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Preface No organizing body regulates, promotes, or records this record. It is up to the individual challenger and his support crew to hold up to the ideals of the South Beyond Insanity Ultramarathon(SBI) as they are passed down through heritage and tradition. It is a natural tendency of competitors to try to trim the effort required to break a record. As a record becomes more finetuned, there is inevitable disagreement between challengers as to when it is acceptable to cut corners. This piece has been written in an effort to explain some of the idiosyncrasies of this record to the public and to reduce any confusion between future challengers about what it takes to set a new record. ***************************************
Objective
To climb all of the South Beyond 6,000 in one continuous footpath in the least amount of time. Rules 1. The Route There is no set route except that all of the South Beyond 6,000 must be summitted in one continuous footpath and trails must be chosen whenever possible. Each of the Sixers must be scaled in a fashion suitable to the mountaineering ethic. However, there is no set of trails or order of mountains required. That being said, a competitor must use trail whenever possible. Roads traverse within a mile of a dozen of the peaks. It would be much faster to run along the road to link the six ranges that encompass the Sixers. However, this is a mountaineering adventure. With the advantage of the Mountains to Sea Trail, a competitor may challenge this record by staying on trail for about eighty percent of the route. In keeping with the spirit of mountaineering, it is the goal of this record to be on trail as much as is reasonable. In keeping with this spirit or ethic, it is unacceptable to cut trail switchbacks; cutting road switchbacks is acceptable when no trail is available. It is up to future competitors to take advantage of future trails, if they eliminate more of the road and bushwhacking sections of the route. The obvious example of future trails is the proposed Mountains to Sea Trail between the Balsam Mountain Road and Balsam Gap. Unfortunately, at this time, it is impossible to complete this challenge using only trails. There are moments when one could backtrack enormous distances in order to keep on trail; however, this is not necessary. If there is no reasonable way to connect the route with trail, bushwhacking or roads are acceptable. The main point is that future challengers cannot use more road sections than the current record holder. 2. Provisions Provisions may be given at any point during the challenge. 3. Vehicles: One cannot use any form of mechanical or biological devices for propulsion. No vehicles can be used for propulsion at any time during the course of the SBI. A vehicle is any mechanical device such as cars, trucks, ATV's, bicycles, helicopters, ski lift etc., and/or any animals such as horses, mules, people, etc. If one uses a vehicle, they must go back to the point of departure from the route before starting again. The route cannot be done in sections, out of sequence. The route most be traversed by foot in the same direction in the same order as one continuous footpath. This is a record set by the skills and power of the individual mountaineer not through the use of mechanical or biological aid. 4. The Clock: The c lock starts at the summit of the first peak climbed and stops at the summit of the last peak. The clock never stops until all mountains have been climbed in accordance to the rules. However, the ascent of the first mountain and the descent of the last mountain are not included. 5. Do as Much or More as the Last Record Holder: At a
minimum, to set a new record, one must do as much or more, as the
current record holder, in less time. The South Beyond Insanity Ultramarathon
will evolve over the years to meet the expectations of the Southern
Appalachian mountaineering community. This evolution will occur
by one record at a
time. For example, if the record was established when Mt.
Hardison
and Cattail Peak were recognized as Sixers, it is up to the challenger
to update the challenge with their replacements of Tennent Mountain and
Mt. Hallback, if that is the convention of that time. This is
true for all of the rules. Essentially, no additional or more
restrictive rules can be established except by the person that makes
the next record by following the existing rules and their new rules.
In the end, for this record, if
one does as much or more, in less time, they have set the new standard
by which all future challengers must adhere. 6. Notification The South Beyond Insanity Ultramarathon rules are informal and essentially voluntary. In fact, in the attempt all is
essentially informal and voluntary. The Sixers must be climbed;
however, there is no one set route, there are no officials to record
the times, no competitors alongside to provide a gauge of
reference. There is only you, the forty inanimate peaks, the
currently recognized record, and your word of honor that you have
actually done what you report to have done.
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