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Just before his 77th birthday, Orem man summits Mount Timpanogos for the 1,000th time

Posted at 9:56 PM, Aug 22, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-22 23:56:52-04

OREM, Utah -- A Utah hiker has set a new, impressive record.

On Wednesday Ben Woosely reached the top of Mount Timpanogos for the 1,000th time and he did it a week before his 77th birthday.

The sky was dark and cloudy, the wind whirling and cold rain pouring but Mother Nature did not put a damper on the day

“What’s the day I chose to do my thousandth we have a thunderstorm, a real thunderstorm,” Woolsey said.

With a smile on his face, Woolsey reached the top of Timp with the same attitude as every other time.

“I don't come up here wondering if I can make it, I come up here knowing I'm going to make it,” Woolsey said.

Throughout his other 999 hikes Woolsey has seen some beautiful bluebird days.

“Some people ask if I get bored doing the same trail and it's not the same trail everyday there are just different things about it,” Woolsey said.

Mount Timpanogos is the second highest summit in the Wasatch Mountains and it's not an easy hike.

The trail is 15 miles overall so Wednesday marks 15 thousand miles.

That's like hiking 572 marathons.

His fastest hike is just over three hours but now his pace is a little slower.

“Around 6.5 hours to 7. I have done it much faster than that but at 76 that's the best I can get,” Woolsey said.

Woolsey hiked Timp for the first time back in 1966 when he was 24 but now in his 70's he's reached milestone after milestone.

“It's made me healthy and I don't mind saying I pass quite a few young people on the way up,” Woolsey said.

Now days before his 77th birthday he's reached the goal of one thousand but he says it's just that - a goal.

“A lot of people are going to try to do more than what I've done and that doesn't bother me because I didn't set a record, I reached a goal is how I look at it,” Woolsey said.

His record should stand for some time.  The closest person to him is still 400 hikes behind.