Only three men have climbed Mount Le Conte 100 times in a calendar year.
The first to do it was Ed Wright, the Oak Ridge engineer who registered 230 climbs (at age 66) in 1991, 108 in 1993, 104 in 1994, 103 in 1995, 130 in 1997, and 111 in 1998. (Some will remember Ed for mtleconte.com.)
Ron Valentine did it at least three times, most recently with 101 at age 69 in 2002. Ron remembers two other seasons in the 1990s when he had 113 and 109 trips, and there may have been more. Unfortunately, he lost years of hiking records in a 1999 fire.
Now comes Larry Russell, a retired policeman who climbs Le Conte three days a week. He made 115 climbs at age 80 last year and signed in with 100 on Sept. 23. With three months to go, Larry is on a pace to approach Wright's total of 130 in 1997--the second best season in the LeContest record books. Last year, Larry had 86 ascents at the end of September and then added another 29 October through December.
Here's Larry's monthly pace for 2024: 3 in January, 8 in February, 9 in March, 11 in April, 15 in May, 15 in June, 14 in July, 16 in August, and 9 so far in September. He'll turn 81 in November.
Wright retired with 1,310 climbs and Dinwiddie with 750. Valentine's lifetime total is estimated at 3,000. Larry is the leading active hiker on Le Conte, with 571 climbs since his first hike in 2012.
Wright's contemporary, Paul Dinwiddie, topped out with 102 trips at age 76 in 1991.
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