Maroon Bell Epic

[rastro]

...and now for something completely different...

The underlying theme of Green's teams has been perseverance, no excuses, and a drive to win. Green's motto is: "Plan your work and work your plan." He explains how to do so with what he calls “The 3 Ds:” Desire (goals), Dedication (work ethic to achieve the goals), and Determination (perseverance). In his autobiography, No Room For Crybabies, he tells his inspirational life story, and provides the blue print for and explanation of how he overcame bigotry and discrimination to succeed in life and to climb to the top of his profession.

The high point of Dennis' Vikings career was the 1998 season where the team lost only one regular season game and set the NFL record for the most points scored in a season and finally advancing deep into the playoffs. Green reached several milestones, including coaching what was then the highest-scoring team in NFL history (the 2007 Patriots under Bill Belichick currently hold this record) and becoming the first black head coach to come within a game of The Super Bowl, losing in overtime to the Falcons.

Dennis Green / Minnesota Vikings Head Coach / 1992-2001

[unclegar]

I haven't done the Bells yet but I thought this sign was priceless. You can't say you haven't been warned after passing this sign.

bells sign.JPG (136.57 KiB) Viewed 5225 times

[timf]

I've just finished a trip report (and "what went wrong" study) of a summit attempt on South Maroon Bell a few years ago. Several lessons learned.

http://peakmind.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/the-long-bell/

Nice educational report. Between this and close ups of Bill's pictures, and hearing how loose it is, it makes me wonder if doing all the 14ers is in the cards for me someday.

[mjsherman]

I've just finished a trip report (and "what went wrong" study) of a summit attempt on South Maroon Bell a few years ago. Several lessons learned.

http://peakmind.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/the-long-bell/

Nice educational report. Between this and close ups of Bill's pictures, and hearing how loose it is, it makes me wonder if doing all the 14ers is in the cards for me someday.

Its not as bad as you may think. If you take your time and maybe go with someone who has been there before you should have no problem. Be as fit as possible though so you can enjoy the trip because the Bells are a lot of elev. gain.
Enjoy
Matt

[peakmind]

I've just finished a trip report (and "what went wrong" study) of a summit attempt on South Maroon Bell a few years ago. Several lessons learned.

http://peakmind.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/the-long-bell/

Nice educational report. Between this and close ups of Bill's pictures, and hearing how loose it is, it makes me wonder if doing all the 14ers is in the cards for me someday.

Thanks. You can get more comfortable in managing the risks involved by working your way up the class grades. A bit of rock climbing can also help with the development of rock skills and judgment. Some of the 14er peaks are not casual; but the harder they are to reach, the greater personal reward they offer. That is my opinion, of course. Good luck.

[Broken Knee]

Some of the 14er peaks are not casual; but the harder they are to reach, the greater personal reward they offer. That is my opinion, of course. Good luck.

Excellent thread.

[tlongpine]

Some of the 14er peaks are not casual; but the harder they are to reach, the greater personal reward they offer. That is my opinion, of course. Good luck.

Excellent thread.

After 4 1/2 years of deliberation the jury rendered a verdict.

[oldkingog]

A friend and I summited S Maroon yesterday. We met a couple going up and climbed the last 1000 feet with them. It was definitely nice to have several pairs of eyes for route finding and several times I thought about how spooked I would be to climb this solo. We had a GPS (with downloaded gpx file and the pics and route description from this website. These were really helpful to assure not dropping/ascending into an unsafe area. My friend and I met a guy descending solo on our way down and several times had to point him in the right direction after he got off route. He had read
Roach's book previously, but in my opinion, Roach's description wouldn't have left me with much confidence if I were attempting to summit solo.

!Side note: The '2800 feet of suck' wasn't the most enjoyable route, but having trekking poles was a huge help!