Shortly after this comes the infamous 22 percent grade alternately called the вЂњWall,вЂќ the вЂњCorkscrew,вЂќ the вЂњLadder,вЂќ and the вЂњYouвЂ™ve Got to Be FreakinвЂ™ Kidding Me.вЂќД«ut how steep is it? It is steep enough that there is allegedly almost no after-race wear and tear to your legs because your foot never falls too far or too hard (and because the mountain is always there to meet it). High above treeline, in the вЂњCow Pasture,вЂќ there is a gentle, levelish-feeling grade of six percent. Shortly after the lovely-to-see one-mile marker, for example, the Raymond Grade cruelly lifts to a sustained 18 percent.

But true steepness is really a function of how and when the elevation comes. Ten vertical feet gained in the span makes for a 10 percent grade. Steepness and slope are defined as the elevation gained in the course of 100 feet. As physics professor and multiple Mount Washington finisher Robert Romer succinctly put it to me, вЂњIf you had a chance to buy a house with a 12 percent driveway, you wouldnвЂ™t buy it.вЂќ The average grade for the Auto Road is 12 percent, which isnвЂ™t as steep as attic stairs but is still sapping for the average homo sapiens who must both lift his weight up and propel it forward. Moreover, unlike almost every other legendary road climb in the world, Mount Washington has neither a flat nor a downhill recovery section, and its steepest stretch is the very last, several thousand feet above treeline. It is much steeper, on average, than the classic Rocky Mountain ascents at Pikes Peak and Mount Evans, and much, much steeper than any of the epic alpine climbs in the Tour de France, including Alpe dвЂ™Huez and Ventoux. EscherвЂ™s infinite staircase, the 150-year-old, 100-plus-turn Auto Road to the summit of Mount Washington is unrelentingly, never-endingly steep. There are longer mountain races and ones more extreme in their geographic locations, but none that offer such a ceaselessly uphill climb, wildly changing weather, and wholly unpredictable levels of mind-numbing hardship. It has trademarked the phrase вЂњHome of the WorldвЂ™s Worst Weather,вЂќ and its mocking race motto-вЂњOnly One HillвЂќ-is emblazoned on bumper stickers, T-shirts, websites, and the title page of Dave DunhamвЂ™s 182-page definitive race history. In the Presidential Range of New HampshireвЂ™s White Mountains, Washington is both the tallest and nastiest peak in the Northeast. Mount Washington isnвЂ™t like any other race in the world, and everyone knows it. вЂњIвЂ™m nervous,вЂќ says one of my teammates, Regina Loiacano, who competed at the 2004 World Cross-Country Championships and is a four-time winner of 8 Tuff Miles, a notorious uphill road race on St.

Like several hundred others in the field of 1,000 this year, I am a first-timer. ItвЂ™s a Japanese term that roughly translated reminds, вЂњSurvive the unsurvivable with dignity and strength.вЂќ Personally, I think about a word, gaman, I have only recently learned.

SchachatвЂ™s unapologetic answer of вЂњfourвЂќ water stops-only one of which is past mile four-draws knowing chuckles from mountain-tested veterans. ItвЂ™s going to be near 80вњЇ tomorrow with heavy humidity, we all know, and the heat is lethal on Mount Washington, with 7.6 miles and 4,650 feet of altitude gain between the valley start and the summit finish. вЂњAndy,вЂќ says a man a few rows behind me, addressing Andy Schachat, the longtime voice of the race, вЂњexactly how many water stations will there be this year?вЂќ

Steep extreme race believe