International Peak-baggers' Tables 2023

HoFMeister’s Report

A most warm welcome to our eleven new hall entrants.  We’re happy to have you!  Peak-bagging is a past-time without fanfare, and prominence-bagging doubly so.  In any case, it matters to us, so here we record your efforts, and acknowledge special achievements.

Seventy-four people have been recorded in the P1500m Table for 2023, and seven deceased peak-baggers - three in the Hall of Fame and four in the Roll of Honor.

Generally speaking, the 2023 trend has shown an acceleration for Ultra-bagging, with nineteen Hall members getting ten or more and seven people with twenty or more.

Firstly, we congratulate Petter Bjørstad, who reached the notable point of gaining the first ever awarded BwB Emerald Award, with 32 new Ultras in 2023 pushing him over the 400 threshold.

Rob Woodall gathered thirty-four for the year, including an interesting trip with Deividas Valaitis to Mongolia, where they opened the door on some relatively unknown Ultras.

For a consecutive year Deividas Valaitis set a new record, adding sixty-four Ultras in eighteen different countries. For context, imagine bagging one Ultra every 5.7 days, all year long... !  David Hart came in at a close second place for the year, adding sixty-one, and passing Denise McLellan for the fourth spot. On any previous year this would have been a record-setting achievement.  He also joined Petter in Namibia for some seldom-visited Ultras.

Petter Bjørstad invited me to join his son Pål and David Hart in Indonesia. David and Petter ascended Gunung Binaiya, a relatively unknown peak, and ninetieth most prominent in the world. Unfortunately, food-borne illness prevented me from joining them. However, I did manage to get forty-six Ultras for the year.  Petter and I celebrated his 400th, Doro Dindi, a previously mysterious jungle-bushwack peak.

Steven Song made the furthest leap in rankings, adding thirty-eight, and moving from 32nd to the fifteenth spot. He joined me in the south-east Asian countries, and also made a successful ascent of Mount Everest.

Craig Barlow added fourteen for the year, including Nevado de Sajama in Bolivia, which is over 6500 meters and climbed less often than some of the other South American giants.

Eric Gilbertson added six Ultras, and made an interesting trip to Tajikistan where he climbed two Ultras over 7000 meters, thus completing the Snow Leopard Peaks. He also climbed Kanchenjunga this year, and several of us were messaging his progress updates back and forth on that day.

Deividas Valaitis and I earned Silver Awards. Seven earned Bronze Awards - James Barlow, Daryn Dodge, Kathy Rich, Michael Graupe, Anthony Marra, Ted Ehrlich and Chris Hood.  Congratulations all!

Adam Walker

P1500m HoFMeister

April 2024