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Ha! Funny you mention that, Dwight... I got "Beyond the Mountain" for Christmas and read that quote on the inside flap the first day of the "peak battle" - and laughed out loud at the irony! But, this isn't really a competition, it's just for fun, so I figured it didn't apply. To me, it has to be fun (except for the suffering parts) or I know I'm doing it wrong. BTW -don't feel bad about the "bottom feeders" comment. I've been called much worse - and SAID much worse - on other forums!

And yes, it's definitely easier to get a bunch of low peaks than a bunch of high ones. I think that's where "sum of prominence," "YDS" and other factors come into play... but, like you, I'm doing what I would be doing with or without the tracking, so it's just not that important for me to see all those stats. Unless I'm in the #1 slot...

Finally... and slightly off topic: I seriously get a huge kick out of seeing some guys on this site knocking out ten plus peaks in a single outing. Amazing! I'm not competitive by nature, and I never watch sports, but if something like this "peak battle" drives people to put forth that kind of effort, to apply the trip planning, route-finding skills, and sheer physical speed and endurance to accomplish feats like that, it blows me away. Not to take anything away from winter 14er ascents or backcountry skiing - all very difficult endeavors in their own right - but wow, you have to admit, it's exciting to see this new "sport" take off. Has anyone, anywhere, done anything like this before? I realize that peak-bagging has been around for a long time, but these guys are taking it to a whole new level. Pretty exciting stuff... and *new*. That's what I like about it :-)

So far what I'm hearing just about unanimously is: Teams of 10 should be selected at random, and that more stats like what you can see for individuals here should be made available. Total summits (counting all # of times any member of a team has done the same summit) is an easy one I can start with.

I think it'll be interesting to see how things compare between the two years. I like the random and equalized idea; that's what makes it interesting. The more team stats that are compiled, the more interesting it will be to see consistencies and inconsistencies. I don't really have opinions about the other survey questions. I just didn't understand the deal with the same peak not counting twice, since it kind of "undoes" comparing the two years. I'm happy to just see what happens with it in the spirit of fun.

OK now it is your choice which one you want to pay attention to - distinct summits as a team, or all summits counted any number of times (or both). The first option is now 'Team Total Peaks', and the second is 'Team Distinct Peaks'

(link removed)
I'll work on adding more stats to this page

Looks like some people entered more peaks for 2009 since the time I first compiled the teams:
http://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Content/pb/pball.php?y=2009

I haven't paid attention to this much so far. But might as well keep it around, see how things stack up at the end of the year. Good idea Teresa about the year to year comparisons, I hadn't thought of that.

I agree nobody should be obliged to do anything they wouldn't otherwise. Maybe "team" isn't the right term here since it sort of implies that everyone is expected to participate, carry their weight, etc. Maybe "grouping" is more accurate.

As for the multi peak days, CO is such a great state for that since the road access is so good. As it relates to LOJ, finishing the full CO peak list in spring of 2006 sort of laid the groundwork as far bringing awareness to lower peaks. First real numbers day for me was was a total spur of the moment sort of pursuit brought on by having Park County ranked summits right off the highway(and loaded in John's GPS) and doing anything to avoid wallowing through 2-3 feet of powder to climb nearby 31 mile mountain.

I'm good with Teresa being team captain,............ unless she starts beating us over the head for not getting as many peaks as her. is that a new smilie. team smilies, as soon as we come up with a name, now theres an idea thats bound to create some team spirit.

TWorth wrote:First real numbers day for me was was a total spur of the moment sort of pursuit brought on by having Park County ranked summits right off the highway(and loaded in John's GPS) and doing anything to avoid wallowing through 2-3 feet of powder to climb nearby 31 mile mountain.

I think of that as the day that kicked it off for me as well, with only Mummy Mania done before that as a 5 peak day. Scary how far the illness has progressed.

Another thing that would create more interest, a $1,000,000,000.00 prize to the winning team! Maybe we could get Garmin to sponsor this contest, get on that John.

Later on this year I'll mention this contest to Dougald at MoJo.

John Kirk wrote:"Team Captain" or "Group Moderator" is something else I've been thinking about as a way to establish some flavor.
...
2-kirkmallory

Oh yeah... "Captain Kirk." This is going to fulfill so many fantasies! Just kidding, of course. But if you wanted to call me Uhura, I would be *totally* OK with that!

DSunwall wrote:Later on this year I'll mention this contest to Dougald at MoJo.

better yet, we'll get Susan to do a little writeup and submit it to MoJo.

DSunwall wrote:Another thing that would create more interest, a $1,000,000,000.00 prize to the winning team! Maybe we could get Garmin to sponsor this contest, get on that John.

Later on this year I'll mention this contest to Dougald at MoJo.

Is symbolic recognition not sufficient? Maybe we could just call it the battle for the LoJ Cup. I'd be willing to get one made. Even $1,000 prize might be enough to modify behavior of some peakbaggers... One way to do it would be a registration fee for all members to play and then all goes to the winning team at year-end (after I take my cut kidding (or am I? )).

Sponsorship has always been a naive dream of mine.

Sounds fair to me.

One thing to also consider is the fact that there may be a number of people who don't even realize they're *on* a team. Some people don't read forums, and the "Peak Battle" link is kind of hidden under the Stats Category Leaders page. Team "Captains" may want to contact their respective teams to ensure they're aware of the game, and determine their interest in participation. Some may wish to withdraw, giving those teams the opportunity to backfill with more interested and active participants.

Go away to climb for a day, and look what all goes on!

I'm not at all opposed to being on a team, since it is fun to watch, even if I'm in last place. But I'm just doin' my thing here. Right now I'm "bottom feeding" (I thought that was cute and didn't take offense, Dwight; sounds a little better to me than "dumpster diving") and my stats will hopefully be higher than they have been in the past few years when I was training for major peaks all winter. Come summer, I have 4 months completely planned out and scheduled already. I'm not changing a thing. My count will go way down despite the fact that the number of days I'm out doing something in connection with climbing will go way up. And -- odds are good I won't even remember to look here for 4 months. So I'm definitely not willing to play "team captain" or put any actual effort into "teamwork." Dwight, if you want that role, go for it. But if you send me a note about anything then, don't expect me to see it until I come up for air (or, more accurately, out for real food.)

TeresaGergen wrote:Come summer, I have 4 months completely planned out and scheduled already. I'm not changing a thing. My count will go way down despite the fact that the number of days I'm out doing something in connection with climbing will go way up. And -- odds are good I won't even remember to look here for 4 months. So I'm definitely not willing to play "team captain" or put any actual effort into "teamwork." Dwight, if you want that role, go for it. But if you send me a note about anything then, don't expect me to see it until I come up for air (or, more accurately, out for real food.)

Aww... c'mon - you can't leave us hanging like that Teresa! Four months? Up for air? Out for real food? What are you climbing - the Mariana Trench?

Susan - 6 different trips, 12 weeks total; one with no peaks at all (just trekking) because I'd do anything with my 76-year-old dad while he still can and because he asked me to, and one out of the country so if I am lucky enough to summit what I'm after, the 3 peaks it'll take 2 weeks to get won't go on LOJ anyway. CA and WY are not high peak-count places to spend a couple weeks either. And some state highpoints aren't ranked. That leaves one CO trip where I'm after 20 specific 12ers and 3 specific repeat 14ers. And, oh yeah, the one 11er that will finish San Juan County.