I figured if I shouted, I would better get my point across. No?!
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| Summit of Mt. Sherman, my first winter/spring ascent. You can tell this is an old pic because of my jacket!! |
As of late, the weather in Colorado has been insanely beautiful. Sure, it made for the worst ski season in recent memory, but since summer is in my immediate future, I’m focusing on the future. Out with the snow, in with the sun!
Because of this ridiculous sunshine, I can barely contain myself and I am seriously chomping at the bit to get up in the mountains! And of course, because it’s me, I can’t just get up for an easy hike. I am dying to get on a 14er!
We’ve chatted about this in the past but since I am excited to say that I have some NEW READERS (hi everyone!), I’ll give you a quick explanation. In short, 14ers are any mountain over 14,000 feet. Out of any state in the lower 48, Colorado has the most at 53 (although many will swear up and down that there are more than 53. It all depends on the elevation gain/lost at the connecting saddle between peaks, etc.) We’re sticking with 53 for now 🙂 I don’t know my exact number, but I’m somewhere in the 40s and would like to knock a few more off this summer.
And yes, I am the stereotypical Coloradoan. I want to summit all of them, and I’d like to do it in the next few years!
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| Marie, me, and Megan on Mt. Antero |
Typically, May climbs involve spring conditions which means lots of snow along with the accompanying gear: crampons, mountaineering boots, and an ice axe (and your helmet, of course!) One of my fav 14er climbs was the Bell Cord Couloir on the Maroon Bells. It was a snow climb all the way to the summit and it was fantastic. Basically, a couloir is a snow chute that is significantly steeper than a hiking trail. Because of this, you wear crampons to help dig into the snow and carry an axe in case you need to self-arrest. Luckily, I’ve never taken a spill that has required a self-arrest, but I always prefer to be safe rather than sorry!
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| Coming up the Bell Cord. I’m the one in back with the white helmet 🙂 |
I have a couple of particular mountains on my bucket list for this summer, but I’m running into some technical difficulties. Most of the mountains that I haven’t tackled are the more difficult, technical climbs so my available climbing partners are dwindling! The one I’m really eye balling is Capitol Peak. It has a ridge known as the Knife Edge that comes to a sharp point that you have to traverse to reach the summit. From what I gather, it is safe but a little stressful due to the exposure on both sides and most people just straddle the point and scoot across on their butt! I found this YouTube video that shows it better than my words ever can:
As of now, I’ve labelled Capitol my number one goal for this summer. I’m sure there will be a few other fun peaks in the mix, but I’m coming to get this bad boy!
This was taken on the Sawtooth ridge of Mt. Bierstadt last summer. To date, it is possibly one of the most unflattering photos of me, so of course, I had to include it here!