Final Entry: Top of the World

California CPA : December 2009

Brian Rowbotham takes members of his firm to new heights—literally. For seven years, Rowbotham & Company LLP has sponsored and organized a Mt. Whitney challenge hike. This year, for the first time, all hikers made it to the summit and back in one day. At 14,496 feet, Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 states. The event was used to raise funds for the National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy, which provides rehabilitation and therapy services through the use of horse riding. California CPA took a moment with Brian to get some more details about this towering adventure.

What was the genesis of the challenge hike?
We did it as an athletic challenge, to push physical limits with training and altitude. Whitney is a tough hike to do in one day and can take 12-16 hours depending on your fitness level. Starting at 8,300 feet at the base of the trail, it’s 11 miles to the summit (14,496 feet). Then it’s 11 miles of dirt and granite trails to get you back to the start. Up and down is a 12,400-foot vertical change, and the altitude becomes a major factor above 12,000 feet.

Why the National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy?
The group does specific support work for seriously wounded vets returning from combat situations with head trauma. It’s local, so you can see the results. You can learn more at www.nceft.org.

How did team members prepare?
I tell people to train or they will feel as bad as bad can be. Some training tips I use include 70 to 100 minutes of cardio work (StairMaster or elliptical); five to six miles on a track; and hiking 20 miles with a really good hill or several hills. That’s a good benchmark that you’re ready. In the last month before the hike:

• Find a building with stairs and start walking up and down the stairs to exercise the calf muscles at the back of the legs that get hammered in a long downhill hike. My building is 27 stories.
• Start with two round trip flights, about 13 minutes each, then try three laps.
• About two weeks before the hike, I push to four laps. I’d skip a day: Monday stairs, Tuesday gym, Wednesday stairs, etc.

At this level, Whitney can be done between 11 and 12 hours.

What were the biggest concerns before setting out?
Altitude sickness combined with long-hike stress. It’s equivalent to a 50-mile walk without stopping. The big unknown is lightning and rain. For the past three years, there have been wild thunderstorms the day or two before. Whitney is notorious for sudden storms and lightning. All you can do is lie flat on a rock.

What was different this year that resulted in everyone reaching the summit?
Everyone followed the training routine. In past years, some folks did their own training, but this kind of hike takes special prep, or you might not get up and back. Typically one out of three completes the hike in one day, so getting nine out of nine is pretty good.

Has this team-building allowed the firm to reach new heights?
In prep for this, we did Half Dome in Yosemite in mid-July. This built enthusiasm, and more people from the firm will do Half Dome next year. However, Whitney is not for most folks. I’m not sure yet if anyone in the firm will want to do the Whitney hike.

What’s it like on top of Mt. Whitney?
It’s bare. There are no trees above 10,000 feet, and the air is clear. If the weather is good, it’s spectacular. If the weather is bad, you’re freezing cold. If a lightning storm hits—and this is frequent in August—there is nothing you can do except to lay flat on a rock until the storm passes. There have been many deaths in the Sierra due to lightning storms. Weather at 14,000 to 15,000 feet is unpredictable, as high mountains make their own storms, and weather at the lower elevations has no bearing on what happens high up. Two years ago, it was 103 degrees in Lone Pine at 3,000 feet and, at the top, we got caught in a hailstorm.

What toll does a 7,000-foot altitude change have on one’s body?
It’s 22 miles round trip, and the altitude makes it into a double marathon experience. But, if you’ve trained properly, you’re feeling OK. If you don’t train, it’s totally demoralizing. At times, you’re exhausted, and you turn a corner and think you have a short distance to go, and when you look up and see how much farther you need to go, your heart sinks. In one section, my daughter was plodding up a series of switchbacks where altitude kicks in hard, and it feels like a death march. When she asked how much farther to the top of the switchbacks (only 13,000 feet at that point), her voice told me that she was exhausted and thought she was nearly there. I broke the news: “You’re one-third of the way!”