In the Spotlight 'Adventure of a lifetime': Ferndale native completes 50-state high points challenge

Sep. 18—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — When Ferndale native Jim Korn reached the 5,268-foot summit of Katahdin in Maine on Aug. 27, he simultaneously celebrated his 60th birthday and the completion of a 28-year challenge — reaching the highest point in each of the 50 states.

"I tell you what, man, it's been an adventure of a lifetime. I'm not kidding you," said Korn, who now lives in Indianapolis. "It's all about the journey. It's not about getting to the top."

The nearly three-decade journey began in August 1995 when Korn signed up for a mountaineering course in Wyoming.

"I always wanted to learn how to mountaineer — how to climb a mountain — so I signed up for a course in Wyoming, in the Wind River Range," he said.

As the only person who signed up, Korn had the guide's full attention, and he inadvertently began his high-points challenge with what he still considers the most difficult peak he's ever climbed in the continental U.S. — Gannett Peak.

There were plenty of peaks around, but Gannett was simply the one that the guide chose. As it turned out, it was the state's highest point, at 13,804 feet.

When the pair reached the summit, they met two climbers who were from Indianapolis. The duo had just signed a registration book at the summit with "HP12" after their names, meaning they had just claimed Wyoming's as their 12th U.S. high point.

At the time, Korn did not think much of the challenge, but after more reflection, he realized it was a worthy goal for someone who as a child had dreamed of visiting every state.

"I got intrigued, and by the time I came down, I was all in," he admitted.

"All we had (in Ferndale) was Hogback. I used to climb that thing and felt so accomplished when I got to the top," Korn said.

He would find his way up the steep 500-foot hillside, sit on a rock at the top and look down upon the small borough.

"It was an adventure for me," Korn said.

Eventually, he graduated to the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail on nearby Laurel Hill, but always dreamed of higher ground.

"There were always those pictures of the Rockies in my head, and I would think, 'Wow, what would it take to climb that?' and then you read books on Everest," said Korn.

At the time, there was very little information available on the internet about the high-point quest, so Korn acquired a copy of Paul L. Zumwalt's "Fifty State Summits." He used the book and a paper road atlas to begin his journey.

Two months after scaling Gannett, he and his brother Mark Korn checked off Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia by hiking or simply driving to Mount Davis (3,213 feet), Backbone Mountain (3,360 feet), Spruce Knob (4,861 feet), and Mount Rogers (5,729 feet), respectively.

From there, Korn ventured west, climbing peaks such as Mauna Kea in Hawaii (13,796 feet) and Mount Whitney in California (14,498 feet).

He had to scale 13 peaks that are more than 11,000 feet tall, including Washington's Mount Rainier (14,411 feet), which he said was very difficult due to its glaciers.

Montana's Granite Peak (12,799 feet) required five attempts.

"That was my last hardest one," he stated.

According to the website Summitpost.org, since 2018, more than 300 people have reached all 50 state high points.

"It's getting a lot more popular," Korn said. "What's neat is there are a lot more people who've done Everest or the Appalachian Trail. I was surprised how low of a number it is."

He added: "Denali really prevents a lot of people from getting all 50."

Korn considers Denali in Alaska by far the hardest U.S. high point to reach. Also known as Mount McKinley, at 20,310 feet, it is the highest point on the North American continent. He said many people have reached the highest points in the lower 48 states, with some adding Hawaii, but not many have climbed Denali.

"Fifty is almost always Denali, so if you've done 48, chances are you didn't do Denali," Korn said. "If you can do that, you can do all the others."

He spent 21 days on the Denali expedition. Each climber had 100 pounds of gear to move because all water had to come from thawed ice and snow, which required plenty of fuel to melt. Fifty pounds of that gear per climber was moved using snowshoes and toboggans five hours up to where the next campsite was to be set up. After those supplies were buried, Korn and company returned to base camp for the second 50-pound load.

"The next day, if the weather's good, you take your camp, tear everything down, and then you move up to that camp you just made the day before," Korn said. "You keep doing that all the way up the mountain, so basically what you're doing is climbing the mountain twice."

Korn said that weather was the No. 1 obstacle to completing his high-points challenge, followed by altitude and the lengths of summit trails and climbs. Foul weather plagued the Denali expedition.

"So you just basically sit in a tent for days until the weather passes," he said. "You play cards, read books, listen to music and tell lots of riddles."

But Korn met people from all over the world on that trip. He recalled trading beef jerky for exotic cheeses from European climbers.

Despite weather delays, Korn said, the view from the summit was nothing short of spectacular.

"Every neighboring peak is, like, 14,000 feet — something like you would see in Colorado," Korn said. "That's another mile down!"

In contrast, many state high points — such as Iowa's, Nebraska's and Illinois' — came easily.

The lowest, Florida's 345-foot Britton Hill, was a breeze.

"So we drove our car up, got out of our car, walked 20 feet to the high point where there was a plaque and a bench, took some pictures and then came back," he said with a laugh.

Korn enjoyed meeting so many interesting people along the way, regardless of altitude.

"You're meeting a little slice of America," he said.

Other effortless high points were Indiana's Hoosier Hill (1,257 feet), which he described as a knoll in a cornfield, and Mount Sunflower (4,039 feet) in Kansas, which was another drive-up. Even some Appalachian high points, such as New Hampshire's Mount Washington (6,288 feet) are accessible by car. Whenever possible, though, Korn opted for hiking trails to such summits.

"There are not a lot of rules to this — it's just a club," he said. "No one judges you if you drove your car to Mount Washington. I always tried to hike when I could."

In Maine, he reached his final high point with mixed emotions.

"I could see the summit and I was happy," he said.

Also the northern terminus of the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail, Katahdin sports a weathered gray sign at its rocky peak that Korn touched to complete his incredible adventure.

"I went out and just put my hand on it. I felt great — for about 30 seconds," he recalled.

With the wind and sun caressing his face atop Katahdin, Korn experienced a plethora of emotions. Accomplishment, joy and deep satisfaction were among them.

But he had just lost his 90-year-old mother three weeks prior to the trip. And the adventure he embarked upon as a 32-year-old research scientist was now behind him. He felt a little old upon reaching age 60.

He wondered, "Now what?"

"I was overwhelmed by melancholy," he said, "and I think it's because now this thing I've been doing for half my life, the adventure of a lifetime, had now come to an end. I had this sort of empty feeling."

After Korn reached any summit, his ritual included two things — taking a photo with a small American flag that he acquired at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and contacting his brother Mark, who would in turn let their mother know that her Jimmy had reached his goal safely.

"I'm not doing that for the first time," he said.

Although he plans to keep mountaineering, other challenging ideas have already begun to inhabit Korn's imagination. Now retired, he wants to learn how to sail and improve his swimming. Hiking remains a passion.

"I'd like to do some sections of the AT," he said, referring to the Appalachian Trail.

But Korn loves to climb, and he will continue to climb something, somewhere.

The kid who once viewed Hogback with wanderlust from his bedroom window in Ferndale has scaled peaks as high as Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet) and many others.

His passion has taken him all over the planet.

"I like hiking, but there's something about a goal of getting to the top of a mountain, and then having a fantastic view, and the accomplishment of getting to the top — it's just something I've always wanted as a kid," Korn said.