Can you imagine hiking over 300 miles and 140,000 feet in under two weeks? For an avid hiker that distance and gain is a full summer and autumn worth of weekend outings. For Andrea Sansone and Andrew Hamilton it’s another stitch in the fabric of their romance.
The morning of July 15, the pair passed a generally insignificant point on the Chasm Lake trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. For them, however, it was a finish line. After crossing two records: the fastest time for a co-ed pair to summit all of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks (14ers) and the fastest woman to do so. They hiked, climbed and jogged up and down nearly five dozen peaks in 12 days, six hours and 43 minutes.
Hamilton and Sansone are no strangers to extreme endurance. Hamilton set the standing fastest known time (FKT) for all of the state’s 14ers nine years ago, completing the 54 ranked and four unranked peaks in nine days, 21 hours and 51 minutes. Just two years ago, Sansone set the record for the most 14ers summited in 24 hours, topping 12 peaks within that time. She also holds the female record for most laps on the Manitou Incline in 24 hours at 19 laps in 23 hours and 36 minutes.
Both have completed the ultra-challenge called “Nolan’s 14” multiple times tagging all but one of the Sawatch Range 14ers in under 60 hours — that’s just shy of 100 miles and more than 40,000 feet of vertical gain up and down 14 of Colorado’s 14ers. Sansone has held the women’s FKT for Nolan’s 14 since 2022, completing it in 45 hours and 52 minutes. On more than one occasion after wrapping up Nolan’s 14, the duo headed 25 miles north to summit Mount of the Holy Cross just for fun.
Hamilton was the first person to summit all of the 14ers in a single calendar winter, at 84 days and 14 hours between December 2017 and March 2018. That record fell just last year to Chris Fisher who managed the feat in 72 days and 12 hours spanning January to March 2023.
For this most recent undertaking, Sansone and Hamilton enlisted the support of a dozen friends and family. Some served as drivers shuttling the athletes from trailhead to trailhead. Others, like Sansone’s sisters, provided intermittent spa services bathing the record-setters with wet wipes and coaxing tension and lactic acid out of their calves and hips. Laura Hamilton, Andrew’s older sister, managed dishes for the pair who are both vegetarians and prefer high-calorie “real food,” compared to highly processed race foods, when possible. Even with a full support team, this effort was tremendous.
“We started very aggressively with our goals and projected splits leaving little room for transition times and rest,” Sansone explained. “When we realized we weren’t going to hit those times we pulled ourselves from the depths of hell and continued.”
“It wasn’t a highlight at the time,” Sansone laughed after being asked what the highlights were, but “at Mount Massive we told our crew there was no chance we were going to be going on.”
Encouragement from their videographer persuaded them to press on at the time toward the second-highest peak in the state — the 33rd on their list.
“Before we knew it, we were on top of Massive,” she continued, at 14,427 feet. For the rest of the time their mantra was: “One more peak, and then one more peak.”
“Another highlight for Andrea was when her sisters showed up,” added Hamilton.” They really stepped up” and made a huge difference in boosting the pair’s morale.
For now, Hamilton and Sansone are focused on their recovery, which takes some time after such an exertion. The couple has been taking short daily hikes to stay mobile.
“You can’t just completely stop cold turkey or your body will rebel,” Hamilton shared. “You’ll wake up the next day and none of your tendons are going to work and your body will be swollen.”
“We still have nightmares every night that we have more mountains to climb,” Sansone conceded. But it’s only a matter of time before the two will be back in the high alpine tundra.
If you are a fan of the extreme endurance world keep an eye on these two. You can follow their endeavors on Instagram or Facebook (@A2summit) or via their website, www.a2summit.com