I stumbled across the following article today (about Marshall Ulrich) while searching for something completely different. It's relevant to Mount Whitney and is certainly an amazing example of endurance. If you thought starting from the Portal was hard enough, imagine doing what Ulrich has done ...
<a href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041010/SPORTS0104/410100332/1007/SPORTS">Pushing the Limit</a>
-Rick