Hometown Adventures - The Great State of Colorado
I am lucky enough to call Colorado home. A lifetime of adventures are within an few hour’s drive, whether I am honing my technical skills on rock faces, collecting summits over 13,000ft or climbing ice, Colorado offers world class training for an ambitious mountaineer. While my ultimate goals lie mostly outside of Colorado (and outside of the USA for that matter) – I spend an enormous amount of time enjoying the Rocky Mountains. This section of the site deals with my 3 major projects (Frozen 14, CO Centennials & CO Fifty Classics) as well as any awesome climb that I do in my home state.
THE FROZEN FOURTEEN
Far and away, my main Colorado goal is to stand atop all 59 of Colorado’s 14ers (Peak above 14,000 FT MSL) during Calendar Winter. This is an ambitious task and as of August 2012, only four mountaineers have completed this task. A combination of rough weather, some of the worst avalanche conditions on the continent and access issues all make this project extremely difficult. The difference in risk factor between the easiest summer 14ers and the hardest 14ers is much less than the difference between the easiest winter and hardest winter peaks. For example, a winter ascent of The Maroon Bells outside of Aspen is highly coveted, and strikes fear into the hearts of even the most hardened alpinist.
Patience, skill and determination can make this a very rewarding project. Unlike summer routes, the climber must assess specific route conditions for that year, select an approach and a climbing route and usually make several tries before gaining the summit.
Winter Summit’s Gained: 39
2012
o Missouri Mountain (1/3/12)
o Mt Belford (1/3/12)
o Mt Oxford (1/3/12)
o Mt Sherman - Below Leavick Site (1/4/12)
o Mt Sneffels - SW Ridge (1/6/12)
o Longs Peak - Keyhole - Solo (1/10/12)
o Mt Yale - East Ridge (1/13/12)
o Wetterhorn Peak (1/15/12)
o Humboldt Peak - East Ridge (1/17/12)
o Mt Columbia - SE Ridge (2/4/12)
o La Plata Peak - North Ridge Direct (2/11/12)
o Mt Massive - East Ridge (2/25/2012)
o North Massive - From Massive (2/25/2012)
o Mt Princeton (3/10/2012)
o Mt of the Holy Cross (3/17/2012)
2013
- Mt Lindsey - NW Ridge (12/23/2012)
- Huron Peak - North Ridge from Winfield (1/5/2013)
- Mt Bierstadt & Mt Evans - Standard Route via Sawtooth from Guanella Pass closure (1/6/2013)
- Culebra Peak - Standard (2/2/2013)
- Kit Carson - South Colouir from Spanish Creek (2/3/2013)
- Challenger Point - Via KC Avenue (2/3/2013)
- Mt Harvard - East Ridge from Frenchmen Creek - solo (2/12/2013)
- Wilson Peak - South Face to SW Ridge from Bilk Basin (2/16/2013)
- Grays Peak & Torreys Peak - Kelso Ridge (2/19/2013)
- Mt Bross, Mt Democrat, Mt Cameron & Mt Lincoln - Quartzville Site (2/27/2013)
- Pikes Peak - Crags Camground (2/28/2013)
- Mt Elbert - East Ridge
- Sunshine & Redcloud - Mill Creek - Solo (3/6/2013)
- San Luis Peak - Equity Mine - Solo (3/7/2013)
- Little Bear Peak via The Hourglass from Lake Como (3/13/2013)
- Mt Shavano & Tabuache Peak (3/15/2013)
- Handies Peak (3/19/2013)