Eagle’s 33 Challenge

There are exactly 33 peaks over 9,000ft (2743m) with at least 300ft (91m) of prominence in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, which is located in Oregon’s amazing Wallowa Mountains.

33 is the sum of the first positive factorials, a normal human spine has 33 vertebrae, 33 is when water begins to boil on Newton’s scale, IL-33 is a protein encoded by the IL33 gene that is thought to cause the itching associated with dermatitis, and a day has 33-(3×3)=24 hours. So 33 is an important number, in other words.

The Challenge

The Eagle’s 33 challenge consists of summiting as many of these 33 peaks as possible. Well, ideally, all!

Most practical routes are likely going to be over 100mi with at least 60,000 feet of vertical gain. For comparison, the famous Nolan’s 14 challenge involves 14 peaks only (but admittedly all over 14,000ft) and typical routes are under 100 miles with about 45,000 feet of elevation gain. The Bob Graham Round in the English Lake District has 42 peaks and the distance is somewhere around 70mi with about 30,000ft of gain.

This overview map shows the location of the 33 peaks (blue circles) as well as the Eagle Cap Wilderness boundary (red). Click to enlarge or use the interactive map that is embedded below. Note that the start/finish does not have to be at the indicated location. Athletes pick their own start/finish.

The Peaks

I’ve used Andrew Kirmse’s topographic prominence data to determine the 33 peaks. Andrew, a former Google Earth engineer, computed the prominence of every mountain in the world down to 100 feet. I’ve used the 300 feet rule (P300) because it is a common prominence cutoff. The table below lists all 33 peaks over 9,000ft with at least 300ft of prominence that are all inside the Eagle Cap Wilderness boundary. Note that, compared to this SummitPost list, my list has 4 additional peaks (marked with “CT” in the table below and named by me) that meet the above criteria. Also, there are more than 33 peaks over 9,000ft in the wilderness area, however, the prominence of those not listed below is less than 300ft. An example is the 9,179ft Sawtooth Peak, which has a prominence of 159ft only.

Coordinates Elevation [ft] Prominence [ft] Peak
45.245,-117.2929 9838 6386 Sacajawea Peak
45.2278,-117.2992 9832 337 Matterhorn
45.2597,-117.2654 9781 893 Hurwal Divide
45.203,-117.175 9702 2101 Aneroid Mountain
45.1894,-117.2203 9675 1253 Petes Point
45.3043,-117.3448 9673 1974 Twin Peaks1
45.2862,-117.2632 9628 808 Chief Joseph Mountain
45.2796,-117.3412 9621 487 Hurricane Divide north
45.1637,-117.3014 9575 1221 Eagle Cap
45.0648,-117.2458 9572 2004 Red Mountain
45.1373,-117.2462 9518 889 Cusick Mountain
45.2405,-117.2734 9508 418 Hurwal Divide south
45.1551,-117.2935 9499 327 Glacier Peak
45.2262,-117.1715 9460 650 Hidden Peak
45.1634,-117.226 9417 559 Sentinel Peak
45.1776,-117.2236 9395 473 Polaris Point
45.219,-117.3293 9388 852 Hurricane Divide south
45.2368,-117.1771 9384 408 East Peak
45.2169,-117.2713 9317 383 Peak (S of Ice Lk)
45.2138,-117.3241 9287 309 Hurricane Divide even more south (CT)
45.2223,-117.3968 9233 1855 Elkhorn Mountain
45.2221,-117.2627 9215 519 Craig Mountain
45.1888,-117.3888 9180 863 Glacier Mountain
45.2165,-117.2123 9179 527 Mount Bonneville (W Fk/E Fk Wallowa divide)
45.1445,-117.2302 9171 342 Peak (Mid Fk Imnaha)
45.2187,-117.135 9137 546 Peak (McCully, CT)
45.2031,-117.1505 9130 332 Mount Melissa (McCully/ Little Sheep divide)
45.1851,-117.1888 9105 614 Dollar Ridge (Eric’s Peak)
45.3376,-117.3667 9095 513 Traverse Ridge
45.0654,-117.2894 9093 1255 Krag Peak
45.2047,-117.1382 9023 329 Mount Melissa Due (CT)
45.1715,-117.2802 9019 481 Pocket Peak (CT)
45.1274,-117.3522 9018 1467 Needle Point

Notes:

  1. The Twin Peaks summit pinnacle is a 60ft crumbly pile of rubble that you do not want to climb, even with protection. Summiting it is not a requirement for this challenge. In fact, it’s highly discouraged to make any such attempt. Don’t get in trouble for 60ft.
  2. As far as I can tell, the “Hurricane Divide even more south” (I was unable to find an official name) pinnacle cannot be climbed all the way to the top without some serious climbing gear. However, there are two saddles that can be reached that get you very close to the summit, the first one on the south side, then you can traverse on the back (east side) toward the north side of the pinnacle and reach another saddle. Once again, don’t get in trouble for another 100ft or so.
Oregon’s oldest tree, a limber pine, is supposedly on Cusick Mountain. Read the interesting story here and here. The tree could be up to 2,000 years old.

The Rules

    1. This is not a race. You do not need to register or qualify or anything. There are no fees. Anyone can do it anytime of the year.
    2. The challenge must start at an official trailhead (typically the access trailhead for the first peak) and end at an official trailhead (typically the access trailhead for the last summit).
    3. Start and finish trailheads do not have to be identical.
    4. The clock starts at the start trailhead and stops when the individual or entire team reaches the finish trailhead.
    5. There is no time limit.
    6. You choose your own route between the summits.
    7. The challenge can be done individually or in teams. If completed in a team, all team members must do all parts of the route. Relays do not count.
    8. The clock does not stop if the individual or team sleeps, rests, etc.
    9. The challenge must be completed in a single push. Sleep, rest, etc. along the route are allowed. No leaving the route and returning unless by using human muscle power only.
    10. Crews and stashing of gear, food, and water are allowed. All stashes must be retrieved.
    11. Each and every part of the route must be covered with human muscle power only. That includes: climbing, hiking, running, skiing, and paragliding. No motorized form of transport is allowed on any part of the route.
    12. The challenge can be completed in an unsupported, self-supported, or supported way.
    13. Announcing your intentions is encouraged, but not mandatory.
    14. The challenge must be tracked and documented.
    15. All wilderness regulations as well as Federal, State, and Local laws must be strictly followed.
    16. Strict leave-no-trace backcountry ethics must be followed.

A Note on “Summiting” and Signing Summit Books

There are 2-3 summit pinnacles (see notes above) that require technical climbing gear, depending on the route you pick. I’m not a purist when it comes to “summiting” and I believe that one does not have to stand on the absolute summit (i.e., absolute highest point) to be successful because Eagle’s 33 was conceived as an endurance, not as a climbing challenge. I do not think this challenge could realistically be completed if folks had to carry the necessary climbing gear for these last few feet of pinnacle climbing. It’s also not worth to die for that.

Many of the peaks do have summit books/registers, many don’t, some books are rotten, some containers cannot even be opened, some are hard to find. It is not a requirement to sign summit books to complete this challenge. But you must provide other reasonable proofs that you reached the peaks (e.g., GPS track, summit pics)

The Records and Attempts

Number of peaks Peaks Individual or Team Total distance Elapsed time Date Comments
14/33 #1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 24, 26 Christof Teuscher 56mi 51:42:39 Sep 1, 2018 Report
31/33 All except #3 and #6 Christof Teuscher 93.8mi 85:46:15 Aug 8, 2019 Report
32/33 All except #3 Christof Teuscher 105.33mi 110:16:45 Aug 8, 2020
33/33 All Christof Teuscher 98.24mi 104:42:13 Sep 2, 2020 Report
Your name could be here!

FAQ

  • How can I announce an FKT attempt? Contact me and I’ll post here or use your personal Facebook, on Twitter, or in some running-related group/forum/page.
  • How can I submit a record? Contact Christof Teuscher.

Stay Informed and Connected

Disclaimers

  • Records are not verified. The burden of proof is solely on the individual or team. Thus, the more documentation you can provide, the better. See http://fastestknowntime.proboards.com/thread/19/read-first for more info.
  • The information provided on this website does not identify possible dangers. When you are attempting a record, you assume responsibility for your own actions and safety.

Somewhere after passing over Polaris pass, looking into Imnaha valley, I think.

They’ve got mountains!

Dollar Lake and Petes Point.