Nathan Longhurst of the U.S. has been on a tear to climb New Zealand’s 100 greatest peaks in one season since last November. Today, the 25-year-old completed his task, summiting his 99th and 100th peaks, 3,151m Mount Sefton and 2,764m The Footstool. As he often did on this unique project, he paraglided from the top of Sefton to The Footstool and began climbing from there.
Longhurst is only the second person to complete the list and the first to do so in a single season. The first man, Don French, took 30 years to notch them all.
Not only did Longhurst paraglide from each summit, but sometimes, he flew from the top of one peak to the base of another. Occasionally, he has even landed high on a subsequent peak and climbed from there.
“He doesn’t claim to have climbed those peaks in the traditional sense,” Dan Cervelli, who managed Longhurst’s social media, told ExplorersWeb when we first reported on his project back on February 3.
The Footstool in New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Photo: Nathan Longhurst
As he climbed The Footstool, a small crowd waited in nearby Hooker Valley, watching him through binoculars. When Longhurst landed his paraglider near them, officially finishing the project, they became the first to congratulate him.
Longhurst has documented all his climbs on Instagram, where his handle is nathan358. At home, the alpinist, trail runner, and paraglider splits his time between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Mammoth Lakes, California.
A happy Nathan Longhurst and friends back in the Valley. Photo: Nathan Longhurst
