ‘unofficial’ speed climbing record on Mt. Rainier. I did mention that once I posted the article, it could gather a bit more attention in the world and perhaps we could all find out more of what is going on and why this is currently listed as ‘unofficial’.

It didn’t take readers long to start chiming in on this issue. One particular tip came to my email box today that seemed to explain quite a bit. I am not big on posting anonymous tips for the fact that you never really know who is sending it your way-is it a competitor? I don’t really know who it is.

On that basis, I have decided to post this anonymous message. For one, it is very detailed and offers up a huge amount of information, both on Justin Merle, as well as the history of the Mt. Rainier Speed Ascent record. It also goes in to some detail about how records are actually recorded on Mt. Rainier and the process that climbers have went through to get an official climbing record. I think that all of you will agree that his information is worthy of a post, even though the author of this information is not yet known. Enjoy the read, enjoy the controversy, and then let me know your thoughts through the comments section.

Message:
Radio interview with Justin Merle-
http://www.bobrivers.com/asx/TR_49-7719.asx

Hi Bob Rivers Show:

Thought I’d forward this to you.
——————-

I listened to your radio interview with Justin. You asked him a
couple times if he knows what the “official” Rainier record is. He
said he doesn’t know. It is common knowledge, and readily available
on various Internet sites, that Dan Howitt of Portland, OR has the
2nd official Rainier speed record in history. The 1st official
record was done by Everest legend Jim Whittaker in 1959 along with
his brother Lou and talented athlete John Day.

Howitt did his in 2004, and spent a total of $750 to hire two timing
officials to time him from the start and to the summit. They are
Brogan Adams, a former manager at Climb Max Mountaineering in
Portland, and Carl Poland of the Fort Lewis Army Rangers. (Howitt
did 2 attempts two weeks apart on Rainier, for the first attempt he
hired Brogan Adams and Utah guide Marcus Donaldson, and his attempt
failed at 13,000′ due to 50mph sustained wind. He then went back a
week later, paying hundreds of more dollars to hire timers to climb
to the summit again).

Howitt went to Climb Max to ask if anyone could time him. He had
never met the timers before. True 3rd party status.

Howitt, also, is the first person to have 3rd party photos taken at
the start and summit:

Start:
http://forums.climbing.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&NumberE69&an=0&page=0
Summit: also here, scroll down to second picture…also see other
pictures and articles further below, including an interview with his
Mt. Hood timer.
http://forums.climbing.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&NumberE69&an=0&page=0
Summit: http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/viewtopic.php?pE386#p45386

Howitt, unlike Whittaker, did only an ascent from Paradise to the
Summit, not a round-trip climb. Howitt’s time was 5:02 minutes to
the summit (I believe the 4:59:05s at some sites is not correctly
reported). Whittaker’s was 5:20 to the summit, and 7:20 round-trip.

Jim Whittaker can be contacted at:
http://jimwhittaker.altrec.com/jimwhittaker/presentations/
info@jimwhittaker.com

Buzz Burrell of Colorado, an incredible competitive endurance
athlete, and someone who trains hours a day and extremely intensely,
did a one-way ascent of Rainier in 2005 in 5 hours 8 minutes, one-way
from Paradise to the Summit like Howitt.
http://homepage.mac.com/buzzburrell/ Burrell’s time, though, was
unverified.

Nike’s John Eberle did the same in 2005 in 5 hours 30 minutes, time
was unverified. Eberle is a very talented competitive endurance
athlete as well, and trains every day very hard.

A Navy person, Jeff something, did a one-way ascent in 2005 in 4
hours 40 some minutes. I’m still trying to find his full name and
how to reach him…I had this info in the past. Jeff is a great
mountaineer, though not an endurance athlete.

See the following recent story and information about the former
Rainier “record” holder Chad Kellogg (the time listing for Howitt is
not accurate though). Kellogg claimed, in 1998, to climb Rainier to
the top in 3 hours 24 minutes, and round-trip in 5 hours 6 minutes 54
seconds. See especially the information further below.

Story on this Chad Kellogg, from The Adventure Blog, click on images
to zoom-in.
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9149/advblograinierrecord1da3.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9594/advblograinierrecord2zn8.jpg

TEXT FROM ARTICLE (the time listing for Howitt is a mistake).

————
There is apparently a new “unofficial” speed record on Rainier. I say
unofficial, because the climber in question, Justin Merle, a guide on
the mountain, and successful Everest and Denali summitteer, went to
the summit and back in 4 hours, 49 minutes, and 35 seconds, but had
no official timers. This time beats the old record of 4 hours, 59
minutes, 1 second set by Chad Kellogg back in 2004, which was also
unofficial, as Kellogg didn’t have timers either.
Kellogg’s “record” has been called into question for some time,
thanks to the lack of photographic evidence, lack of witnesses other
than friends who were used to cover the timing and questionable
entries into the log books. A number of other climbers have expressed
concerns over the legitimacy of Kellogg’s claims.
In fact, Dan Howitt, the official record holder on Rainer, has
extended a challenge to Kellogg every year since 2003 to recreate his
record speed climb, using official timers. Last I heard, the offer
was up to $5000 cash for Kellogg to make another go on Rainier,
although each year he simply ignores the offers. He doesn’t even
bother to respond to decline the offer, even when it’s made in a
gesture for charity. In this latest article, Kellogg is quoted as
saying he now has motivation to go for the record again. I guess the
whispers about the legitimacy of his first record and the offers of
money to recreate it were not enough motivation. He needed a new
“unofficial” record to get the fire back in his belly.
By the way, Dan Howitt holds the official record, knocking off the
mountain in 5 hours, 59 minutes, and 5 seconds. In this case, the
record was officially timed from the summit and from the start, and
independently corroborated, summit photos and all.
With all this talk of speed records, doesn’t anyone just go for a
nice stroll and enjoy the view anymore?
————-

Regarding Chad Kellogg-

The 1998 Rainier summit register copy.
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/1674/rainier1998summitregistsf0.jpg

Obtained from the National Archives.

See Chad Kellogg’s written information.

“9/1/__ Chad Kellogg 4:20 Speed Ascent”

His written time is “4:20″ 4 hours 20 minutes. This is for his time
from the start (Paradise parking lot 5450ft elevation elevation) to
summit. Then, he descended back to 5450ft elevation.

This summit register copy was obtained in 2003. First time anyone
requested it and first time anyone looked at it.

After finishing back at Paradise - Kellog told the Seattle Times
and others his time was “3:24″ 3 hours 24 minutes, with, a total time of
5:06 5 hours 6 minutes.

Copy of Chad’s report of his split times-

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7600/kellogg1998rainierws2.jpg

———————————

It’s widely thought that Kellogg has claimed two fradulent Rainier
speed records. He also claimed a Denali record in 2003, and claimed
that the basecamp managers timed him. He claimed it was “official”.
Dan Howitt investigated this slowly and carefully over several
months, and emailed with both basecamp managers over time, Lisa
Roderick and Mark Westman, and found (1) they are close friends of
his, and (2) Lisa, the claimed start timer, didn’t know she was an
official timer and only “recalled” the time he left base camp around
11pm (later Kellogg said it was 2am)…Lisa’s recollection would make
Chad’s time 3 hours slower than what he reported. Mark Westman said
he spoke with Chad via CB radio when Chad was at the summit, and that
Chad told him his own time 14:22 minutes and said this was his time
from “when Lisa started me”. Chad did not ask Westman to write down
the time of day for his summit time, nor did he ask Roderick.

This controversy was presented from 2003 onward for a few years on
www.mountainspeedclimbing.org, which is no longer run…it will
appear at a later time again, but in the meantime, I have several
emails from Roderick and Westman, and also this article from Get
Outdoors-

Chad Kellogg Update - Denali Speed Record now Unofficial

Growing numbers of people believe Kellogg, Merle, and even others
before then on Rainier and elsewhere, are all perpetual frauds,
seeking publicity, media, sponsors, reputation, etc. And of course,
Kellogg has ignored immense money offers to speed climb Rainier with
timers, every year offers have been made since 2003. Dan Howitt has
offered him this money, including $5000 last year. This year,
several others rose $2500 including Chris Willian of Portland, OR.

____________________________________________

My personal guess is that someone involved with the Bob Rivers Show sent me this tip.  It was well planned out and well written and definitely showed some insight into this debate.  What are your thoughts on this issue?  How should the records be handled?  Is there some legitimacy to this issue, and what could be done to help in determining high-altitude records.  Should more proof be involved?  Let me hear your thoughts.