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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LadyClimber
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by LadyClimber »

A girlfriend of mine and I decided we wanted to learn to rock climb so we started making the hour drive to the Portland Rock Gym once or twice a week. I quickly realized this wasn't going to cut it for me and found a small climbing club and took their basic mountaineering course (I'm originally from the Pacific NW, so this was glacier mountaineering). In that class two of the instructors became my climbing mentors and good friends. They took me under their wing and taught me the majority of what I know about alpine rock climbing and mountaineering. Since then, through new partners, reading, experience, taking other courses, etc, I've continued to learn and grow.

I'd recommend looking into the CMC and take a class or two, make friends with more experienced people, spend as much time out side doing what you can...
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JA_son27
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by JA_son27 »

A coworker had mentioned they climbed Grey's peak, and for some reason I thought that would be fun. I casually mentioned it to another coworker who told me she had hiked 30+ which blew me away! She gave me enough advice to get me safely through my first ascent of Grey's, then I found this site due to a popular thread about a missing dog back in 2008? that was found. Anyway, I started hiking most of the "beginner" 14ers solo to get my feet wet. When I felt confident enough in my speed I went on a couple more advanced hikes (Long's & Bierstadt+Sawtooth to Evans) with the coworker who had given me advice. After that, I went nearly every weekend which was too much for my friend, so I ended up hiking solo. I became used to going solo and grew in confidence, plus I knew I was never truly solo. I've done most of my 14ers solo, but met and hiked with people I've never met on the trail a few times which was nice. I went solo to Capital, and N. Maroon but fell in with some nice people that I ended up hiking with by happenstance. I was just as comfortable on Little Bear and Pyramid alone too, it just comes with experience.

On a side note, I did attempt to meet someone from this site and will never do it again. This person got us somewhat lost and led me to a place where I shouldn't have been which screwed me a little (I made due with an Ice axe I brought). Halfway up the mountain, we gently argued which "bump" was the true summit which confirmed my thoughts about the person I was hiking with, he never studied the route thus didn't know what he was doing. I ended up summiting, as I watched him down below add an extra 30 minutes to his summit. Needles to say, I went back later solo, and summited the combo. It taught me a valuable lesson, don't blindly trust a complete stranger contrary to what they claim.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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ctlee
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Re: How did you get to where you are now?

Post by ctlee »

I moved here without knowing anyone too. I took a couple of CMC classes (Wilderness Trekking, Backpacking) to start but I was impatient and eager and just started going out and doing alot on my own. I'm a nurse and have alot of weekdays off when others aren't readily available to I just took to enjoying the adventure of being alone on the peaks. Going solo forced me to take responsibility for knowing my route 100%, knowing the weather and learning to read the weather patterns, and making careful decisions. My first climb was Twin Sisters in Estes Park and you would have thought I was ascending Mt. Everest--that will have been 10 years ago next spring and I'm still constantly amazed at this distances I cover and the increasing difficulty of the routes I climb. Something I can easily ascend now without thinking twice would have made me turn around and retreat a decade ago. I've done a few successful solo winter ascents too. If I had held back waiting for someone to go with me, I would have missed out on so many awesome adventures, new places, and meeting great people. So many hikes I've started solo and finished with a new friend. Just take every opportunity to learn: read, take a class, join the CMC and go on some group hikes. Like others have said, it's hit or miss but I've picked up some good info from some people who've been climbing these mountains longer than I've been alive. And now I'm at the point where I can talk about climbing mountains to newbies and it's exciting to share that love.
Live as if you were to die tomorrow-learn as if you were to live forever-----Mahatma Gandhi
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