Gerry Roach completes 4th of 5 project island lists!

[Layne Bracy]

Those of you who regularly check the "recently climbed peaks" section may have noted that Gerry Roach just completed the 50 state highpoints.

What makes this especially unique is that he is now one list away from completing his Project Island.

1)climb everything in your home county
2)complete the county hp's of your home state
3)complete the state hp's of your home country
4)complete the country hp's of your home continent
5)complete the continental hp's of earth
6)future generations may have to complete the planetary hp's of their home solar system!

Gerry has now done 1, 2, 3, and 5. Looks like a trip to Central America/Caribbean awaits! Presumably, Gerry could become the first person ever to complete their personal project island.

Trivia: what home location would make it easiest/hardest to complete Project Island?

For hardest, I'd have to go with somewhere in the Himalaya - there's probably some county equivalent with a ton of 6000-8000m peaks.

For easiest, maybe somewhere in Australia. (That might involve a debate on whether you would have to summit all the country hp's of Oceania, or would Australia's hp alone serves to satisfy the requirements of list 4.)

[GerryRoach]

Yes, I finished the 50 state HPs at noon on 6/9 on Timms Hill WI. I am the first person to finish the 50 in WI, a state in which I have some family history. My mom was the first person to swim the length of Lake Geneva WI - a 9-mile swim. Unable to get a job, I threw the (credit) cards into the air, and hit the road, also figuring that gas will never be cheaper. On my 10,033 mile, 5 week road trip I visited 28 states, highpointing 22 of them. I also tagged the HPs of 7 national parks. Dodging pesky to miserable weather all the way, I did have beautiful days on Marcy NY, Mansfield VT, and Katahdin ME. I had an average day on Washington NH, which means that I hiked up into a cloud. People were still skiing in Tuckerman's Ravine. Extra credit activities included watching my nephew Torger Vedeler get his PhD at Yale. Torger is now our family tiger.

I have now recreated in all 50 states in the last 5 years, 40 states in the last year, and 33 states in the last 3 months. This is probably the only time in my life when I can make such a claim.

In terms of hardest/easiest county to live in, I'm just glad I don't live in KS! I figure that Boulder County is one of the tougher counties to start my center out program. At least, it's a good one for mountaineers. I haven't thought much about Central America yet. If you honor the fact that the geographic saddle between N and S America is in Nicaragua not Panama, then Costa Rica and Panama are in S America, not N America. However, Chirripo, the HP of Costa Rica, is one of the more interesting and more accessible summits in Central America. Never a dull moment, eh?

[Scott Patterson]

I haven't thought much about Central America yet.

Before you do, make sure to change your list for El Salvador. I noticed you have Santa Ana as listed as the highest peak there. It is actually El Pital at 8957 feet (I know you don't like the metric system, so I used feet!).

However, Chirripo, the HP of Costa Rica, is one of the more interesting and more accessible summits in Central America.

I agree too!

[Scott Patterson]

I haven't thought much about Central America yet.

Before you do, make sure to change your list for El Salvador. I noticed you have Santa Ana as listed as the highest peak there. It is actually El Pital at 8957 feet (I know you don't like the metric system, so I used feet!).

However, Chirripo, the HP of Costa Rica, is one of the more interesting and more accessible summits in Central America.

I agree too!

PS, I'll probably never complete the project island list. Some of the peaks in the county I live in are probably far beyond my ability, but I would like to attempt them some day.