Second Annual Colorado Fourteener Finishers Affair - November 6, 5pm Denver, CO

[jas0nleslie]

YOU DID IT!... 58. It may have taken months or years. You learned your lessons (maybe more than once). You got up very early. You put in the conditioning. You studied. You suffered. You focused. You gathered yourself and faced fears. You faced mother nature. AND you rejoiced. You experienced amazing things and incredible beauty. LET'S CELEBRATE! Let's share stories and our love of the alpine. Here's to the finishers...here's to you!
Giveaways likely (TBD), and will be related to our thing.
Location TBD (but will be locked down by October) depends on expected number of participants but definitely near central Denver.
If you were at the first annual in 2025, I hope to see you again!
This is for FINISHERS ONLY (sorry).
Already cross-posted on the FB pages...

[d_baker]

This is for FINISHERS ONLY (sorry).

Being a finisher is so special and elite. Stay away, non-finishers! I don't want to inspire or encourage you to finish too!
(if you're a finisher, congratulations though!)

[daway8]

^ oh come on Darin, it's not like there aren't already a 100 different events where anyone and everyone can come together to be inspired, encouraged, etc - countless Happy Hour gatherings all across the state, Fall Gatherings, Winter Welcomers, the occasional Purple Snowflake - endless Climbing Connection meet-ups, abundant opportunities to PM folks to give/receive advice or team up with someone, etc, etc.

Having one single event a year where you make it special by narrowing the crowd down a little to just those who have stuck it out to the finish line is not a big deal. And "elite" is kinda silly in this context - I mean have you seen some of us who have Finished - we're not exactly the cast line-up from Mission Impossible...

But it's still a neat thing for someone to do all the traveling, hiking, alpine starts, etc needed to slowly tick off the list. Excluding the "participation trophy" winners from just one event out of the many, many events available throughout the year isn't a big deal - I mean there are literally thousands of Finishers at this point so even with the exclusion it could still overwhelm a venue if there was enough interest.

I went last year and it was fun to hear stories of people who finished a long time ago and then compare that to the experiences of recent Finishers still fresh with excitement - some of the real old timers who might feel out of place amongst the younger so-called "True Elites" (who tend to have egos that are bigger than their accomplishments) joined in and amazed us with tales of how much harder the task was back in the day... I, for one can't imagine having finished like they did, without any of the technology or fancy ultralight gear we get to rely on these days.

So I've blocked that evening out on my calendar - if you're a fellow Finisher, come out and see for yourself just how non-elite we are, lol. It's a fun time of swapping stories and getting to know people from surpringly diverse backgrounds who all have this one little set of tiny little check marks in common.

[9patrickmurphy]

I've made sure to stay at 57/58 so I can't be invited to this event.

[supranihilest]

I've made sure to stay at 57/58 so I can't be invited to this event.

Let's have our own 98.28% elite event, with blackjack and hookers!

[CheapCigarMan]

Is this for Crestone or East Crestone finishers?

Asking for a friend that wants to understand if they can attend or not.

[daway8]

Is this for Crestone or East Crestone finishers?

Asking for a friend that wants to understand if they can attend or not.

There will be a secret poll conducted during the meeting to make a final pronouncement on the validity of any Crestone vs East Crestone Finishers. Anyone who attempts to argue with the verdict will be thrown into the fires of Mount Doom.

[two lunches]

I've made sure to stay at 57/58 so I can't be invited to this event.

Let's have our own 98.28% elite event, with blackjack and hookers!

do i need to RSVP or

[d_baker]

^ oh come on Darin, it's not like there aren't already a 100 different events where anyone and everyone can come together to be inspired, encouraged, etc - countless Happy Hour gatherings all across the state, Fall Gatherings, Winter Welcomers, the occasional Purple Snowflake - endless Climbing Connection meet-ups, abundant opportunities to PM folks to give/receive advice or team up with someone, etc, etc.

Having one single event a year where you make it special by narrowing the crowd down a little to just those who have stuck it out to the finish line is not a big deal. And "elite" is kinda silly in this context - I mean have you seen some of us who have Finished - we're not exactly the cast line-up from Mission Impossible...

But it's still a neat thing for someone to do all the traveling, hiking, alpine starts, etc needed to slowly tick off the list. Excluding the "participation trophy" winners from just one event out of the many, many events available throughout the year isn't a big deal - I mean there are literally thousands of Finishers at this point so even with the exclusion it could still overwhelm a venue if there was enough interest.

I went last year and it was fun to hear stories of people who finished a long time ago and then compare that to the experiences of recent Finishers still fresh with excitement - some of the real old timers who might feel out of place amongst the younger so-called "True Elites" (who tend to have egos that are bigger than their accomplishments) joined in and amazed us with tales of how much harder the task was back in the day... I, for one can't imagine having finished like they did, without any of the technology or fancy ultralight gear we get to rely on these days.

So I've blocked that evening out on my calendar - if you're a fellow Finisher, come out and see for yourself just how non-elite we are, lol. It's a fun time of swapping stories and getting to know people from surpringly diverse backgrounds who all have this one little set of tiny little check marks in common.

I would respond but you haven't completed the centennials.

[Trotter]

I've made sure to stay at 57/58 so I can't be invited to this event.

Let's have our own 98.28% elite event, with blackjack and hookers!

Eh forget the blackjack and I'm in

[daway8]

...

I would respond but you haven't completed the centennials.

Man, there's a lot of fine print on this website!!!

I may go finish the centennials now just to force you to read that entire thesis that I posted!

[d_baker]

...

I would respond but you haven't completed the centennials.

Man, there's a lot of fine print on this website!!!

I may go finish the centennials now just to force you to read that entire thesis that I posted!

well I'm only a pre-lidar cent finisher so I'm not all that special.
It's cool and all that the o.p. and whomever else that is organizing this finisher event wants to hold a 14er Finisher happy hour, but the perceived (by me), 'you're not welcome if you haven't finished the list' in ALL CAPS is silly.
The winter 14er finishers used to (still do??) hold a get together as well. They didn't post on here that I am aware of, but through emails or texts or however they did it, I don't know, don't care. I'm betting some of them brought their spouses or significant others though.
Where am I going with this? idk.
I don't even go to HH's or Gatherings, so I have no foot to stand on how organizers should organize their events.
I'M NOT YOUR KIND
carry on.
jackass extrodinaire, d_baker