About Alumni

Class Notes

Nate Bender ’12 Climbs 27 Montana Mountains in One Trip

It all began with a bit of peer pressure. Wanting to keep up with some friends at UM, Nate Bender ’12 decided to give trail running a try.

“Growing up, running wasn’t something that was fun in of itself,” he says.

On a challenge, he ran the Le Grizz 50-miler along the Hungry Horse Reservoir, which left him “physically trashed.” But it also helped set him out on his path. In 2016, he climbed all nine of Idaho’s 12,000-foot-plus peaks – the “Idaho 12ers” – in less than 38 hours.

Now two years later, Bender has accomplished a feat unclaimed by anyone else: He is the first to link all 27 of Montana’s peaks over 12,000 feet in one trip.

Bender undertook significant training for his endeavor. He spent long days in the Beartooth Mountains, embarking on eight different scouting trips to learn the terrain and obstacles he would encounter. In addition to working full-time, he trained 20 to 30 hours a week at the gym or in the mountains, preparing especially to climb loose rock.

“Just because you’re a fit runner doesn’t mean you’ll be comfortable on that kind of terrain,” he says. “The route is nearly entirely off-trail. It’s quite rugged, with seemingly endless miles of boulder fields and rocky ridgelines.”        

Bender set off on his journey in mid-August. Three pacers accompanied him, and friends and family set up at the three places the route crosses established trails to serve as his support crew.

The route winds along the rock ledges, ridgelines and high plateaus the Beartooths are famous for. The last peak on the journey requires overcoming a difficult, natural, 40-foot rock tower guarding the summit.

“The fact that some of the hardest terrain of the route comes in the last few feet below the final summit makes overcoming it all the more hard-won and rewarding,” Bender says.

As he scaled over the last peak and a thunderstorm blew in, Bender says, “It was surreal.” The support crew cheered and clanged cowbells when he descended the final trail with a record-setting time of four days, six hours, 44 minutes and 19 seconds – and a total of 100 miles and 48,000 feet of ascent behind him.

For Bender, his fulfillment comes from the support he received to accomplish a goal two years in the making.

“Everyone pulling together to help me pull this off is really special to me,” he says. “That camaraderie is what makes a trip like this especially meaningful.”

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