Easiest 14er?

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reinselc
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by reinselc »

Bierstadt is pretty easy, but I took my brother in law last year (26 year old) and he barely made it. He had even been hiking some, so it depends on your conditioning level whether it is easy or not.

I think Quandry has better views though.
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smaddogc
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by smaddogc »

sherman
Hooper drives the boat Chief.....
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aerophex
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by aerophex »

least difficult?

Sherman or Quandary

I know a few people who wouldn't consider Beirstadt "easy" nevermind "easiest"

Sherman, as previously stated, has cool mines around 13,200 and can make for a fun break place before hitting the hardest spot.
in mountains I trust
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nyker
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by nyker »

I would add that depending on where you friend is coming in from, it will depend a lot on time spent acclimatizing, especially if coming from sea level. I need at least a day or two to get in "climbing shape" when coming in from where I live in New York (roughly +100ft above sea level).

As an example, coming in from NY, with 1/2 a day to acclimatize, I made it up Grays from I-70, but it took a long time and was very tiring going up. Conversely, on another trip, after six days spent above 8,000 feet, I was able to speed hike up Yale, Massive and Elbert on consecutive days then took a day off and made it up Holy Cross in gerat time and got faster each day.
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Carl
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by Carl »

This thread is from last summer.
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Tory Wells
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by Tory Wells »

I think we're going to need the Baron to settle this debate. :roll:
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LongLiveTheHuskers
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by LongLiveTheHuskers »

My vote:
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fnsf
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by fnsf »

I'm confused about the "difficulty" classification. I can understand that there's a difference between the difficulty of routes "grouped by exposure"and a general degree of difficulty. But why is there a difference between the rating system in the "diffulty rating system" (class 1 to class 5) and the "routes grouped by difficulty (easiest to most difficult)"? On the "routes grouped by difficulty" page, the "easiest" category has 7 mountains with Class 1 trails, but 7 other mountains with Class 2 trails. All of the 25 "moderate" mountains are Class 2 (although some of those are "2 difficult"). All of the "difficult" peaks have class 3 trails - except Mt. Lindsey, which has a "2-difficult" trail. And all of the "most difficult" mountains are limited to those with Class 4 routes - except Crestone Needle, that has a Class 3 trail. Shouldn't all of the "easiest" mountains have Class 1 trails, "moderate" mountains have Class 2 trails, and so forth?
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cwm191
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by cwm191 »

fnsf wrote:I'm confused about the "difficulty" classification. I can understand that there's a difference between the difficulty of routes "grouped by exposure"and a general degree of difficulty. But why is there a difference between the rating system in the "diffulty rating system" (class 1 to class 5) and the "routes grouped by difficulty (easiest to most difficult)"? On the "routes grouped by difficulty" page, the "easiest" category has 7 mountains with Class 1 trails, but 7 other mountains with Class 2 trails. All of the 25 "moderate" mountains are Class 2 (although some of those are "2 difficult"). All of the "difficult" peaks have class 3 trails - except Mt. Lindsey, which has a "2-difficult" trail. And all of the "most difficult" mountains are limited to those with Class 4 routes - except Crestone Needle, that has a Class 3 trail. Shouldn't all of the "easiest" mountains have Class 1 trails, "moderate" mountains have Class 2 trails, and so forth?
More than just the difficulty rating is considered when dividing them into four groups. Round-trip length, elevation gain, stability of trail, etc. all go into determining which ones should be called "Easiest" versus "Moderate." A lot of this is subjective, but it's reasonable to conclude that Quandary at almost 7 miles and 3450' gain is harder than Sherman at 5 miles and 2100' of gain even though they both warrant the "Easiest" category relative to slightly more challenging peaks like Elbert.
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by guitarczar »

based on my very limited experience i would say Handies from the American Basin - short class 1 hike with incredible views !
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LetsGoHigher
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by LetsGoHigher »

I'm going to second the votes for Handies via the American Basin route. Just got back a few hours ago from doing it with a couple newbs and all did great. Spectacular views, well defined trail, and only a few steep parts that are quite short before leveling out again.
Is that the summit?
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Robzilla
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Re: Easiest 14er?

Post by Robzilla »

Add my vote for Handies from American Basin. I didn't even mean to climb it, I was just there poking around the trailhead and realized how easy it was. Tremendous views too.
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