On the edge of a new Aussie 8 record
AN ATTEMPT TO SET a new speed record for summiting the highest peaks in each of Australia’s states and territories is heading for an exciting finale, as the three-man team close in on their eighth and final mountain a full day ahead of their initial schedule.
At 5.15am on Thursday 11 April, Ben Southall, Luke Edwards and Pat Kinsella began running up Bimberi Peak, the highest mountain in the ACT. Since then they’ve run to the top of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Currently they’re en route to Cairns with the tallest peak in Queensland, Mt Bartle Frere, in their sights. Unless disaster strikes they will have set a new record for the fastest ascent of the eight peaks by tonight.
The team is on course to complete the expedition in around eight days and 14 hours, much quicker than the 10 days that had been considered the minimum possible time required to negotiate the logistical and physical challenges of the mission.
“We always wanted to nail this in eight days,” says Ben. “But it didn’t look possible on paper. Fortunately our bodies have held up really well over the last week and we’ve managed to find flights through our sponsors, Qantas, that will get us from Newman in Western Australia all the way to Cairns in time to get on the last mountain by about midday on Friday.”
Tackling the last mountain: Mt Bartle Frere, Queensland
After the longest commute in Australia, the team will face a race against time to get up Queensland’s highest mountain before darkness descends.
“The ascent of Mt Bartle Frere involves running many more vertical metres than any of the other peaks we’ve climbed,” says Pat. “We’ll have to climb 1500 metres, and the terrain is also more technical and precarious than the other mountains, with more natural hazards, so it’s essential we reach the top and get as close to the bottom as possible before nightfall. We’ll definitely be finishing under torchlight, but it will be fantastic to get this done on the eighth day.”
Luke – who will have spent eight days out of the 18 days he has been married in the company of his expedition partners, rather than with his new bride Bonnie – is looking forward to meeting his wife at the bottom of Bartle Frere as a new record holder. “What a way to finish the adventuremoon and begin my honeymoon,” he says.
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