Which 14er do you fear the most?

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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MountainHiker
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by MountainHiker »

jverrant1 wrote:I've had a pretty bad experience on the Crestone Needle. Ended up missing the standard class 3 gulch and went further west. Ended up climbing something far more exposed and difficult than we had planned on. After we reached the summit, it started snowing/hailing and slick rock isn't fun to down climb. It was the one time I was really concerned about how I'd ever get out of the situation.
That’s something the harder ones tend to have in common. They are less forgiving with getting off route. Combine that with some weather and you can have real problems. Even some of the easy fourteeners like Quandary have bad places to get off route in a storm.
Red, Rugged, and Rotten: The Elk Range - Borneman & Lampert
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Tory Wells
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by Tory Wells »

Scott P wrote:Culebra. That $200-$400 is going to hurt.
Well played Scott, well played.

For me: Annapurna. That counts as a 14er, right?
"Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, am I." -David Gilmour, Pink Floyd

"We knocked the bastard off." Hillary, 1953
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Michael J
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by Michael J »

The next dangerous section. Everything that I have climbed has taken away the fear of that particular peak, even after a near death experience. I respect every peak even upon a return to do it again. I don't fear any of the remaining peaks that I have left to do but I do have anxieties about doing the 4 classic traverses after that. I've done El D to Mount Wilson and I look forward with anticipation to the other three. My three most respected? Capitol, Little Bear, and N. Maroon.

"I've often heard a voice call down to me
If you'd climb higher you'd find wondrous things to see..."
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Dan_Suitor
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by Dan_Suitor »

It used to be Maroon Bells because of the unstable rock and stories of people dying, but after reading this thread, it might be Little Bear now. I hear the last 20 ft of Sunlight can be intimidating as well. I have no problem climbing any of them, just need to be a little more cautious when I do.
Century Bound, eventually.
blderhiker
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by blderhiker »

For me it would have to be little bear, the bells, capital and pyramid peak. I have yet to do these peaks but as of right now they concern me the most. But that is why I love hiking/climbing 14ers because they provide me the opportunity to overcome these fears and become a better person.
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by PaliKona »

Bross...no doubt! That's some nasty scree!!
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davebks
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by davebks »

pyramid or little bear.

honestly, I didnt think Capitol was all that bad, at least the knife edge wasn't. It was probably the most stable part of that whole climb. The rest was kinda unstable but overall it's really not that scary.
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Monte Meals
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by Monte Meals »

Palikona "Bross...no doubt! That's some nasty scree!!"

The Hell With That!

Try going up The Incline right now (during spring break) with all of the
Females wearing Lulu Yoga Pants!

Exposure takes on a whole new dimension ;-)
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by PaliKona »

Well, sounds like I need to hit the Incline later this week \:D/
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by huffy13 »

Tornadoman wrote: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).
I don't know if I will ever get a chance to try it, but Little Bear probably takes it for me, especially after looking at it during my attempt of Blanca and Ellingwood last June. That mountain just looks terrifying to me. Capitol looks mighty scary, as does Pyramid and the Bells. However, a gentleman we talked to on the summit of Mt. Lindsey a few years ago had just done Maroon Peak the week before and he thought it was easier and less exposed than Lindsey, so I may have a slight ray of hope at trying Maroon in the near future. But, in a nutshell, Little Bear, Pyramid, Capitol and the Bells...in that order.
Seems like the times that I need a mountain the most are the times that I can not get to them.
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by hansolo35 »

Funny how subjective this thread is. To my surprise, snow mass keeps on getting mentioned here. Snowmass for me was one of my most enjoyable climbs, with no expectant fear going into it or actual fear whilst on the peak. Climbing the 'snowmass' was sweeeet! As for me, starlight peak in the Sierra is the ONE! Fear of the brutal approach. The milk bottle spire should be fun climbing though
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Re: Which 14er do you fear the most?

Post by wildlobo71 »

hansolo35 wrote:Funny how subjective this thread is. To my surprise, snow mass keeps in getting mentions here. Snowmass for me was one of my most enjoyable climbs, with no expectant fear going into it or actual fear whilst in the peak. Climbing g the 'snowmass' was sweeeet! As for me, starlight peak in the Sierra is the ONE!
Snowmass was also really fun for me - it was my first real Class 3 climb, first real climb in snow with crampons, first time I ever had to throw my ice axe into a rock slot connected to two six-foot slings in order to pull myself up to the ridge to get past the bergshrunding top (I think that's the only time I ever will, too.) I love the hike to the lake, the logjam, everything was fun about it.

That weekend I was up there in 2010, I was honoring one of our 14ers.com climbers who died earlier that year on Little Bear (Kevin Hayne); soon after two brothers were injured in rockfall on Snowmass (I believe they were brothers.) In 2011 Sean Wylam died in rockfall, and of course Rob Jansen died last year over on the connecting ridge to Hagerman after summiting the mountain. I was shaken by all three, Rob's especially. Looking at pictures I'd taken from the ridge I gained, with the nasty slabs of rock perilously balanced and wedged together, it's so easy to see that area being very unstable and quite dangerous. However, at the time I was up there, I felt nothing but joy at the accomplishment. It's weird, I would rank it as one of my favorites, also one I have extreme respect for - and one I don't look forward to repeating - strictly because of the emotional toll it's taken on me and my friends.
Bill W.

Time for the next great losing streak to begin.
#forcedrefocus
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