Your First 14er

[HylianHero]

My Dad got me into 14ers when I was around 9. We climbed Quandary in 1997 as my first 14er. Obviously it was tough as a 9 year old, and I didn't really want to eat much, so I just had water and trail mix most of the way, but I made it up and have been climbing ever since!

[IntrepidXJ]

Handies Peak in 2010 at the age of 30. I wanted to try a 14er and that was the easiest one closest to me. I was spending a lot of time in that area over the summers, so I was familiar with all the Jeep roads around there.

My Trip Report from that day, back when my photos were not so good... https://adventr.co/2010/07/handies-peak-my-first-14er/

[benmangelsdorf]

Used to hate hiking because I viewed it only as an obstacle to grind through between me and the boulder problems I wanted to climb at the end of the trail. COVID hit and I was looking for something to do that avoided the crowds around boulders here, so I started hiking. Did Bierstadt for fun with a buddy of mine in July 2020 or so and then realized that hiking in the mountains was actually the coolest thing ever. I then unfortunately got way more into it than all of my previous hiking partners....

[peter303]

Whitney.
99 switchbacks.
NINETY NINE switchbacks.

[ltlFish99]

My first was Torreys.
I hiked it with the CMC in June 1987.
I had previously hiked Kelso, bethel, eva, and witter.
It was great as I had just joined the CMC that previous April.
Growing up in Denver, all I ever wanted to do was go to the mountains.
I got in a bunch of trouble for convincing my little sister to hike to timberline with me one time during a rare family outing.
It was worth getting in trouble for.
I got tired of friends always talking about going to the mountains, then canceling out with some lame excuse.
That is why I joined the CMC, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
That first summer in the mountains, was easily the best summer of my life up to that point.
I then met others in the CMC, and by 1990, we were in Ecuador hiking volcanoes.
In 1992, we journeyed to Bolivia to attempt a 21,000 foot peak.
All of this was great fun, and it all started on Torreys.
Fun thread.

[LoneStar]

Used to hate hiking because I viewed it only as an obstacle to grind through between me and the boulder problems I wanted to climb at the end of the trail. COVID hit and I was looking for something to do that avoided the crowds around boulders here, so I started hiking. Did Bierstadt for fun with a buddy of mine in July 2020 or so and then realized that hiking in the mountains was actually the coolest thing ever. I then unfortunately got way more into it than all of my previous hiking partners....

You wanted to avoid crowds ... so you hiked Bierstadt ???

[benmangelsdorf]

Used to hate hiking because I viewed it only as an obstacle to grind through between me and the boulder problems I wanted to climb at the end of the trail. COVID hit and I was looking for something to do that avoided the crowds around boulders here, so I started hiking. Did Bierstadt for fun with a buddy of mine in July 2020 or so and then realized that hiking in the mountains was actually the coolest thing ever. I then unfortunately got way more into it than all of my previous hiking partners....

You wanted to avoid crowds ... so you hiked Bierstadt ???

Haha... there's a reason that my next 7 or so peaks were all 13ers or 12ers

[NatDog]

In 2018 I was working in Telluride for the spring and summer. I had an intern working with me and we had to drive to Denver for a conference. We decided to do Quandary on the way. At the time all I knew was that it was a big hike at high elevation. I knew to bring plenty of water but I went way overkill and brought something like 5-6 liters.

The biggest issue was that my footwear options were limited to tennis shoes and steel-toed work boots. Knowing what I know now I should have went with my tennis shoes but thought I would need more ankle support. So I decided to wear my 5-lb work boots up the mountain! I was able to summit that June day with perfect weather, but it was certainly slow going on the upper ridge.

[myfeetrock]

Pyramid was my first. It was the first week of August 2008. After many years of cutting out pictures of the bell's, and saving calendar photos, I managed to make a trip out here from Texas in 2001. The soul purpose was to see the bell's. While hiking up to Crator lake I saw Pyramid. I didn't know what it was, but I told myself I was going to climb it one day. I went home and began to research. I watched videos on YouTube, and found 14ers.com. I found the 14ers Initiative, and was directed to some books that I could study. I found Roach's 14er book, and read it over and over. I moved here in May of 2008, and decided to make my move that August. I had no intention of summiting. I hiked with the intent of only checking the route out, and come back and finish another day. I ended up summiting that day. I loved it so much that I went back at the end of August and summited again. I would love to go back again this summer for a fifth time.

Don't know if this was intentional or not, but I love "The SOUL purpose was to see the bells." It works perfectly... especially for Will_E!!

Yes.....

[Jacobbanks]

My first 14er was Quandary with my dad in '10. My dad and mom both hiked 14ers back in the 80s when they were kids and he wanted to do one with me. i don't remember much of it. it wasn't until my girlfriend wanted to do one a few years ago that i got serious about hiking the 14ers. We did Democrat from Kite Lake. She cried from the saddle to the summit. She is from the farmlands of Nebraska and was terrified but powered through and was hooked. We started doing family 14ers every year. Unfortunately my dad has brain cancer and we will most likely never be able to do another family 14er.

[Tjohn67238]

My first was Pikes in 2005 in the Pikes Peak Ascent. I was among hundreds of others in a conga line and caught in a lightning storm above treeline. It's amazing no one (to my knowledge) was hit.

But it also snowed on Pikes that day, so the road down was closed. With hundreds of participants stranded on the summit, the choice was to either walk 13 miles back down the Barr Trail (which I should have done) or wait on the summit for the roads to be cleared for the shuttles to pick you up. That gift shop was jammed like a can of sardines. A memorable day.

[ncxhjhgvbi]

My first 14ers were Grays and Torreys in 2014. I had flown to Denver from sea level (Boston) for a work training on Wednesday and met up with my friend who lived in Boulder. He said we would do a 14er and it wouldn't be too hard. We left early Saturday and I was already feeling a bit nauseated from altitude by the time we parked about halfway up the road around 630 am. I still consider it one of the hardest things physically and mentally that I have ever done. We did Torreys first to avoid some of the crowds and that last 500' up grays was a killer. I remember having to catch my breath for a few seconds even when I stood up after sitting at the summit for awhile. We got to the car at about 1:30 and I slept from 3pm-7pm. We then destroyed $125 of sushi and I then slept from 9pm to 8am.

I moved here full time in April 2016. After having started to hike a bit more regularly in the year I spent in upstate New York, and getting a few months to acclimate, I crushed Princeton in June and it has been all uphill from there!