Which 14er do you fear the most?

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
    For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
Tornadoman
Posts: 1438
Joined: 7/30/2007
14ers: 58  8 
13ers: 266 35
Trip Reports (12)
 

Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by Tornadoman »

I remember when I first started climbed 14ers there were a lot of peaks that looked very intimidating; most of the class 3/4 peaks. Now that I have climbed several class 3 routes, I don't think that most of the 14ers look *that* frightening, with one exception- Little Bear. Looking at pictures of the hourglass route makes my skin crawl, and the Southwest ridge route also looks daunting. What is the 14er that you are most afraid of (either to try or repeat).
Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.
User avatar
Scott P
Posts: 9438
Joined: 5/4/2005
14ers: 58  16 
13ers: 50 13
Trip Reports (16)
 
Contact:

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by Scott P »

Culebra. That $200-$400 is going to hurt.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
User avatar
TaylorHolt
Posts: 761
Joined: 5/6/2012
14ers: 58  2  15 
13ers: 210 7
Trip Reports (8)
 

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by TaylorHolt »

"There are four ways you can handle fear. You can go over it, under it, or around it. But if you are ever to put fear behind you, you must walk straight through it. Once you put fear behind you. Leave it there."

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom
“If you're bumming out, you're not gonna get to the top, so as long as we're up here we might as well make a point of grooving." -Scott Fischer
User avatar
randalmartin
Posts: 1490
Joined: 5/4/2008
14ers: 58  1 
13ers: 48 2
Trip Reports (13)
 

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by randalmartin »

Most of the things I fear are related to loose/falling rock and that can often be mitigated by doing as a snow climb. The trick is having a fun snow climb without the not so fun post hole fest on the way out. Pick a morning with well below freezing temps and start early to try and get out before the after softening get's too bad.
User avatar
davebobk47
Posts: 882
Joined: 6/13/2005
14ers: 58  3 
13ers: 130 1 4
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by davebobk47 »

Bells- loose rock scares me.

Little Bear was a bit scary but the harder climbing is on more solid rock.
"Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve. They are the cathedrals where I practice my religion." -Anatoli Boukreev
User avatar
dcbates80911
Posts: 744
Joined: 6/28/2007
14ers: 32  1 
13ers: 9
Trip Reports (20)
 
Contact:

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by dcbates80911 »

Little Bear - It has always scared me, but after the death of a friend on that peak it is hard to try. I have never intended on finishing the 14ers so at this time, I do not plan to hit Little Bear.
There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.
User avatar
Rcizzle
Posts: 122
Joined: 6/10/2010
14ers: 58  7 
13ers: 5
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by Rcizzle »

I think you have to separate this into multiple categories. On first glance I would say Little Bear (hourglass) and El Diente primarily because of loose rock. However, I have had unpleasant experiences on Mt. Massive and Mt. Columbia with unforecasted inclement weather that I don't want to repeat. This also applies to snow climbs were I was quite bothered by avy danger. Then there is always the the long round trip mileage fear and the human factors such as broken ankles such that go along with that.
Bad decisions make good stories.
User avatar
JB99
Posts: 1217
Joined: 6/23/2007
14ers: 41 
13ers: 8
Trip Reports (21)
 

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by JB99 »

Little Bear is the only one that I felt like my safe ascent and descent required a decent amount (more than usual at least) of luck, to go along with any skill and decision making. I wouldn't go back up and down the Hourglass in summer (not snow covered) conditions again. Capitol, N. Maroon, Pyramid, Snowmass' S-Ridge... I'd go back to all of them and didn't find any of them "scary." Little Bear was in a different category to me.
User avatar
semitrueskerm
Posts: 580
Joined: 9/30/2008
14ers: 58  4 
13ers: 6
Trip Reports (4)
 
Contact:

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by semitrueskerm »

Little Bear. The Hourglass crux is really not that long of a section, so while it's scary, it's relatively short and doable. But, it certainly strikes the most fear in me.
User avatar
scalba123
Posts: 493
Joined: 6/19/2009
14ers: 9 
13ers: 2
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by scalba123 »

The next one.
User avatar
lordhelmut
Posts: 2310
Joined: 2/24/2006
14ers: 50  21  5 
13ers: 300 60 1
Trip Reports (73)
 
Contact:

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by lordhelmut »

Mount Bierstadt and the Guenella Pass parking lot on labor day weekend anytime after 6am.
User avatar
EmmaM
Posts: 170
Joined: 3/20/2010
14ers: 57  8 
13ers: 11
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by EmmaM »

Snowmass. Really not looking forward to that one.
Post Reply