Sea to Summit New Years Challenge!!

[cowboymrh]

That's a great time for first attempt Thinair!! Probably one of the fastest! Way to go! Those headwinds will slow you down to a crawl ...... hate em!

Leader Board Update: Stalker Mode

1. Scyzara ................................. 1 Day, 9 Hours, 18 minutes

2. HoustonWebster ....................... 1 Day, 10 Hours, 41 Minutes

3. Selfless .................................. 1 Day, 16 Hours, 42 minutes

4. ChillPlayer ............................... 1 Day, 18 Hours, 56 Minutes

5. Romerabr ............................... 1 Day, 22 hours, 6 minutes

6. Trashmobb .............................. 2 Days, 2 hours, 41 minutes

7. Thinair .................................. 2 Days, 7 Hours, 20 minutes

8. Cowboymrh ..............................2 Days, 19 Hours, 12 minutes

9. ThresholdSeven ......................... 2 Days, 21 Hours, 58 Minutes

10. Pausenclows ............................. 3 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes

Leader Board Update: Voyager Mode

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Leader Board Update: Pilgrim Mode

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[thinair]

So tried 2nd time, 1 day, 15 hours, 28 minutes. Weather was much better, but still encountered some head wind, but only once or twice, so pretty good weather conditions i guess. Once again, no favoritable restarts to get a better start etc... just playing with what is given. So pretty decent i guess, knowing that most likely 99% of participants probably tried and restarted at least 10 times i'm 2 for 2

Forgot to take 1st screen near lighthouse but from stats screen can be seen where i spawned and that visited lighthouse.

http://imgur.com/a/l1fEz

[Trashmobb]

Decided to have 1 last go.

Completed it in 1 Day, 21 hrs, 28 mins.

[cowboymrh]

I gave it another shot and made it in 2 days, 4 hours, and 12 minutes.

ONLY 2 MORE DAYS TIL CHALLENGE ENDS FOLKS!!

IT'S WIDE OPEN FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT WANT TO TRY IT IN PILGRIM OR VOYAGER MODE!!

So updating the leaderboard with Thinair, trashmobb, and my new times, the leaderboard looks like this:

Leader Board Update: Stalker Mode

1. Scyzara ................................. 1 Day, 9 Hours, 18 minutes

2. HoustonWebster ....................... 1 Day, 10 Hours, 41 Minutes

3. Thinair ................................. 1 Day 15 Hours, 28 Minutes

4. Selfless .................................. 1 Day, 16 Hours, 42 minutes

5. ChillPlayer ............................... 1 Day, 18 Hours, 56 Minutes

6. Trashmobb .............................. 1 Day, 21 Hours, 28 Minutes

7. Romerabr ............................... 1 Day, 22 hours, 6 minutes

8. Cowboymrh ..............................2 Days, 4 Hours, 12 minutes

9. ThresholdSeven ......................... 2 Days, 21 Hours, 58 Minutes

10. Pausenclows ............................. 3 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes

Leader Board Update: Voyager Mode

1. ........................................ Waiting for your time

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Leader Board Update: Pilgrim Mode

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[Scyzara]

Allright, one last try - this time for real! No, I mean honestly! :lol:

Was my eighth run in total, made it in 1d 8h 41min this time.

Could be a bit angry with myself for not realizing a genius shortcut Hotzn told me recently. Turned out I've been walking more than 1km too much in all of my runs including this one.^^ Well, nobody's perfect.

Gogo, Hotzn, RUN YOU CLEVER BOY and get yourself a crown!

[illanthropist]

I found the lighthouse today so will have a bash at this in tourist mode tomorrow as i still have no idea where Timberwolf Mountain is (trying to play without googling maps)

[Bill Tarling]

I found the lighthouse today so will have a bash at this in tourist mode tomorrow as i still have no idea where Timberwolf Mountain is (trying to play without googling maps)

Just as with the earliest releases of the game, personally I think you're playing it with the most enjoyable approach [not using online maps]... It may take longer to find things, but the rewarding feeling you do get when you discover it on your own is a huge payback in the game -- very old school where you really feel you earned every little success

[illanthropist]

[offtopic]

I found the lighthouse today so will have a bash at this in tourist mode tomorrow as i still have no idea where Timberwolf Mountain is (trying to play without googling maps)

Just as with the earliest releases of the game, personally I think you're playing it with the most enjoyable approach [not using online maps]... It may take longer to find things, but the rewarding feeling you do get when you discover it on your own is a huge payback in the game -- very old school where you really feel you earned every little success

Hehe thanks, was stuck in the ravine for an eternity trying to find a way through and finding out last min you can't kip in the rail cars was a bummer!

Tried using tinder bundles as waymarkers but they seem to vanish

Popping car bonnets and leaving microwave doors open helps too but as I've mentioned elsewhere it's a shame i can't leave the toilet seats up :lol:[/offtopic]

[Bill Tarling]

[offtopic]

Tried using tinder bundles as waymarkers but they seem to vanish

With an abundance of sticks available (or any other item you have plenty of), one navigational trick is to place the items in a pattern like a Pointing Arrow... that way when you happen back on it, it can help show you which way you previously went, or perhaps which way to go to get back to safety [/offtopic]

[cowboymrh]

Allright, one last try - this time for real! No, I mean honestly! :lol:

Was my eighth run in total, made it in 1d 8h 41min this time.

That time is just freakin nuts Scyzara!! Once the Challenge ends tomorrow, I hope you, and the other participants will check back in to this thread and share some of your tips for your blistering speeds!!

I know I'd be interested to know a few things such as:

1.What items did you take / leave behind?

2. How much coffee did it take you to reach the summit?

3. How did you balance the run / walk issue as far as keeping energy levels up?

4. How were you able to travel all night without freezing?

5. How were you able to find the clothes and coffee you needed so fast to not eat into your travel time?

6. What was your first priority when starting a run?

7. Where did you spawn on Desolation Point for your best runs?

8. What was your favorite time of day to start a run?

Leader Board Update: Stalker Mode

1. Scyzara ................................. 1 Day, 8 Hours, 41 minutes

2. HoustonWebster ....................... 1 Day, 10 Hours, 41 Minutes

3. Thinair ................................. 1 Day 15 Hours, 28 Minutes

4. Selfless .................................. 1 Day, 16 Hours, 42 minutes

5. ChillPlayer ............................... 1 Day, 18 Hours, 56 Minutes

6. Trashmobb .............................. 1 Day, 21 Hours, 28 Minutes

7. Romerabr ............................... 1 Day, 22 hours, 6 minutes

8. Cowboymrh ..............................2 Days, 4 Hours, 12 minutes

9. ThresholdSeven ......................... 2 Days, 21 Hours, 58 Minutes

10. Pausenclows ............................. 3 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes

Leader Board Update: Voyager Mode

1. ........................................ Waiting for your time

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Leader Board Update: Pilgrim Mode

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[illanthropist]

How long left to get a time submitted, I'd really love that "Joker of the Mountain" title

Would be fun to continue this on a monthly basis, perhaps each month the winner could win a "King of the Mountain" forum badge if admin created a group for it :idea:

[ChillPlayer]

1.What items did you take / leave behind?

rifle, ammo, lamp, torches, flares, wood, coal, coffee, tea, water, medicine, knife, hatched, cloths - no food

2. How much coffee did it take you to reach the summit?

~15

3. How did you balance the run / walk issue as far as keeping energy levels up?

only walk, run only for short distance or with coffee

4. How were you able to travel all night without freezing?

I did freeze and had to made a fire, lost about 5-6 hours because of that. Other than that I had always a torch lit

5. How were you able to find the clothes and coffee you needed so fast to not eat into your travel time?

know where it is - although I only found 6 in CH, kind of a worst case

6. What was your first priority when starting a run?

get to CH

7. Where did you spawn on Desolation Point for your best runs?

Little Island

8. What was your favorite time of day to start a run?

Ingame? 10 hours of sunlight left - RL 8:30pm

[Hotzn]

Damn, guys, can't we leave the challenge open until the next major update? Couldn't play much due to RL reasons in January, but will likely have some time beginning February. I really want to do this.

[selfless]

1 Day 8 Hours ...... forty......... five minutes. Doh!

So close. Honestly don't know how you travel so fast given you are traveling 3 km more than me Scyzara. Kudos! I did spend an awful lot of time brewing an awful lot of coffee in large batches (35 cups = 350 minutes or ~6 hours). More frequent fires might at least have kept me from freezing as much as I did... but now at least it's over.

ADD:

My story, more or less, as I remember it. Maybe even how it actually happened.

1. Start at Little Island 'cuz its the closest to the lighthouse. Trek across the ice, carefully up the bank, then inside the light. Start a fire with wood and paper found there, take 2 torches and keep one lit to warm up a bit. Loot the place. Find a ski jacket, painkillers, lantern fuel, and more paper. Drop sleeping bag, bandage, antibiotics, drink soda. Go out and down on the seaward side of the rocks to avoid the wind and the wolves. Walk past the pickup truck across the road then up the path then on to the mine. Stage one complete.

2. More lantern fuel in the mine and a scarf. Light second torch halfway through. Exit at 3/4ths warmth. Sprint past a wolf to get to the basement. Cargo pants, more lantern fuel and a jerry can. Linger 10 minutes for warmth. Sprint down the crumbled highway to CH. Stage two complete.

3. Headwind walking down the road to the first cottages. See the wolves out on the ice, so move quietly to the first one. Search all but take nothing other than water from the toilet. Move to second cottage. Trade up to premium coat (80%), workboots. Find one tin of coffee. Brew one cup outside and take two more torches. Avoid the wandering wolves. Then sprint across the ice direct to the Log Sort. Check the trailer, take a lantern and another jerry can. Up the hill, along the path, another trailer has a flare, then up and into the abandoned mine. Stage three complete.

4. Find more lantern fuel and another(!) jerry can. Will keep my lantern lit constantly from here; start all fires with kerosene. I am petroleum rich. Good thing because it is dark when I get out. Brew one cup to warm up and refresh before sprinting down from the mine, along the road, out to the Derelict Cabins. Take painkillers from a corpse. Light and throw flare at wolf then twice at a bear who first runs away but then comes back. Come to a bridge. Drop 6 cans of lantern fuel to avoid encumbrance. Start to freeze. Continue up trail toward the cluster of vehicles at Disagreement Point, but turn right before reaching to cut through a pass to the ropeway up TWM. Enter cache there. Upgrade to a toque, take hacksaw. Drop two jerry cans. Brew 3 cups, drink; warm. Climb to TWM. Stage four compete.

5. (((Time: 11 hours))) Clear night. Follow wreckage directly onto Crystal Lake. Avoid one wolf then get pursued by a second. Second wolf sees deer and gives up on me. Escape to headwall of Echo Gorge above Engine. Lit a flare to scare that last wolf but never needed, throw it over the side to carry lantern instead for better warmth and visibility. Skitter down side of canyon. Start to freeze in spite of lantern. Retrieve that thrown flare just in time to throw at the next wolf. Cut open cargo bin with coffee and tea; find three tins of coffee. Drop hacksaw. Throw flare at wolf again and leave it. Trek up path to the outdoor "cave". Brew 9 cups of coffee, warm, drink 1. Continue up and around to the rope below Deer Clearing. Drink 4 cups cold, no wood. Climb. Start to freeze. Turn left at top and keep on going up steeply sloped finger 'til rocks say go no further. Shortcut. Skitter along terrain to the right, constantly pressing upward when possible. Finally make it over the ridge and cross to the rope below Secluded Shelf. Drink 4 cups cold. Climb. Enter cave. Down to 58% condition from all the freezing. Nab some coal. Brew 6 cups, drink all. Exit cave to see dawn on the mountain. Move to rope to summit. Climb to ledge, rest, complete climb. (((Time: 19 hours))) Freezing, exhausted, stumble to tail section. Start a fire and throw in everything I can find. Grab hacksaw and flare gun. Loot coffee and tea bin, then water and soda bin keeping only water. Also cut open lantern bin and all soda bin 'cuz I don't really know which container exactly is which. Find 3 tins of coffee. Brew 12 cups. Drink 10, warm. Test flare gun shooting it at the section's tail before turning back to the cliff edge. Down the cliff side of the mountain toward where the other Engine should be, carefully descending ledge to ledge. Reach level ground briefly, then ignore the rope attachment point and walk around and down the terrain there, too. Over the river, direct to Landing Gear, back to the path and down again to PV, freezing. Stage five complete.

6. Reclaim jerry cans at cache. Start fire and brew 3 cups, drink 1, warm. Sprint down to the trail. Sprint past the bear. Cornered by two wolves. Outmanouver them and drop a torch from previous fire to keep them both at bay. Drink another coffee cold. Sprint on to cabins. Blizzard rolls in, pale orange. Sprint blindly down road, freezing. Manage to find path to mine as through the swirling snow. Press through headwind, up slope to get inside and warming. Stage six complete.

7. Quickly through mine to find blizzard on the other side, too. Warm up last cup of coffee and drink. Direct descent down the hill of Coastal highway, can't really see, sprain an ankle and a wrist. Freezing and feels like -32 degrees. Treat wounds sheltering next to a rock then sprint out onto the ice to find myself under one of the pylons for the log sort in the darkening storm. Take rough bearing using coastline and pylon and strike out across the ice to try and reach the shore somewhere between the town and the cottages, dead reckoning. 10 minutes (real world) in the blind, save but a few meters of ice in front of me, before I see a tree. Then two. I'm back on the road, it worked. Turn right and sprint with the wind at my back now all the way to Crumbling Highway. Stage seven complete.

8. Fast as I can to the basement. Get there with 18% condition remaining (((Time: 1 day 7 hours and 20 minutes))). Decide to wait there exactly 10 minutes to warm up before pressing on. Drop everything but clothes, lantern, and flare gun. Storm still raging, at least that means no wolves on the prowl. Stumble through darkness around the washed out road then manage to find the mine entrance just as I start to freeze again. Stage eight complete.

9. Warm a bit going through the mine but I'm in a race, no more waiting. Exit and decide to skirt down to Blocked Highway to save time. Slide, sprain both ankles, bruising leaves only 8% condition remaining and I'm already starting to freeze?!! Guzzle painkillers and sprint wildly down the road in the haze of dying, but the storm is now abating, only light snow falls. The wolves are out. I can hear them when I reach the car, take no chances. Point flare gun into the sky and fire. Hear them yelp in the darkness. Clear path ahead, if only I could see it through my clouding eyes in the small circle of my lantern. Trudge on, bursts of sprint, crossing the bridges reload my precious pistol in time to fire a shot that ricochets off the glass at the top of the lighthouse before scrambling for the door handle. Safe inside, check the clock, 4 minutes late. < deflates >

10. 5% condition, freezing, starving, and exhausted. Remember there's a can of dog food next to a cot up those stairs, must be in Heaven. No? Guess I survived another trip through The Long Dark.

[Scyzara]

Haha selfless, that's more or less exactly my time. Unless someone posts a better one, I suggest the challenge should have two winners. If only you knew how incredibly silly I feel for walking the longer way all the time. Don't have the feeling I deserve to win anything. x-x''

But I'm too busy today in real life to play another round. Besides, I already said I won't do that. Maybe after the challenge has ended.

As for how I travel so fast... I'll answer cowboymrhs questions once the challenge is finished. Guess that will explain it then.

[cowboymrh]

Damn, guys, can't we leave the challenge open until the next major update? Couldn't play much due to RL reasons in January, but will likely have some time beginning February. I really want to do this.

Don't worry Hotzn....... While the "actual challenge" does end in 8 hours from this posting....I'll leave the leader board up and continue to update times as long as you folks want to give it a shot!

Fantastic time selfless!! and sooooooooooooooooooo close to Scyzara's stupidly fast times!!

I'm on a run now that I hope will be under 2 days and will keep you all posted.

And Selfless, If Scyzara is agreeable to it, She (unless somebody beats her time) will be "Queen of the Mountain" and you will be "King of the Mountain"

Both of you were blistering fast and I'm interested in finding out how you did it!

Leader Board Update: Stalker Mode

1. Scyzara ................................. 1 Day, 8 Hours, 41 minutes

2. Selfless ................................. 1 Day 8 Hours, 45 minutes

3. HoustonWebster ....................... 1 Day, 10 Hours, 41 Minutes

4. Thinair ................................. 1 Day 15 Hours, 28 Minutes

5. ChillPlayer ............................... 1 Day, 18 Hours, 56 Minutes

6. Trashmobb .............................. 1 Day, 21 Hours, 28 Minutes

7. Romerabr ............................... 1 Day, 22 hours, 6 minutes

8. Cowboymrh ..............................2 Days, 4 Hours, 12 minutes

9. ThresholdSeven ......................... 2 Days, 21 Hours, 58 Minutes

10. Pausenclows ............................. 3 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes

Leader Board Update: Voyager Mode

1. ........................................ Waiting for your time

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Leader Board Update: Pilgrim Mode

1. ........................................ Waiting for your time

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[romerabr]

Improve my time, but, way too slow...

When the challenge is over, please, post a map with your way...

[Scyzara]

And Selfless, If Scyzara is agreeable to it, She (unless somebody beats her time) will be "Queen of the Mountain" and you will be "King of the Mountain"

Sure, why not! Long live the monarchy! :lol:

When the challenge is over, please, post a map with your way...

The shortcut that Hotzn (and presumably also selfless) has found is in TWM. I just scribbled the route onto Whiteberry's (btw totally awesome, I love it!) TWM map with Paint - hope that's good enough to make it clear. Dark blue is the optimal route, light blue my silly detour. One can climb down the cliff/slope left of the bear cave and thus reach the Engine considerably faster.^^

Please don't take this drawing literally, I changed my "real" travelling route (e.g. on top of the summit) a bit to improve readability. And I'm bad with Paint. AND I assume my route isn't perfect in other aspects as well as selfless seems to have saved more km than just my "echo ravine detour".

I'll answer cowboymrh's and selfless's questions in every detail tomorrow as I'm pretty busy irl today and definitely want to take my time to write down everything thoroughly.

(There is not "one" key to my travelling speed, it's rather the sum of a lot of tiny details. The most important aspect is probably adaptability and particularly NOT doing everything exactly the same way in every run. I'll explain it later on.)

[cowboymrh]

And Selfless, If Scyzara is agreeable to it, She (unless somebody beats her time) will be "Queen of the Mountain" and you will be "King of the Mountain"

Sure, why not! Long live the monarchy! :lol:

When the challenge is over, please, post a map with your way...

The shortcut that Hotzn (and presumably also selfless) has found is in TWM. I just scribbled the route onto Whiteberry's (btw totally awesome, I love it!) TWM map with Paint - hope that's good enough to make it clear. Dark blue is the optimal route, light blue my silly detour. One can climb down the cliff/slope left of the bear cave and thus reach the Engine considerably faster.^^

Please don't take this drawing literally, I changed my "real" travelling route (e.g. on top of the summit) a bit to improve readability. And I'm bad with Paint. AND I assume my route isn't perfect in other aspects as well as selfless seems to have saved more km than just my "echo ravine detour".

I'll answer cowboymrh's and selfless's questions in every detail tomorrow as I'm pretty busy irl today and definitely want to take my time to write down everything thoroughly.

(There is not "one" key to my travelling speed, it's rather the sum of a lot of tiny details. The most important aspect is probably adaptability and particularly NOT doing everything exactly the same way in every run. I'll explain it later on.)

Congratulations Scyzara for the fastest time on the Sea To Summit Challenge and earning the title "Queen of the Mountain", and Congratulations to Selfless who's blistering time was only 4 minutes shy of Scyzara's time and earns him the title "King of the Mountain".......... VERY WELL DONE!!! ...BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE!!!! Congratulations to all who participated!!!

As mentioned before, I will keep the leader board up for all those who want to keep giving the Challenge a shot!! And the Leaderboards are still wide open for Pilgrim & Voyager Mode

I, also have a shortcut not mentioned by anyone that saves about 1/2 hour for those interested.

Description: When you are finished climbing the rope up to "Dear Clearing" instead of walking straight past the cave, take an immediate left and walk up to the top of the steep ridgeline with the pointing log on it, as high as you can. Once you get to the rocks, you will be right below "Secluded Shelf". Turn right and walk across the steep snow field. Stay as high as you can. You will eventually reach the crest just past the rope to Secluded Shelf". Now, turn back, staying on the crest of the ridge, and it will bring you right to the ridge overlooking the rope to Secluded Shelf.

Great Time Romerabr!!!!!! Good Job!!

The Leader Board is now as follows:

Leader Board Update: Stalker Mode

1. Scyzara ................................. 1 Day, 8 Hours, 41 minutes

2. Selfless ................................. 1 Day 8 Hours, 45 minutes

3. HoustonWebster ....................... 1 Day, 10 Hours, 41 Minutes

4. Romerabr .............................. 1 Day, 14 Hours, 35 Minutes

5. Thinair ................................. 1 Day 15 Hours, 28 Minutes

6. ChillPlayer ............................... 1 Day, 18 Hours, 56 Minutes

7. Trashmobb .............................. 1 Day, 21 Hours, 28 Minutes

8. Cowboymrh ..............................2 Days, 4 Hours, 12 minutes

9. ThresholdSeven ......................... 2 Days, 21 Hours, 58 Minutes

10. Pausenclows ............................. 3 days, 7 hours, 36 minutes

Leader Board Update: Voyager Mode

1. ........................................ Waiting for your time

2. ........................................ Waiting for your time

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Leader Board Update: Pilgrim Mode

1. ........................................ Waiting for your time

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[KD7BCH]

Congrats Scyzara.

[Hotzn]

Congratulations, Scyzara. I have this feeling you are coming back here soon to surprise people with a new and even better time... 8-)

[Nettaros]

I tried this challenge today, 3 days and 26 minutes in stalker, i loved it!, i want more challenges!.

[ChillPlayer]

The shortcut that Hotzn (and presumably also selfless) has found is in TWM.

kicking myself rightnow, never thought of going the way Hotzn described lol.

Congrats anyway for the awesome time Scyzara and Selfless and to everyone who even managed to clock any time and survive.

Thanks again cowboymrh for creating the challenge in the first place, it was great fun

[elloco999]

All hail the Queen and King of the mountain!

Congrats Scyzara for winning the challenge and to everyone who managed to set a time!

[Scyzara]

Thanks everyone and Congratulations to all participants no matter their time!

I've tried to explain my playstyle (how to walk fast despite walking way too much :lol: ) by answering cowboymrh's questions, but if anything remains unclear, please ask.

1.What items did you take / leave behind?

Looting as little as possible is of great importance in order to save time at the beginning of the run. I thus only looted clothes and coffee at the Harris' homestead, the Waterfront cottages and in the Coastal townsite until I had reached a certain critical threshold of what I deemed to be necessary. Afterwards I ignored everything else except toilet water, flares, accelerant and pieces of firewood that were lying around and could be picked up on the move.

I didn't try to get a full set of clothes, but instead stopped searching cloth-bearing containers once I had reached a temperature bonus of about +10/+4 or +9/+5. The same is true for coffee: Once I had looted 3x5 cups of coffee, I completely stopped searching kitchen cupboards to save time.

I also picked up about 8 l of toilet water in the Coastal townsite and carried it all the way to TWM in order to use it to boil coffee later on. Smelting snow is a horrible time sink and should be avoided at all costs.

Apart from that, I also looted some first aid kits for painkillers and 2 bandages. No antibiotics or antiseptic.

Oh, and I picked up newspapers to use them as tinder (without tearing them apart, this also saves a few minutes).^^

What I left behind is pretty much everything else: All kinds of weapons and tools (except the hacksaw in Quonset and one knife), all kinds of food & soda, all surplus matches, sewing kits, etc. I didn't even take a prybar to save the weight.^^

It's imho very important not to loot more than absolutely necessary, especially no containers that can neither contain clothes nor coffee.

Hotzn also found a method to improve looting times even further (you can enter a house, loot everything, memorize which places contain precious stuff, quit the game, reload it and only loot the right containers afterwards), but I didn't do this during my runs. Always thought it was random (and not predetermined) what items you loot - definitely another point that can be optimized!

2. How much coffee did it take you to reach the summit?

15 from Coastal townsite and another 20 from the echo ravine container. If I found more coffee in the cargo container, I looted everything ofc. The exact point of time when I boiled all that coffee depended on the weather conditions (see next question for details).

3. How did you balance the run / walk issue as far as keeping energy levels up?

This question is probably the most important one (apart from a good travelling route and looting priorities ofc) when it comes to really optimizing your times.

There are generally two different approaches how to play this challenge:

A) Don't run at all and boil only as much coffee as you absolutely have to (in order to save the 10min boiling time per cup)

or

B) Run occasionally, thus get more exhausted and thus boil more coffee to fight your fatigue

What I did was mixing up these two playstyles depending on weather conditions and temperatures.

In other words, I played every run a little differently and tried to adapt my playstyle to the given circumstances (amount of available coffee, temperature, weather, wind direction, distance to the next shelter).

During warm phases without wind (felt temperature >-8°C and only one arrow showing the decrease of the warmth bar) I would always use playstyle A, use the precious warmth to travel as much as possible, make as little fires as possible and only boil the minimal amount of coffee I need to get along.

But as soon as weather conditions turned bad (headwind, very cold temperatures or even blizzard) I switched to playstyle B: Run way more, seek shelter inside caves more often, make more fires to warm up again and spend as much time as (reasonably) possible boiling coffee while I wait for the weather to improve. Usually works pretty well, wind directions often change every 1-2 hours and headwind might thus cease. The coffee you've boiled in the meantime enables you to run a whole lot afterwards so you can "compensate" the time you lost boiling additional coffee in the first place.

Playstyle B only works if you have plenty of coffee ofc. I also believe it's less efficient than playstyle A in general - so it's better to lean towards style A in case of doubt. B is really just something you should do during bad weather and/or if you have pre-boiled coffee in your inventory on your way back to the lighthouse.

In addition to the A vs B decision I also adhered to three golden rules no matter what:

1. Never run against headwind.

2. Never run uphill.

3. Always run on the few tarred roads (Crumbling Highway between Harris home & CH, CH until waterfront Cottages and the PV road leading to the derelict cabins.)

Sounds a bit odd not to run while you're moving horribly slowly but instead when you're already fast, but I made good experiences with this movement style. No idea if rule 3 is particularly relevant, but 1 and 2 definitely are. Your fatigue pretty much explodes when running uphill or against headwind.^^

4. How were you able to travel all night without freezing?

I wasn't. One just needs to keep calm and simply carry on if freezing is unavoidable. Losing several dozens percents of health is totally normal and no big issue as long as you make sure not to contract hypothermia.^^

Oh, and I carried a lit torch (or the storm lantern) around all the time ofc. to make sure my warmth bar dropped a little slower. (Caution, the temperature bonus only helps to prolong the time until you start to freeze - once you're already freezing, lighting a torch will NOT cause your condition to drop slower!).

Besides, boiling coffee during extremely cold phases helps warming up again (see point 3).

5. How were you able to find the clothes and coffee you needed so fast to not eat into your travel time?

Guess I already answered that in the first question - only loot what you absolutely deem necessary to survive.^^

But Hotzn's idea would definitely improve looting times further. I'm currently trying that out and it saved me two hours inside the coastal townsite. :lol:

6. What was your first priority when starting a run?

See if all conditions (spawn point, time of day, weather) were acceptable. If one didn't fit my needs (e.g. strong winds, -25°C temperature, spawn in the middle of the night and the like), I would immediately start over.^^

7. Where did you spawn on Desolation Point for your best runs?

Little Island. I don't know, even though I started at least 50 different games trying to spawn directly at the lighthouse, I never got lucky. No idea if spawning right at the lighthouse is really possible in Stalker mode.

8. What was your favorite time of day to start a run?

Good question. I honestly have to say that I personally always favored spawning at noon or in the afternoon (between 8-5 hours of daylight left) because of the mild temperatures then, but during my fastest run I gave a totally different spawn time (1 hour of darkness left) a try and it worked out very well as it gave me the possibility to spend more night hours inside the echo ravine cave boiling coffee.

I think your exact spawn time doesn't matter that much as long as it's not late in the evening or right in the middle of the night.

Spawning in the afternoon makes for an easier start, but you might have to "waste" some good travelling hours indoors boiling coffee in TWM. Spawning early in the morning is a little harder at the beginning, but more efficient temperature-wise later on. Both spawn times definitely have their advantages and disadvantages.^^

kicking myself rightnow, never thought of going the way Hotzn described lol.

I know how you feel, this shortcut never came to my mind either. For some reason I had memorized the place as a steep 100m vertical cliff and not as a slope.

Guess that's why sharing thoughts and ideas with your fellows usually yields better resulats than trying everything on your own. More brains usually find more creative solutions for problems.

Congratulations, Scyzara. I have this feeling you are coming back here soon to surprise people with a new and even better time... 8-)

You first! It's February - time to submit a time eventually! ;p

But you're right, I'm currently trying to put together the different puzzle pieces of what I've learned (about cowboymrh's and Hotzn's shortcuts, selective looting via reload & my own movement style) and will definitely see how much time this collective knowledge can save! The run looks promising so far - left the Coastal townsite after only five hours - that's two hours earlier than in my best previous run!