Which 14er do you fear the most?
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- Tornadoman
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Which 14er do you fear the most?
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.
Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
Culebra. That $200-$400 is going to hurt.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
- TaylorHolt
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
"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
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
- randalmartin
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
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.
- davebobk47
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
Bells- loose rock scares me.
Little Bear was a bit scary but the harder climbing is on more solid rock.
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
- dcbates80911
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
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.
- Rcizzle
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
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.
- JB99
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
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.
- semitrueskerm
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
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.
- scalba123
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
The next one.
- lordhelmut
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
Mount Bierstadt and the Guenella Pass parking lot on labor day weekend anytime after 6am.
- EmmaM
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?
Snowmass. Really not looking forward to that one.