Samuel Giammarino and Garrett Brandes Achieve World Record for Longest Documented Hike to a Mountaintop Sword Duel
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
After hiking 1.1 miles to the summit of Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire, lifelong friends completed a sword duel before onlookers, witnesses, and a mountain sky.
By Atlas Editorial Team
3 June 2026 • Wilmot, New Hampshire [USA]
A Mountain, a Rivalry, and the Old Human Urge to Climb
There are records born from laboratories, stadiums, stopwatches, and spreadsheets. And then there are records born from something older and stranger: two friends, a mountain, a pair of swords, and the unshakable belief that life should occasionally be made ridiculous in the most glorious way possible.
On May 23, 2026, Samuel Giammarino and Garrett Brandes hiked the Winslow Trail to the summit of Mount Kearsarge in Wilmot, New Hampshire. Their purpose was not simply to reach the top. Their purpose was to reach the top and then do what very few people have ever thought to document, measure, and submit for world-record review: complete a mountaintop sword duel.
The verified distance was 1.1 miles, measured by the official trail distance for the Winslow Trail ascent to the summit. The attempt was further supported by GPS route evidence, continuous video documentation, photographic evidence, and witness statements from those who observed the achievement.
The Duel at the Summit
At the summit, with the landscape falling away around them, Giammarino and Brandes put on protective masks and gloves and completed a sword duel using Italian fencing swords. The duel was not a hostile confrontation, but a controlled exhibition carried out by two close friends who have known each other since birth and who describe their friendship as one built on adventure, rivalry, and the desire to keep pushing each other into memorable terrain.
They described the attempt as a way to inspire adventure and excitement in others. In their more mythic telling, it was “a prophecy written in the stars,” a fate that demanded an epic battle atop a mountain peak. In more grounded terms, it was a physical and logistical challenge that required planning, documentation, equipment, timing, witnesses, and enough theatrical commitment to carry swords up a mountain and make the idea real.
Onlookers gathered near the summit and responded with enthusiasm. Some watched the duel unfold. Others helped document the achievement as witnesses. Several asked for photos and wanted to hold the swords. What began as an unusual personal challenge became, for a few moments, a shared mountaintop spectacle.
A First Mark for Future Challengers
Atlas World Records has certified Samuel Giammarino and Garrett Brandes for achieving the world record for Longest Documented Hike to a Mountaintop Sword Duel.
The record stands as a first documented benchmark in a new and highly challengeable category. The achievement combines endurance, outdoor adventure, performance, and controlled swordplay into a record that is both measurable and wonderfully strange.
Giammarino and Brandes have made clear that they welcome future challengers. Their advice is simple: train, build your character, build your fighting ability, and bring an adventurous spirit.
For now, the mark belongs to them: 1.1 miles up Mount Kearsarge, followed by a sword duel at the summit, carried out in the spirit of friendship, rivalry, and a life lived with a little more thunder than usual.
Certified by Atlas World Records on 27 May 2026