How did you get to where you are now?

FAQ and threads for those just starting to hike the Colorado 14ers.
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d_baker
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by d_baker »

I drove here.
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XterraRob
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by XterraRob »

Did Princeton on the 4th of July as my first.

I love the work you put in to get somewhere few in the world will ever get to see. I believe if you appreciate the outdoors, great views, and pushing yourself, climbing in the Rockies is a very rewarding experience.

Now I can't stop climbing them :-\
RIP - M56
Re-introduce Grizzly Bears into the Colorado Wilderness™
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Broken Knee
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by Broken Knee »

My dad joined himself and I up to the local Cub Scouts chapter when I was 6 years old. He had been a US Army Mountain Ranger in WWII and another of the fathers was a former Marine with technical climbing skills. So I got into backcountry travel at a young age and began learning technical climbing. Over the next 15 years I gradually learned more mountaineering skills by climbing with a variety of mentors and partners, then I sort of got addicted. By my late 20s I wanted to do longer and harder routes on higher altitude peaks and knew that I needed to be stronger and have more technical climbing skills. So I learned to train better and climbed with stronger partners. It was really worth the effort. It may not be obvious that the key was learning from experienced partners but it's not efficient to learn it all by trial and error. I do think it's vital to eventually lead climbs that are within your wheelhouse and teach others less skilled than yourself - learning to lead and teach will also help you learn to jump over the next barrier. But as you progress, be patient. You can gradually increase the technical grade you climb at, or the length of the routes you climb, or the riskiness of the routes. But you should not make simultaneous quantum leaps in difficulty, length and risk. Patience, Grasshopper! The mountains will wait for you.
When life gets you down, climb!
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glenmiz
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by glenmiz »

I started by attempting to climb Longs peak with no experience, no preparation, travelling the night before from Houston, and a fear of heights. I turned around with knees knocking at the Narrows.

I fell in love with climbing mountains nearly twenty years later when, on my third attempt, I summited Longs Peak with my sixteen year old son. In the meantime, I had gained some experience, learned how to prepare and plan a hike and overcame some of my fear of heights by climbing class 1 and 2 routes much as the other folks have posted here.

If you have an interest in being on top of the world, you will enjoy climbing. There are many options, some with more people others with fewer, to experience it. As the others have said, it works best for most people to develop skills, experience, fitness, etc. slowly and with the thoughtful input of those with more of those attributes. Most of those folks are very happy to share their experience with you. Go out and find them and do it! You won't be disappointed.
Aim high to end high
mrvwbug
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by mrvwbug »

I've lived in southeast Wyoming most of my life but never really did much hiking when I was younger. Decided to take up hiking as a way to get exercise and lose weight in 2012 (initially because I HATE running), and have stuck with it ever since. My first major accomplishment was summiting my first 12er in August of 2012 (Medicine Bow Peak). Last year I finally decided that I wanted to attempt my first 14er and on July 23rd of last year I summited Bierstadt with my wife's cousin (my first 14er, his 4th). This year I spent most of the hiking season in RMNP and also managed to summit both Grays and Torreys (separate trips due to a combination of being parked 1.5mi from the TH due to crowds and weather when I did Grays, came back a few weeks later to do Torreys). My eventual goal is to summit all of the Colorado 14ers before I turn 50 (I'm 36 now, so have 13 years to go).
Bill G
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by Bill G »

My first 14er was Whitney by way of Yosemite....200+ miles. Still have never understood the fascination of Coloradans and these simple day hikes. I've done a dozen or so of the Colorado peaks but find them mostly crowded and boring.
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Kent McLemore
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by Kent McLemore »

Reform school - I was shipped from the city to the Park Range near Steamboat Springs in 1976. There I met the mountains and my wife. Both are still with me.
-km
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bdloftin77
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by bdloftin77 »

Since I was little, my family went out camping and hiking quite a bit. I had wanted to do a 14er, or at least Pikes Peak (live in the Springs), for a long time, but my dad didn't take me up it til I was in mid high school. My first 14er was Massive in 2006. Being in shape from doing cross country and track, it wasn't too difficult for me. I loved getting to treeline, with all the trees being small and beautiful, and then above treeline... it was like a huge alpine meadow!

From then til 2013, I only did a couple 14ers a year, if any. Longs was my 4th 14er.. I loved it, and felt very accomplished. In the summer of 2014, I finally unleashed my hiking desires, and did 17 new 14ers. #8 was Bierstadt and the Sawtooth, getting more class 3 prep. #20 was Crestone Needle, followed by Crestone Peak. Those were a benchmark.. They actually weren't as scary as I thought they would be, and I handled the climbing well. (was just really careful going down). So that was a confidence booster. #23, last summer, I did Lindsey via the ridge. I wanted to do Capitol later that summer, but was a little worried about how I would handle exposure. Staying right on Lindsey's ridge most of the time, I found that the exposure was more exhilarating than scary for me, and the class 4 stretch wasn't that bad, either. #28, last summer, I finally got in Capitol Peak. When I summited, I actually wondered, "Is that it?" I had been worried about it, and I think had over-hyped myself. But that was a big milestone for me.. Now that I had done the "hardest" 14er in Colorado, I wasn't as worried about the other hard ones as I had been before. With planning, good weather, etc, I think all of the 14ers are within my range, which is exciting.

This summer, I've done 16 so far. After finishing Antero, San Luis, and Sneffels over the last few days, I'm at 44 peaks and only have 14 left! Within range for possibly finishing next summer.

I've found the climbing connection on this site to be very helpful.. I did Lindsey, Kit Carson and Challenger, and Capitol all with people I hadn't met before. I'm kinda in the same boat as you, there aren't many people I know in the Springs who are at my skill/avidness level for hiking. I've done a decent amount of 14ers this summer solo for that reason. There are usually people up there, as someone else mentioned, especially during weekends. (even San Luis).

I agree.. slowly increasing the class/exposure/difficulty of 14ers can be a good thing. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself, though.. you might find that you can achieve more than you think. I haven't done any CMC classes, but I've heard those are very valuable, and might look into that more. Right now, I'm only really a summer-peak-bagging-fanatic, but it would be cool to learn some more skills (ice/snow, roped climbing, winter hiking/climbing, etc)

Good luck with your adventures! And don't be discouraged if you're not where you want to be yet... I hadn't done a single 14er my freshman year of high school, and now I'm partially living the dream, getting above treeline where relatively few people go, exploring Colorado, and enjoying incredible views.
mrvwbug
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by mrvwbug »

Bill G wrote:My first 14er was Whitney by way of Yosemite....200+ miles. Still have never understood the fascination of Coloradans and these simple day hikes. I've done a dozen or so of the Colorado peaks but find them mostly crowded and boring.
The JMT is a bucket list item for me. I haven't started finding CO 14ers boring yet, but I've only done 3 so far, crowded for sure which is why I prefer to do them on weekdays. The day hiking thing mostly seems to stem from the fact that many hikers in CO go hiking on a near daily basis since there are a ton of great trails close to the major population centers of the front range. The way that the ranges are situated and where the roads are makes it so that most of the 14ers can be day hiked as there are really no long approaches. It's not like the winds up in Wyoming where you are looking at a 2 day hike just to get to the base of the major peaks, many of which are technical and even snow/ice climbs.
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TallGrass
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by TallGrass »

"A few hours' mountain climbing make of a rogue and a saint two fairly equal creatures.
Tiredness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity - and sleep finally adds to them liberty."
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myfeetrock
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by myfeetrock »

I saw a picture of the bells on a calendar. I had now idea where this was but wanted to see it. Years later and many more pictures, I came to Colorado just to see the bells. I stood there looking at those mountains with awe. I made my way up to crater lake and noticed a point off to my left. I even took a picture of it because it grabbed my attention. I was more taken back by this mountain than the bells. I got home and began to look up Colorado mountains and these things called 14ers. I found out about CFI and gave them a call. The lady I talked to said she couldn't give out climbing info but told me about Gerry Roach and his 14ers book. I bought the book off of ebay and read it over and over. Pyramid was the peak up to the left. With more research I found out about 14ers.com. I looked at pictures of the route over and over. I watched videos on youtube. 8 years from the first visit, I moved here in may of 08. August 3rd. of 08 I summited my first 14er and have been hooked since.
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bonehead
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by bonehead »

Whitney was also my first, at the the end of the High Sierra trail.
We started out from Giant Forest on my 15th birthday.
I've been hooked ever since.

Had a find of a lifetime on this past Tuesday
when we ran across a ram skull with horns intact.
Only took 47 years of getting out there and looking.
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