Celebrating Our 2017 Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge Finishers

This year we had over 1,200 hikers join our 3rd Annual Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge! As I write this, there are 364 finishers – registered challengers who have logged hikes up all six peaks at least once in 2017.  Together, we’ve logged 2,957 peaks, hiking 39,305 miles – enough to hike entirely around the world 1.3 times; and climbing a mind-boggling 13,390,800 vertical feet! That’s enough to climb from sea level to the summit of Mount Everest over 461 times!

That’s something to celebrate! So we did.

On Sunday, October 8th 273 SoCal hikers gathered at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine for our Six-Pack of Peaks Finisher’s Party. We toasted each other’s accomplishments, shared our adventure goals for 2018, enjoyed great food and live music from Jagged, and took lots of photos.

This year we raised $8,336 for Big City Mountaineers – $7,135 through your registrations and donations, and another $1,201 from our silent auction.

And this year, we have nine Three-peat Finishers!

Here are the dedicated hikers who signed up and finished the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge for three consecutive years (from left to right): Nick Wagstaff, Cecilia Lorthioir, Jason Sudo, Jae Bundang, Jeff Hester, Jason Fitzpatrick, Kathleen Miller, Harvey Fiji, and Kristin Seiler (not pictured).

Gear Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Renata Roles, winner of our Challenger’s Giveaway. She won a TETON Sports Oasis 1200 Hydration Pack, TETON Sports Tarp/Poncho and a signed copy of Scott Turner’s Afoot and Afield in San Diego. The Challenger drawing is open to all registered challengers, but as it turned out, she is also a finisher!

Congratulations also to Audra DeFranco, winner of our Finisher’s Giveaway (open to only the finishers). She also got a signed copy of Afoot and Afield in San Diego, plus a great TETON Sports backpacking package that included an ALTOS Sleeping Pad, a TRAILHEAD +20f Ultralight Sleeping Bag, the Mountain Ultra 2 Tent, and a Hiker 3700 Backpack.

Photo Gallery

Click any picture for a larger version. You can even leave comments on a photo. Photos by 7713photography.com

Looking for your photo booth photos? You can find all the photos here to download or share.

Silent Auction

We had some great items up for grabs in the silent auction, with all of the proceeds going directly to Big City Mountaineers. Special thanks to Oak Creek Golf Club, Duncan Simms, REI, Jason Fitzpatrick, Thermarest, Stanley, MountainSmith, Casey Schreiner, Osprey Packs, TETON Sports, and The Muir Project for donating items for the auction. Thanks to everyone who bid on these items, we raised an additional $1,201 for Big City Mountaineers.

Special Thanks

We also would like to thank Arc’teryx (check out their new store on La Brea) for providing a hats for some of our finishers, and thanks to Christopher Sunnen (@last_adventurer) for delivering them after a lengthy, dramatic journey.

And a big thanks to our many volunteers who helped make this party hum along: Nancy and Joe Rojas, Meredith Crane, Mira Reverente, Philip Yoho, Cristina Restrepo, Shuping Yin, Zena Begin, Jenny Campbell, Dora Price, Yolanda Nowicki, Kristen Combs, Jae Bundang, Jason Sudo, and Juanita Belardes (who jumped in to help at the last minute). You all rock, and you have my heartfelt gratitude.

Thanks to Kristin Seiler, who helped keep me organized as we were planning this event, even if she couldn’t be there. Thanks to Duncan Simms, a fellow hiker and PGA Golf Pro at Oak Creek Golf Club for helping us with the venue.

And a huge thanks to my lovely wife Joan Hester. You were the glue that kept everything together last weekend.

The 2018 Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge

Registration for the 2018 Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge opens on December 1, 2017. We are working on some changes we think you’ll really like.

Until then, keep on hiking!