Advertisement Madison climber sets new record Andrew Drummond completes all 48 4,000-foot mountains in less than six days Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Andrew Drummond said he is ecstatic.Not only did the 35-year-old Madison resident exceeded his goal of being the first person to climb all of New Hampshire's 4,000-footers in a single week, unsupported, he was able to do it in less than six days.With blistered feet, weighing 10 pounds lighter and his 40-pound pack lighter for the wear, Drummond was grinning from ear to ear Sunday at home when he offered a live Facebook chat for over a half-hour on his experience."You really need motivation," he said, to people considering the same challenge.Publicly stating his goal helped him achieve it.On his last day, Drummond logged 60 miles, after five days of sleeping very little, hiking almost 200 miles and eating only bars and gels.His sleeping bag was too cold, so he hiked rather than rest.He admits he lucked out on weather."The weather allowed for me to go under six days. Any weather above tree line (wind, rain, lightning, fog) would have slowed me down considerably," he said."The shortest distance day was day five (the southern presidentials) if you're going by 5:30 to 5:30 periods, roughly 25.8 miles."He said he wished he had more cheese and fewer power bars.He had to turn away from the smell of food at Appalachain Mountain Club huts, because he wanted this to be an unsupported hike, meaning he only used what he packed.By the time he got to Mount Moriah, he was moving fast toward the finish line, which he could see far ahead on Mount Cabot.He started to crunch the numbers.He said he believed that under six days could be "achievable."That is when the White Mountain Direttissma -- an Italian word meaning the shortest distance possible -- changed for him.It went from taking in the views, getting video and online content, to a race against time.He hit the finish at 5:28 a.m. on Saturday after beginning the Sunday before at Mount Moosilaukee at 5:31 a.m.Something that propelled him past the blisters on the balls of his feet was an experience he had along the journey.In the darkness, near Mount Cabot, he was met by a total stranger named Bill who had been following him online."That blew my mind," he said.They hiked together.Drummond's girlfriend, Hilary McCloy, and their dog joined for some of the hikes, and near the summit they were also met by Hilary's father, Bruce McCloy, who recently retired from decades in the ski industry.They went out for a huge breakfast, and Drummond put his feet up.Drummond said his goal was to engage the public with such a goal, and that was a great success.But the social media thing was a double-edged knife."My first reaction is that it slowed me down. All the stops to take video/photos, sit and wait for videos to upload (and often fail), carrying extra batteries and weight and responding to emails was very inefficient in terms of moving forward."However; it may have also preserved my legs each time I stopped, and that could have helped me push hard that last day."I know that having that sort of accountability to online followers motivated me to keep moving, because I knew they were watching," he said.For more information and links to Drummond's Direttissma, visit http://www.wmur.com/escape-outside/man-hopes-to-climb-all-48-4000footers-in-a-week/40817748.