Norman’s 13. “Wow - You don’t know humble till you have crawled up talus on all fours!”

Where to begin? I’m going to tell you what this challenge is and how I did it. There’s also a self filmed video blog now if you really want to see what it was like out there in my crazy mind at the time!

I feel bad some, my life snowballed out of control with so many race or record attempts back to back at the end of the season until I finally crashed and burned (inevitably eventually?) and didn’t have much time left over (or energy!) to collect my thoughts. This route was one pretty rad trip entirely and just a big genuine adventure to bite off. Yes more people should do it, but also be entirely aware of the terrain you are getting into beforehand on crux sections like the back of Middle Palisade and many more that can’t all be mentioned in detail. If anything for my fatigue levels in the moment - the scenarios feel dramatic now in hindsight, but nothing is sugar coated here either.

Norman’s 13 - All 13 of the fourteen thousand foot high peaks in the Sierra in one continuous effort only on foot cross country, via mountainous passes/scrambling, or sections of the John Muir Trail. From the FKT site description: “The route is the brain-child of Andy Gohlich. The idea is a continuous link up of the thirteen 14ers in the Sierra Nevada Range, similar to Nolan's 14 in Colorado's Sawatch Range.” The final numbers now weigh in at 107.5 miles & +40K vertical feet in 3 days 16 hours 33 min car to car according to a Garmin GPS watch estimate. About 60 miles of those were over 4 passes of the JMT on good but steep trail. The rest are cross country or scrambling including my favorite section, “The Talus Ocean” between Mt Russel and Williamson, the crux technical climbing sections on the High Sierra Palisades Traverse - over the six 14K summits between Middle Palisade and Thunderbolt with difficulty regularly in the 5.7 category up to 5.9, and numerous 4th class “chossaneering” segments (some seldom very rarely traveled or maybe not really at all on the optional but most aggressive short cuts!).

I started from the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead at 4 AM. I wanted a full day to push the first 6 fourteeners all in 24 hours. This was my strategy that arguably is possibly the best or debatable… I would do the longest difficult off trail and cross country section while fresh at the start, also traveling these 6 peaks in traditionally the most advantageous direction from South to North based on previous FKT records. Hopefully I would finish this first push at dawn the next morning now cruising on the JMT in under 24 hours vs slogging through likely in a blurry stumble of over 40+ hours in a zombie crawl at the end. Later I could still move quickly on the technically exposed, but much less physical demanding finish of the Palisades Traverse… Hitting the right and wrong spots at dark or dawn could change everything, but just got to go for it and start somewhere!

The first night was uneventful mostly in hindsight. I pushed up to Langley quickly in a relaxed but efficient pace that saw me on the first summit in just under 4 hours. I then dropped down the sand hill over the backside for the first and mellowest off trail section of the route towards Sky Blue Lake. You feel so strong, but it is daunting even thinking about a challenge this long in front of you. I’d done 15 miles in the first 5 hours and thought - just 85 more? Can’t be that bad! Ha…

I was happy to reach the first “cardio crux” of the route looking down over Crabtree Pass across the lake towards the notorious sand hill climbing up the back of Discovery Pinnacle to rejoin the Whitney trail near Trail Crest. It’s not particularly eventful - just a giant sand hill that doesn’t relent and takes an honest sustained 45 minutes to surmount - trekking poles are helpful for sure here!

Peak 2 and 3 went quickly after the quick side detour scrambling up 4th class to tag Mt Muir and then Mt Whitney now at about 10 hours in pushing over Whitney summit and taking the obligatory summit photo. I was annoyed - 4 different guys were dispersed around the summit area talking on speaker phone on cell phones. The classic American Mt Whitney summit past time apparently now! Now for one of the real “garbage” cruxes of the route… the exfoliating north shoulder descent of Whitney direct. No one really goes down this way that I know yet except on these record pushes. I’ve decided it’s one of the top 3 bad spots of the route. You’ve been warned! A beautiful cheese grater slab of exfoliating steep choss with some ++ exposure. Does anyone do this?

It was harder this year because even in September after a record snow year there was still snow on those slabs and frozen up high at the base blocking my usual down climbing corner of choice. I thought about daring it for a second hanging out above the apparent abyss, but finally was afraid to jump or down climb fully committing to the steep exposed snow and chose to take cracks and slabs much further leftward to find something that would work. Few! I hate that section!! Always!

I made the steep slog across up and over to the final exposed traverse across the Mt Russell summit ridge glad to have plenty of daylight to make the maze like traversing descent down the N Ridge now 12 hours in. I was proud of my fitness this year not feeling like I was hitting my first bonk here, but instead feeling generally psyched as I enjoyed a snack and one of my favorite Sierra summit seats (always to myself) for a few min. You feel like a king up here!

Down to Wallace Lake and the “Talus Ocean”. I knew sunset was approaching as I started up the steep climb above the lake towards Vacation Pass (I’ve never actually hit the pass as far as I know, but just take the path of least resistance up one of the most obvious of 3 steep gullies above the lake). Finally, I switched my headlamp on as the full moon rose over the shoulder of Barnard East (a bonus almost 14er dictated by the terrain - even via the lowest crossing 13,700 feet). I cranked the tunes and made it up and down over the endless talus fields finally atop the steep sandy hill above Lake Helen of Troy. Another notoriously tricky spot potentially, snow would prove to be a challenge once again skirting the eastern shore of the lake and staying high as possible to avoid the worst of the steep unstable talus and snow fields just above the waterline.

Wow! This is a new level for me! I was proud to make the lonely summit push up to Mt Williamson (2nd highest 14er in the state) near midnight exactly. The full moon was so bright, I played a game turning off my headlamp for the final ridge traverse hopping across along the summit rocks. Alright 5 x 14ers in 20 hours with a full weight pack of multi day food and supplies - got to be the fastest anyone has done this segment so far with more than running clothes on! I’m not bonking yeah yeah! I know it’s all coming later, but this is kind of rad! Maybe I’ll take my planned one hour sleep break down there at the base of Tyndall?

I’d stolen the strategy from world champion ultra distance bike racers - sleep one hour the first night on long multi day races off the bat instead of going 2 nights with 0 sleep in a row off the starting block. If it works for Christoph Strasser, it can’t be a bad strategy! I knew I’d need the extra sobriety for safety too over the technical sections outside of the long JMT slog.

A cold wake up on the shoulder of Mt Tyndall (yes there was lots more dark talus between the 2 peaks and the Talus Ocean in general, but we’ll just glaze over all that for now haha. It’s a lot of talus to the JMT non stop from Mt Whitney is all you need to know! About 7 distance miles as the crow flies with 3 fourteener summits in between + that bonus Barnard East and another 13,600 foot pass around the back of Trojan Peak - so really it’s like 5 summits of nearly 14K over 100% talus for 7 miles if you could fly around like a bird. Feel me??).

The prior surge of energy I’d had skipping along on top of Williamson was suddenly hard to bring back and it now felt like a long time ago while pushing on up the dark slabs of Tyndall in the wee night hours - now nearing 4 AM. There is something ominous still for me about doing this route on Tyndall in the dark alone - maybe particularly after feeling my first bonk/dizzy feelings. It’s just so dark you can’t see far enough ahead or below to know where the top or bottom is and the exposure is of real consequence, but the slab is easy enough you could climb in almost any direction up it - but it’s also a giant slab (littered with randomly placed precariously perching chossy blocks just for good measure points) so you are 100% friction on your feet out there in the dark, it’s really cold, and you hope you are going the right way up and down… That’s pretty much my Tyndall experience overall (maybe everything is a little extra special mentally if you are doing 6 summits within 24 hours alone!).

Alright summit of Tyndall heading down at 5 AM! 24 hours + a 1 hour nap break exactly. Not bad! I can almost smell that JMT under my feet after the never ending talus. How bad could it be? Let’s get to Split Mountain today/tonight!?!

Long story short - I didn’t realize how much honest JMT time was ahead of me (4 passes okay just trail hiking?? In hindsight for picking 4 arbitrary passes they are each the highest vertical elevation on the JMT - all between about 12 - 13K elevation - go figure - but kind of inspiring that these are the 4 passes you take for this adventure - later on you take one more trail pass - Bishop Pass also at 11,972 higher than any remaining JMT passes for bonus points!), as I finagled continuing cross country through the brush and streams towards the JMT just west of Shepherd Pass. There’s the pass - and some normal hikers! Forester wasn’t too bad (over pretty quickly from the south) and I enjoyed the warming morning sunlight up the steep switchbacks chatting with a few fellow passing hikers. No I guess I didn’t ever really get passed by someone hiking on this trip even in my more stuporous stumbles as I was just so much lighter weight than the standard trail hikers as far back there.

I hiked on… and on…. feeling the humility over Glen Pass behind Kearsarge and Bullfrog Lake - this is no free lunch after doing all those peaks already! I appreciated the familiar passing views of Charlotte Dome from earlier summer climbing adventures. Wow this is a lot of ground to cover here!

As I neared Ray Lakes at dusk my mind started to wonder about sleeping spots. I’d planned to use bear cans or boxes for any real sleep breaks and knew there were several public options back there. I made my one real route finding error of the route here and missed the turn off that crosses over the series of islands around the east shore of the lake. I hadn’t been through here in several years and ended up adding a bonus mile or so + climbing up and then back tracking around the West shore instead. Seriously you nail all the off trail navigation by dark and mess it up on the JMT in day time?! Stay humble…

I knew the elevation was low enough here, I might actually be able to sleep comfortably with my lack of bivy gear or sleeping bag and not break any food storage rules for a rare actual real stop on this 24/7 feeling adventure. Meeting some fellow campers for a few min while bedding down, I didn’t turn down the offer for a couple of extra trail snack bars “dinner” to digest while sleeping 2 or 3 hours. Not a long break, but something not moving. I’d slog on through the night and hopefully make it to Split Mountain where is it ha?!!

The trail proved endless as I started hiking again at 10 PM at night, crossing the swinging bridge at Woods Creek at midnight. Split Mountain where are you???? I pushed on through dawn over Pinchot Pass now at 48 hours + in with honestly probably 2 hours of real total sleep time. No running was happening at this point as I tried my best to steady power hike up the long pass. I’m doing alright? My knees were feeling it gradually stiffening over the endless forward ups and downs for 2 long days now and my feet hurt in their own unique ways to state the obvious perhaps! I’d hoped to be on Split Mountain before daylight!

Just before the top of the pass I met another hiker in running clothes similarly dressed as me that was running down the backside of the pass. Wow what’s this guy doing? You heading for Sawmill pass on a big running loop? He asked are you Ryan Tetz?! Yeah that’s me... No I’m going to Langley hopefully! What?? I’m Matt Zupan. He’d seen my social media or tracking link and started a day after me going the opposite direction trying to do the first complete known time on Norman’s 13 as well. He even had the same backpack as me similarly outfitted after I’d detailed my gear selection. Ha!

This took a minute to sink in was he really doing it? How was this guy running so fresh hmm damn looked fast! I guess he’s only through the Palisades and this is his first long pass?! Honestly when you’re trying to set the record on something for the first time another person going the opposite direction dead on in the middle of it on the same day is not exactly what you are hoping to see! For me at least though few things motivate me like a good competition and I knew I was ahead distance wise.. When you’re out somewhere so long in your own head you’ll take any motivation you can find in the moment - setting little goals or chasing random hikers down on the trail just to do a different challenge for a bit. I’ll at least be the first to finish this whole thing if I can complete it all and might as well kick it up a notch on these stiffy legs!!

It really set in when I soon read the summit register on Split Mountain finally that afternoon - We’d both signed the 7th of 13 peaks register on the same day going opposite directions Matt Zupan vs Ryan Tetz alright going for it! I didn’t remember the talus near the top of Split Mountain feeling so precariously adult Jenga like. I felt like I was on a possible avalanche slope of rocks on the final steep angle summit push as the big couch cushions creaked and shifted with sound in unison from deeper within the mountain. My spider senses weren’t stoked. I rarely get that feeling on talus, but on large cushion size blocks with a steep enough slope angle is usually when you’ll find/feel it. I guess there’s got to be one thing that makes sand hills look pleasant. Let’s get out of here!

Can we get Middle Palisade by dark? Yes probably. I enjoyed the easiest of the 4 passes coming up the back side of Mather pass in the “golden hour”. I took time to eat up and top off all my water capacity before heading up the rough push uphill to the back of Middle Palisade and the danger crux of the route - the Farquhar route. It’s almost urban legend at this point from the storied descriptions of this route, both my own and on other recorded FKTs. By the time I was climbing the last slope to the base of the talus field it was dark and I was moving slower again on the relentless uphill.

I’d missed my goal cutoff to climb it before dark by just 2-3 hours! Could I go up there and climb it then push further into the Palisades and camp on Mt Sill or something? It was so cold already. I remembered the PTSD feelings from last year stumbling and rapping down the descent gully in the dark. My 1 technical climbing gear & food cache is up there at the base of the gully but that’s at least 1500 feet higher and colder?! I opted finally to take the shiver bivy as high as I could and get up just before daylight to take on the mountain. There’s no $$$ or dream vacation prize up there to collect if I do this 4 hours faster recklessly anyway and I’d pushed into a zone further than I’d ever wanted to go in the dark on the self powered/bike 14ers record here last year. I’m still the first out here to actually go for this thing! I opted to do the technical climbing crux in the daylight. I ate everything left of my food down to the last 2 shot blocks as I waited to make the final push in the wee morning hours just before sunrise again.

It was a hard shiver bivy to wake up from. I’d survived better perhaps in my down pants and jacket (thanks Goosefeet Gear!) than I had the previous year up here and with higher food intake overall, but it was absolutely freezing trying to get moving again at 5 AM. I knew once I moved uphill I’d warm up, but that takes some genuine convincing to believe besides all the general fatigue - I didn’t really sleep at all for those hours waiting for 5 AM to come. I ate those final 2 shot blocks and pounded up the long hill finally warming after about 30 min on the go.

Getting my cache full of cookies, cheese, meat, chips, more shot blocks, and snacks and a Coca Cola rejuvenated my spirits as I headed up the gully. If you watch the video I shot of myself at this section - it feels like I’m in slow motion or not really there yet - all systems rebooting………. 15% now.

I knew what I had to do - push Middle Palisade and the final 6 fourteeners in one hard go or go home. This was my final day to send this thing for multiple reasons. I could feel it. I couldn’t handle another shiver bivy so high up a second time. Let’s go Farquhar! The weather forecast didn’t help at all - it was for cold and extremely high winds with the possible first snows of the season the very next day and even worse winds… might not survive a night on the Palisade crest or any mistakes up there. Let’s go find out again!

Noelle Houpt descending the Farquhar chute on one of our summer snow/condition scouting adventures!

I carefully climbed up the winding gut of the loose gully system above and finally on into the steep final chimneys that guard the summit from the west side. I picked one that looked about 5.8 but safe feeling fully inside the crack/corner system old school Yosemite style, but also incredibly exposed hanging above the gully. About 2/3 of the way up the crack a very large foot hold/several foot wide ledge entirely cut loose from the wall while I was standing on it, both feet suddenly were loose and I came hard onto both my arms banging my elbows into the wall, jamming my butt quickly back into the opposite side, and surprised holding on tight as I could. Yikes man! I feel like this mountain actively has had it out for me particularly. Glad I didn’t do that one in the dizzy freezing dark now too! I’d made the right call for sure. Loose garbage chimneys bite me! Middle Palisade…

I made a couple long rappels down past the top sections and quickly was back at the base. Time to do this! I pushed on hard power hiking up the steep snow filled gully on the back of Mt Jepson as fast as I could in the blasting wind, trying not to get lost too soon on the summit push to Mt Sill heading up too early as we’d learned on other trips. If you wait longer to climb up the hillside than you first think, you’ll end up on mellow terrain to the summit ridge with no 5th class. It’s a balance not going too far to find the most direct time efficient option here. Mt Sill Summit 1:26 PM - starting the Palisades traverse officially 4 more peaks and out!

I hurried across to Polemonium opting to rap only one time to save time downclimbing off the bottom half and quickly soloing up the chimney headed up to North Palisade. Alright need to be on that summit of Thunderbolt by 5 PM to leave a couple hours of daylight to get down if anything goes wrong or we need to bail Norman’s 13! I’m well acquainted with every bail option for the traverse after so many times through it the last few seasons. I checked my pace with the time - this scenario was all too familiar from last year, but the weather added a whole nother commitment to it. I’m excited to be out tonight!!

Noelle Houpt starting down the shoulder of Mt Sill toward Polemonium on an earlier summer adventure

It was violently cold and windy on the west side, but dropping down the ridgeline by even a few feet below on the east cut the wind entirely. So I’d alternate from freezing for a couple minutes quickly climbing through sections or coiling rope up and hunkering down to warm up on the opposite side. I passed only one roped party on the “knife edge arete” at the start of Polemonium who graciously let me solo right over around the ropes. At least someone out climbing today is a good sign in all this wind! I wouldn’t have continued probably on a fun day, but this was my only chance for the record this year and with all of that behind me now. Hope that Matt guy is doing okay tonight too!

I was stoked to find a note and small chocolate candy in the summit register box atop N Pal from a couple coworkers of mine the previous day “Can’t wait for you any longer for Ryan Tetz! Go for it!” I made it to Starlight Peak summit just before 4PM - under 2.5 hours after starting from Mt Sill, 4 peaks down! The wind mostly was cold, but this was the one spot it messed with my nerves in the head game. I waited in between the intermittent convulsing gust blasts feeling it out before stepping on to the committing first moves of the “Milk Bottle” summit block and clipping the rope on my back into the rappel carabiner.

A little more down scrambling and one last rappel and I headed for Thunderbolt Peak. I opted to just climb it while grabbing at some last tatty webbing hanging just off from the summit block for some “mental” security over the bulge. It was sun baked and attached with some who-knows-what-knot I probably wouldn’t have trusted if I’d seen what I was using before committing already that high, but gave me the little confidence boost to make the 5.9 mantle move. Sketchiest but fastest Thunderbolt summit block ascent I’ve done maybe wow! (The rope toss is way more legit and only takes +10 min if you know where/how). Wonder if Matt had left the tat?

I made my goal sumitting just minutes before 5 PM for 3.5 hours on the traverse and was rapping off the summit with my rope threaded at 5:07 PM per the video time stamp. Wow never felt so good to thread a rap rope before! I pushed it out hard with the little reserves I had left power hiking and jogging up to Bishop Pass then running downhill to the car. Sub <4 hours from Thunderbolt rap rope threaded to car. It hurt running hard now down the hill, but I knew I didn’t need to hold back anything here as opposed to pushing the passes halfway through the middle of the JMT. I still wish I could have hit Middle Pal before dark that last night!

In hindsight I might change a few things - lots of food and real solid foods was the one thing I did right (even more maybe?). My starting pack weight was around 15 lbs including 1 liter water weight. August is a no brainer for this attempt for warmer temps, but it was such a heavy snow year, September was the better choice this season.

I didn’t bring the right gloves. I brought some great hiking/fingerless scrambling gloves for all around and one pair of warmer BD gloves that were similar to a model I’d used in the past, but proved significantly sloppier for the extra warmth version - they weren’t dexterous for technical climbing in the true cold. Taking them up Middle Pal in the dark could have been a huge mistake.

For truly climbing the Palisades possibly by night intentionally in an ideal world, I’d carry one thin set of high dexterity full finger gloves and a thicker set of real BD ice climbing gloves. I’d also consider an additional puffy or long sleeve upper layer and a minimalist real sleeping bag if you need to perch it out on the true crest. If I’d been willing to cache a sleeping bag and gloves I trusted or an extra puffy layer up there I’d have felt comfortable besides my dramatic feeling post recap description of the Farquhar route - it isn’t that bad, but I don’t want anyone to take it too lightly - go check it out for yourself. I did it fresh with a 50+ lb pack safely during the final conditions check 2 weeks prior where we dropped my cache in there. Three nights of no sleep possibly changes everything too in the moment and I’ve often laughed in some of the same locations finding my old rap anchors later somewhere just around the corner from an easy way while fresh in the daylight. It was the right call to suck it up and take the shiver bivy. I should have carried one more set of extra batteries (3 total) for the first segments and pushed it here too with some dim head lights. I did carry 2 headlamps just in case.

So I know what you’re thinking, why on earth climb the Palisades in the dark at all? I still did it in 3.5 hours though end to end in terribly cold weather condition while very physically fatigued and managed the first 6 peaks in 24 hours instead of possibly 40+ hours? Maybe it would have been a lot easier to run freshly starting the JMT section after crushing the Palisades fresh in sub 3 hr?? Go check it out! Cheers!!

One last point of amusement - it took 2.5 hours longer to do the challenge 100% on foot vs using a bike to commute around the most advantageous possible middle section for the self powered record last year. It was part of my inspiration for coming back for this one - I’d felt I’d already done it almost or the meat of the toughest parts and the idea of doing it all nonstop on foot without coming out and over the highest trail passes was inspiring to me. Dig this guys! It was also exciting to go after something big that didn’t involve any bicycles for me this time!

Norman’s 13 👊

100 Miles/40K+ Vertical Ft

FKT 3 days - 16 hours - 33 minutes - Ryan Tetz

**Corrected stats were 40K + Vert Ft, 107.5 Miles via Garmin Forerunner 935 worn 100% during the event. Let’s just call it a solid 100 miles here I say?**

*Link to my full live tracking page/map from during event thanks to PJAMM Cycling!

*Video Blog (Full Raw Adventure Footage - 1st cut)

*Fastest Known Times Page

Sponsors : PJAMM Cycling, GU Energy, Aerohead Bicycles, Goosefeet Gear, M Drive, Nutriex Sport, POD Sox