David Potter and Brett Yost did the route in 12h47m on Sept. 12, 2011, beating the previous record held by Max King, Mitch Thompson and Dave Clark by around 3.5 hours. A report with video is on the KTVZ website. The written report is copied below.
Climbers Smash Five-Peak Record -- Fast
Pair Climb Five Central Oregon Peaks in Half-Day
By Kelsey Watts, KTVZ.COM
BEND, Ore. -- Five mountains in 12 hours and 47 minutes.
It's a record-breaking time set by two Central Oregon men Monday for what's called the "5 Peaks Traverse." David Potter and Brett Yost smashed the old record -- by about 3 1/2 hours.
Anyone who's climbed just the South Sister likely would say it's tough and takes most of the day. But, when you're a super athlete like Potter and Yost, that's just one of five peaks you'll knock out in half a day.
"I thought we could do it, but I wasn't sure we'd be that fast," Potter said. "But I thought we'd be in the 12-13 hour range."
The clock started when the pair left the Sunrise Lodge at Mt. Bachelor, summitted it, then reached the summits of Broken Top, South, Middle AND North Sister.
After running, climbing, and getting through snow fields, the clock stopped after 12 hours and 47 minutes, when the pair reached the Pole Creek trailhead outside of Sisters.
To put the feat in perspective, that's about 36 miles, and includes 16,000 feet of vertical climb.
For those who may be skeptical, there is video from the trip, and pictures at each of the five summits.
But, records like this aren't officially kept by any one organization. Iit's more by locals word-of-mouth, so it's possible someone else may have been faster.
But Potter says that's not likely.
"I would imagine they'd have to be locals, or at least somebody who's really familiar with the mountains. So it would be surprising that nobody would have seen it or heard about it, but it is possible," Potter said.
He says the trick to his record-breaking adventure is they just kept moving, and didn't carry much. They only had energy gels, water and small bags, complete with an ice ax and rope they thankfully never had to use.
So why put your body through all that? Potter says, why not?
"That type of mountainous terrain, where you're going over boulders and going up steep slopes, and going down complicated stuff, it's just what I'm good at I guess, and what I like," Potter said, smiling.
A hobby few people would be brave enough to try.
Potter says the previous record for reaching all five summits was held by Max King, Mitch Thompson and Dave Clark. Potter says he'd be happy to try it again with those guys -- and bets he can do it even faster.