Erling Hansen's Tragic Completion of the Colorado Fourteeners, 1991
Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 10:35 pm
ERLING HANSEN'S TRAGIC COMPLETION OF THE COLORADO FOURTEENERS, 1991
by gore galore
The completion of the Colorado fourteeners is a major goal of peakbaggers ever since Carl Blaurock and William Ervin became the first to climb them all in 1923.
Climbing the final chosen peak can be one of great emotions and celebrations. But in one case it was one of great sorrow and tragedy.
Erling Hansen joined the Colorado Mountain Club in 1983 as a summer resident from San Francisco, California. As a member of the Sierra Club he had successfully climbed Mount Shasta.
He climbed Longs Peak as his first Colorado 14,000 foot peak in 1983 at the age of 61. He made solo climbs of Windom, Eolus, Sunlight and Little Bear as he strove towards his goal of climbing them all.
Erling Hansen participated in the Peak Challenge '91 as a climber in the Mount Wilson party. It was from this summit that he observed the outline of El Diente to the west which would become his final chosen 14,000 foot peak. He had previously completed climbs of South Maroon, Capitol, Snowmass and Wilson Peak that same summer.
The Peak Challenge was an adventure based program to help troubled kids from the Griffith Center. It was the third since 1989 and first successful attempt to climb all 54 of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks simultaneously by placing sponsored parties led by Colorado Mountain Club trip leaders on the summits on August 18, 1991.
Erling began planning his final and 54th fourteener of El Diente by checking trip reports, peak registers and guidebooks in the CMC club rooms the week before his fatal climb.
On September 15, 1991 Erling Hansen fell to his death on the descent from El Diente after exploring the top of the peak “wearing the red cap he kept for such occasions” while taking pictures and waiting for his hiking partners who were forced to retreat due to treacherous conditions on the mountain. Rescuers believed that Hansen reached the top of El Diente judging from his footprints.
In the annual compilation of those “Men and Women Who Have Climbed Them All” in the December 1991 issue of “Trail and Timberline” magazine, Erling Hansen is listed as #572 of those who “have climbed to the top of Colorado's 54 fourteen-thousand-foot peaks.”
Erling Hansen 1922-1991 was a school teacher for thirty years. His concern for those less fortunate led him to trips to Central America to help build schools. His charitable contributions also helped programs for the poor and homeless.
He began hiking in the mountains with his father around age ten. And the end of Erling Hansen's life came at age 69 on the mountain El Diente from which he completed climbing all of Colorado's fourteeners.
by gore galore
The completion of the Colorado fourteeners is a major goal of peakbaggers ever since Carl Blaurock and William Ervin became the first to climb them all in 1923.
Climbing the final chosen peak can be one of great emotions and celebrations. But in one case it was one of great sorrow and tragedy.
Erling Hansen joined the Colorado Mountain Club in 1983 as a summer resident from San Francisco, California. As a member of the Sierra Club he had successfully climbed Mount Shasta.
He climbed Longs Peak as his first Colorado 14,000 foot peak in 1983 at the age of 61. He made solo climbs of Windom, Eolus, Sunlight and Little Bear as he strove towards his goal of climbing them all.
Erling Hansen participated in the Peak Challenge '91 as a climber in the Mount Wilson party. It was from this summit that he observed the outline of El Diente to the west which would become his final chosen 14,000 foot peak. He had previously completed climbs of South Maroon, Capitol, Snowmass and Wilson Peak that same summer.
The Peak Challenge was an adventure based program to help troubled kids from the Griffith Center. It was the third since 1989 and first successful attempt to climb all 54 of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks simultaneously by placing sponsored parties led by Colorado Mountain Club trip leaders on the summits on August 18, 1991.
Erling began planning his final and 54th fourteener of El Diente by checking trip reports, peak registers and guidebooks in the CMC club rooms the week before his fatal climb.
On September 15, 1991 Erling Hansen fell to his death on the descent from El Diente after exploring the top of the peak “wearing the red cap he kept for such occasions” while taking pictures and waiting for his hiking partners who were forced to retreat due to treacherous conditions on the mountain. Rescuers believed that Hansen reached the top of El Diente judging from his footprints.
In the annual compilation of those “Men and Women Who Have Climbed Them All” in the December 1991 issue of “Trail and Timberline” magazine, Erling Hansen is listed as #572 of those who “have climbed to the top of Colorado's 54 fourteen-thousand-foot peaks.”
Erling Hansen 1922-1991 was a school teacher for thirty years. His concern for those less fortunate led him to trips to Central America to help build schools. His charitable contributions also helped programs for the poor and homeless.
He began hiking in the mountains with his father around age ten. And the end of Erling Hansen's life came at age 69 on the mountain El Diente from which he completed climbing all of Colorado's fourteeners.