How did you get into Mountaineering?

[greenonion]

Grew up in Colorado, mom was in a hiking club doing 14ers all the time. So naturally it was super lame for me.

Did boy scouts, got into a sweet group with adventurous leaders taking us ice climbing, multi day spelunking, week long bike packs, really crazy stuff now that I think about it.

Eventually got out to Seattle and saw Rainier up close and was like, holy F, this is nothing like Colorado. I really wanted that challenge, both in fitness and gear and technique.

Then I moved to Europe and saw the Alps and was like, holy F, this is nothing like America.
Learned to rock climb in order to get up mountains I wanted to get up (as opposed to climbing for it's own sake). Again, gotta say I love a physical challenge that involves fitness, gear, and technique!

Living away from the mountains now sucks, and I wish I could be in a middle aged hiking group like my mom was. Full circle.

Enjoyed this. Good story and perspective.

[derekpetrie]

Barely consider what I do mountaineering. I grew up in Denver and frequently camped and fished as a kid. Going to the top of the high peaks was a desire I had, but my family was far more interested in trout and campfires. Which in itself is wonderful. Always loved the high country, and was pretty bummed to move out east with my family during high school.

I came back for a brief time as a cadet at the USAFA, and no matter how ridiculous the PT or exercises, doing it with the smell of pine, the rampart range in sight, and an occasional peek of Pikes brought a sense of serenity. USAFA wasn’t for me, so I returned to the east; occasionally making it back to Colorado to visit family and wishing I could move back home.

Finally in 2019 a job opportunity worked out and I brought my wife and kids to Denver. I immediately started training in the alpine and was so grateful for our mountains during the pandemic.

[summitrunner]

Grew up in the shadow of Longs. Started trail running in the early 2000s. Attempted Longs in 2004, but wasn't able to summit. Successfully made it up Longs in 2005 and followed it up with a move to Summit County the next week. My initial mountaineering was to run up mountains in the mid 2000s. Trail running, exploring old mining/logging/forest roads, and snowshoe running have pushed me further. Finding myself and my health in the forests, tundra, plains, deserts, beaches, and jungles of the world have continued my love for this adventure.

I'm not fast anymore, but I still love to run. If you're up in Leadville, hit me up for a run.

[mtree]

I was tricked.

[Jay521]

I was tricked.

[jibler]

I had a few bites at the apple before i really really really got into it

growing up in CO helps - rocking out all over red rocks in high school was a constant pasttime. as well as other rocks on front range - people forget about lovers leap off 285. we went there a lot to monkey around. not really climbing.


and my sister got me into camping in rampart in high school too.


took an outward bound'ish trip in 1993 - and climbed mt elbert as part of it. wouldn't climb another 14er until 2001 probably! i was getting into camping off 4th of july pass though - just not hitting 14ers.


then moved to montana for college - had no car at first -

then had car but no clue - of where to go to hit peaks. road access in mt is different - esp. in old analog era.


but more than that - my montana crew was a bunch of east coasters - and it turns out i wanted more than them.



one of the main turning points of my life - was when i finally said "F this - I'm going to solo camp" and i started knocking s**t out bit by bit myself.

first time was 8/1/99 - spent night out by bozeman and hiked Hyalite peak. was awesome.

[Wildernessjane]

I absolutely hated my first 14er (Antero). We packed in via Little Browns Creek (not my idea) and let’s just say I was less than impressed when I realized people drive their ATV’s and Jeeps practically to the top. Fast forward several years and we did Belford and Oxford with my brother-in-law as a day trip (kicked his butt to the top). Then started doing more and more 14ers as a way to train for Imogene Pass Run, first to support a friend then doing the race myself every year. Eventually got hooked on doing the 14ers as a way to explore our beautiful state, which quickly expanded into climbing couloirs and setting my sights on peaks outside of Colorado.

[DeTour]

I grew up in Michigan. In my first 49 years my biggest summit was Castle Rock, a tourist destination just north of the Mackinac Bridge - elevation 650’, trail consisting of 140-some concrete steps.

Around 2006 my brother started promoting the idea of us climbing Longs Peak. He had lived a few years in Longmont in the ‘90’s and had climbed it twice in t-shirt and blue jeans. I dismissed it as a nutty idea at first, but when he called me the day before the 2007 Super Bowl to tell me he was making plans with friends at work to climb it that summer, I agreed to join. Later I learned the “plans” consisted of little more than casual talk over beers, but the die was cast.

Now I was the nutty one, according to my Michigan friends and family. Some dismissed it as a 50ish guy’s midlife crisis scheme. But when my then-20-year-old daughter heard, she thought it sounded like a blast and decided to join the gang.

We successfully summited Longs on Aug. 20 that year. It took us 18 hours on a perfect weather day and just about did us all in. But some of us were hooked. We started ogling pics of other 14ers on this awesome website called 14ers.com, and put together a trip to hit 4 San Juan summits the next year. My brother, daughter and I did CO climbing trips annually for 10 years. My daughter moved to CO in 2011, met a great guy and got him hooked, in more ways than one. He’s my son-in-law now and my main hiking/climbing partner, daughter still joins occasionally, brother retired. I moved my family here last year and am still grinding up a few at age 65, and still holding out hope of finishing.

[Rollie Free]

For the definition of mountaineering it just doesn't look appealing to me at all.

As for the hiking and climbing stories on here, they are great. One of the most fun to read threads I've seen. I live out of state and so doing a bunch of 13ers probably isn't in the plans. When and if I reach the 58 the back of my mind thought is just to bring out people I know and introduce them to the activity re-doing the funner ones.

[greenonion]

For the definition of mountaineering it just doesn't look appealing to me at all.

As for the hiking and climbing stories on here, they are great. One of the most fun to read threads I've seen. I live out of state and so doing a bunch of 13ers probably isn't in the plans. When and if I reach the 58 the back of my mind thought is just to bring out people I know and introduce them to the activity re-doing the funner ones.

+1 (even though that list is chomping at my backside)

[Ed_Groves]

As others have stated, I don't consider myself a true mountaineer in the full sense of the word. I would say I am an intermediate peak bagger and hiker. However the activities we all participate in are described in Mountaineering - The Freedom of the Hills, so I guess we can all be described as mountaineers from the least of us to the best of us.

It would be too long of a story to describe my entire evolution from nature lover to peak bagger. From hunting, fishing, and listening to coyote packs yelping and howling on night walks as a child on a southeast Missouri farm . . . . to trying to escape the psychological and physical abuse from my past on colorful autumn walks through the woods on great quantities of psychedelics in my college years, nature was always a part of everything I wanted to do. But hiking in the mountains was something of which I was quite ignorant. I had taken 5 or 6 mile walks as a kid, but walking on flat farmland where every fence row was being mowed down in the 1960s and 1970s to make room for more crop production didn't make for magnificent views. It never occurred to me that long hikes could be a great deal of fun in the right area, or that magnificent peaks could be climbed just by simply walking.

As my adult years progressed my wife and I often incorporated small hikes in all of our vacations but these were always a mixed bag of urban and rural activities. Due to the development of the Internet and more awareness on my part, I slowly started to plan more elaborate hikes to see beautiful views. My first real peak was South Dakota's Black Elk Peak in 2002 (Harney Peak at the time). We hiked it from Sylvan Lake, which I would now say is too easy to even call it an ascent. In 2017, I decided to take on a couple of the 4000 foot plus peaks in the White Mountains to see if my wife and I could handle over 3000 feet of elevation gain, and 1000 feet in one mile. We hiked to the summits of Mt Pierce and Mt Eisenhower and I was utterly hooked. My wife has been able to hike other trails with over 3000 feet such as Le Conte in the SMNP and Mt Mitchell in North Carolina but the thin air hikes of Colorado are not her cup of tea.

My first Colorado mountain was Mt Sniktau in July 2020. The day after that I did Grays Peak. Each mountain just made me more hungry for the beauty along the route and at the summit. When I arrived back at my home in Kansas City after that vacation I knew I couldn't wait until 2021 to do more peaks. (Why the hell did I wait so long to do this?) I planned a trip in September and brought a friend with me. However, it snowed between 8 and 12 inches (if memory serves) on our way out. We spent a few hours stranded in a line of vehicles on I70 but eventually made it to our lodging in Blue River. The next day we hiked up to Cupid in the snow to acclimate and to see if we could really do this in the snow. The day after that we took on Quandary with the temperature below 10 degrees and a cold wind blowing. Just before we hit the last 1000 feet of elevation gain on the ridge the sun popped out and it turned the views at the top into the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Two days later we did the Decalibron, and again with everything cloaked in snow and the sun shining, the views were addictive on every peak.

Every Fall-Winter-Spring is now filled with excitement (and impatience) for the next climbing season. I had planned on starting some climbs this year in seasons other than summer, but a tragic family event interfered with that plan. Hopefully, I can start to include other seasons in the upcoming years.

[jibler]

eh - i would say i refuse to buy into any kind of diminshing of my mountain experience

such that i would question whether to call it 'mountaineering'

hells yeah I am in the business of mountaineering!


and that's with the full acknowledgment that i am on the low end of the scale - not just in terms K2 super summiting but even what is available in CO

little known jibler fact: I am secretly jealous and annoyed a vast majority of you people who are mixing it up in the sangre, elk, and san juans. other than fluted, castle and mendota - i ain't got s**t on that front.



But but - while i will never in my life engage in technical mountaineering with any ropes - or even an ice axe -- i still consider the sky the limit of what i could and maybe will do.


i have in fact free climbed many overly large rocks - down around Denver mainly - and i can handle exposure - even though i am rarely exposed much at all.



So i consider myself up for just about whatever CO has to offer. and now that my New Spot Challenge has wrapped - pretty much the only thing on my radar from now are going to be larger, more invested expeditions to knock out stuff that is further drives.


and even then - i doubt I will ever clear the full 14er list. i am in no rush exactly on that front. hell i would like to get after a few external big mtns if that comes at expense of a few random CO points - so be it.




in conclusion - if you revel in reaching the top of anything- are you not a mountaineer??