Climbing Mt. Washington is THE hardest physical accomplishment I have ever done in my entire life. I’ve completed three marathons and several triathlons and well know the meaning of pain. Once you cross the entrance bridge you coast for about .1 miles until the hill starts. This is when the reality of gravity just slaps you in the face. You come upon the initial slope of about 15% where it undulates between 10-15% with micro (10ft) grades of 7%. At about 1.5 miles you are smacked down with a grade of 21% and knowing you still have a little over 6 miles to go you start to question you sanity. In between this and the 2.5 mile mark (17%) are grades between 10-15%. You continue on thinking you have lost you mind (and your wind) with grades mostly between 13-18%, with micro gaps of about 7%. At the 6.25 mile mark you get hit with another 21% grade and you start thinking how far back the broom wagon is. At this point though you are convinced you can finish by either riding, walking, or crawling. You reach the 7 mile mark knowing you have less than 1 mile to go and you start thinking you can smell the finish. At about 7.4 miles you even hit a slight (-3%) downhill, but unfortunately it only lasts about 30 ft. After that the grade goes back to 10% with kicks up to 19%. You make the final turn and hear everyone cheering you on and you go smack dab into a grade of 22% for the final .1 miles. You wonder what cruel gods could have done this to you as you inch up the final few meters. As you come to the finish the announcer calls out your name for all to hear and you know you are there. As you cross the finish line you know all your suffering, and in my case drooling is over. Volunteers catch you from falling as you cross the finish line and place a blanket around you. This was a good thing because at the start of the base the temperature was 80 degrees and calm. It is now 50 degrees with 25mph winds (calm for the summit). My first thought is never again unless I can get liposuction and lose 40 lbs. before I try it again. Then sets in the emotions of the accomplishment (and the fact that it is over) and you start to smile again.