Climbing a 14'er

[zachary]

Anyone ever made it to the tops?

Thinking of doing Mt Elbert in Colorado in a few months 2nd tallest in continental US and tallest in Colorado. It is a class 1 hike, nothing technical about it, it just sits at 14,000+ still amazingly challenging. I am wanting to get into climbing so my son and i have this great extreme hobby as he grows up. Besides the mountain climbing thinking of staying in Twin Lakes or Leadville both are kinda off the beaten path not huge tourist hubs but have access to ghost towns, 4x4 trails, mining camps, great fishing, and lots of amazing trails!


Anyone ever climbed Mt Elbert or any of the other 14's in Colorado?

[Craizie]

Anyone ever made it to the tops?

Thinking of doing Mt Elbert in Colorado in a few months 2nd tallest in continental US and tallest in Colorado. It is a class 1 hike, nothing technical about it, it just sits at 14,000+ still amazingly challenging. I am wanting to get into climbing so my son and i have this great extreme hobby as he grows up. Besides the mountain climbing thinking of staying in Twin Lakes or Leadville both are kinda off the beaten path not huge tourist hubs but have access to ghost towns, 4x4 trails, mining camps, great fishing, and lots of amazing trails!


Anyone ever climbed Mt Elbert or any of the other 14's in Colorado?

I took a cog train to the top of pikes peak once. Saw a few rams. Talk about intense.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Ive only done 12,162 ft

[Strychnine]

Never Elbert. but you'll be fine, just be careful with weather. You'll want to start early in the day and be headed down from the summit by noon. Afternoon storms pop up in the summer and you'll be completely exposed to lightning - like from partly cloudy to stormy in 30 minutes. July - Sep are the worst times for that, but always be mindful. Don't be too prideful to turn around if you're not feeling it or if you think weather might be an issue.

How old is your son? Remember that at any point on the way up you're only halfway to anywhere, and IMO the trek down is worse.


We tried doing Bierstadt on new years eve one year. We made it to about 13,000 and decided we'd rather be in a bar drinking beer. It was fucking cold lol. Left Denver around 6am and snow had the road closed 1.5 miles before the trailhead so we had 1.5 miles of switchback uphill snowshoeing to do before even hitting the "trail" which also sucked.







We turned around below the Sawtooth Ridge. When a "day hike" needs snowshoes and crampons... expect it to suck.

All that to say, if I can fly from sea level TX and do that the next day after brewery hopping <12 hours before we set out, you'll be fine.... just winded.

[Silverback]

I used to work wtih this guy www.kevindonovan.com

He's climbed all of the 14'ers and 13'ers out there. Here's his list of 14'ers - http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/usrpea...p?usernum=4441

I think he finally moved to Colorado full time, but I worked with him in Dallas, and he'd go 5-6 times a year back then.

[jluv]

There are a ton of fourteeners right around me, the closest and tallest being Uncompahgre at 14,309. The trailhead is just a few minutes up the road from my house. Several of my friends have climbed it, but I haven't yet. Adam (ThreeFingerPete) made a good run at it a few years back when a group of us were camping up there. I think he just left too late in the day, so he had to turn around before he made the summit. You don't want to get caught up there at night, especially alone.

I live at 9000', and have spent a lot of time above 12,000'. Been on top of a 13er many times. I really don't have a strong urge to summit a 14er, but I figure I'll get around to it one of these days.

Everything Strychnine says about the storms is true. Don't mess around with lightning. I've been on top of a 13er with sunny weather, and on the way down gotten sleet and "thundersnow". This was in August. I've also, in my much younger and dumber days, stayed on top of one when some clouds rolled in, and everything metal on us, from zippers to buttons to the metal part of a lighter were buzzing loud enough to hear clearly. We thought it was funny at the time, but we were probably pretty close to getting zapped.

Take it slow and easy. Drink tons of water, both before you go and during the climb. Don't be discouraged when some old lady flies past you on the trail. Altitude is not an issue for the locals, but it can be a bitch for flatlanders.

Good luck!

[Grimpala]

Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone hiked the Grand Canyon?

[helosailor]

12,388′ for me

[Strychnine]

Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone hiked the Grand Canyon?

REALLY want to do the rim-to-rim!

Altitude is not an issue for the locals, but it can be a bitch for flatlanders.

This is the worst part, by far. It's not the pushing uphill, or the burning quads on the way down... it's the constant slight shortness of breath and elevated heart rate that just beat you down (you know, if you're from TX)

[helosailor]

Altitude is not an issue for the locals, but it can be a bitch for flatlanders.

Good thing I acclimate quickly.

[RWhite]

........ it's the constant slight shortness of breath and elevated heart rate that just beat you down (you know, if you're from TX)

Back in 1976, my wife and I went to Denver. One of the side trips was driving up the highest paved road in the US, to the top of Mt. Evans (14,271 feet). As we approached the top in a small rent car that was as out of breath as me, we pulled up to the visitor center at the top. It was all i could do to walk up the 6-8 steps to enter the building. But the worst was to come. I asked the attendant where was the restroom? She smiled at me and pointed at the stairs and said, "Up there!" She knew i was a flatlander!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crest_house_circa_1950.jpg

It was 36 degrees up there in mid July. The next day, they had a bicycle race to the top!

Enjoy the hike. That looks like fun, even from a 72 year old Texan!

[jluv]

This is the worst part, by far. It's not the pushing uphill, or the burning quads on the way down... it's the constant slight shortness of breath and elevated heart rate that just beat you down (you know, if you're from TX)

Good thing I acclimate quickly.

For visitors, you can get more "used to it" after a day or two, and even more so after you have been a few times, but folks that live here are genuinely, physically different. It has to do with red blood cell count and other shit I'm no expert on. I can honestly say it doesn't affect me now. Don't get me wrong - I'm not exactly in great shape, and I get winded from extra activity no matter where I am. But, I can absolutely go out and do stuff here, and it's no different than how I would feel in Texas. To get to this point took probably 2-3 months. In fact, now when I go to Texas, the air feels extremely thick and muggy, like you could almost take a bite out of it.

That said, 13-14k' is still different than 9k' or even 12k,' so I'm sure I would be sucking wind at that kind of altitude. But, my pals tell stories about going up Uncompahgre and literally having some old lady breeze right past them, summit, and pass them again on her way down well before they ever made it to the top. Shit cracks me up. They were probably stopping for a rest every 15-20 steps. I know I would be.

[samuel642000]

Nothing major, but planning on Mt. Rainier next August.

[Shorty]

I want to get into some alpine shit but end up spending all of my time outdoors sport climbing.

[jluv]

I want to get into some alpine shit but end up spending all of my time outdoors sport climbing.

Ever done ice climbing? They do an event here in town and the people that do it make it look easy. I'm sure it's not.