Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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gore galore
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Joined: 6/1/2012
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Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by gore galore »

PEAK BAGGING LISTS, “THE MORE BIZARRE, THE BETTER”
by gore galore

During the 1980's peak bagging lists began expanding from climbing the traditional Colorado 14ers to the varied lists too numerous to number in the year 2021.

In 1986 Bill Napier of Boulder, Colorado wrote a letter to the Editor of “Trail and Timberline” magazine of the Colorado Mountain Club inquiring as to any one knowing of “any more unusual climbing projects such as: all of Colorado's 14ers in winter; all of Colorado's 13ers; most peaks in a lifetime, in a summer, in a day; or all peaks in the U.S. named “Bald Mountain,” whatever. The more bizarre, the better.”

I don't know if Bill Napier received any replies to his letter so I have decided from my own original research to answer each category on Bill's list.

ALL OF COLORADO'S 14ERS IN WINTER
In 1986 no one had yet climbed all of Colorado's 14ers in winter. And before anyone could possibly climb all of Colorado's 14ers in winter there is a long progression of winter climbing of the 14ers to contemplate.

Some of the earliest recorded 14er winter climbing in Colorado occurred in conjunction with the U. S. Army Signal Corps establishment of a weather station at the summit of Pikes Peak in 1873. One such account describes the midwinter ascent in 1876 by the physician Henry K. Palmer and Private O'Keefe mounted on the mules Balaam and Jinnie to attend to the ill Sergeant Hobbs at the summit station of Pikes Peak.

Early known winter climbs of the 14ers were mostly rarities. In December, 1895, T. A Rickard and George J. Bancroft made a traverse of Pikes Peak from Cripple Creek to Manitou. Enos Mills made a winter ascent of Longs Peak in February of 1903. Albert Ellingwood made a snowshoe climb of Mount Evans which was considered a winter ascent of the time on March 31, 1916. In January of 1920 John L. J. Hart skied down from the summit of Pikes Peak. During the winter of 1920-21 Graeme McGowan and J. Delano Hitch made many ascents of Pikes Peak, using skis for the descent.

Cumulative winter ascents of a Colorado 14er dates to the founding of the AdAmAn Club in 1923 and its first winter climb of Pikes Peak on December 31, 1922. Charter members Fred Morath with 17 winter ascents of the peak, Harry Standley with 24, Fred Barr with 25, and the first addition to the club, Carl Blaurock with 20+ had the most winter ascents of Colorado's 14ers albeit being of one peak into the late 1940's.

Despite the AdAmAn initial winter climbs in the 1920's, winter mountaineering in Colorado was an almost virgin field. In 1931 Graeme McGowan wrote an article “Fourteen Thousand Feet In Winter” in which he suggested “the pioneers begin with the Sawatch Range, the Mosquito Range, and Grays and Torreys in the Front Range.”

Winter enthusiasts made several notable ascents in some of these ranges in the 1920's and 1930's. Longs Peak was the center of winter climbing during this period. Jack Moomaw made the first mid winter climb of Longs Peak on January 10, 1922 from the south side. On January 26, 1928 he made another winter ascent from the north side.

The first winter ascent of the East Face on January 12, 1925 by Walter Kiener and Agness Vaille ended in tragedy with the death of Miss Vaille while descending the north side to the Boulderfield. The first successful winter ascent of the East Face was made by veteran Longs Peak guide Clerin Zumwalt accompanied by Charles Hardin on January 28, 1934. The first solo winter climb of the East Face was made on January 1, 1939 by Edwin Watson of Denver.

New Year's Day ascents of Longs Peak also became popular. Stuart Clark in 1934, Jess Fults in1929 and Glenn Niner in 1931 and 1932 climbed from two to four times each. On January 1, 1936 Ernest Field another Longs Peak guide made his fifth consecutive New Year's Day climb. Dorothy Crouter, a Lyons, Colorado school teacher made the second of two New Year's climbs on January 1, 1932.

A difficult winter ascent of Longs Peak from the point of view of weather conditions was made on December 22, 1931 by Everett C. Long, Hull Cook and James Baird. It was noted that ”except for experienced climbers, who fully realize what they are bargaining for, winter climbing on Longs Peak is not advised.”

The popularity of New Year's Day winter ascents was experienced on other 14ers of the Front Range. Jim Foley and friend made what is probably the first New Year's Day ascent on record of Grays Peak in 1934. Foley and John Reichen also made a New Year's Day ascent of Mount Evans in 1933. On New Year's Day of 1920 a party of seven led by Carl Blaurock made a snowshoe and ski ascent of Mt. Evans.

Herman Buhl (the Colorado climber, not the Himalayan) had written in 1921 that “it will remain to bring skiing to the front as a means of winter mountaineering.” A decade later during the winter months of 1934 Donald McBride led parties on skis to the summits of Mt. Bierstadt and Quandary Peak. Records show that these were the first two complete ski ascents of 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado. These ascents took place in April but were recorded as winter accomplishments. McBride further undertook the arrangements for the Club's winter ascents of 14,000 foot peaks.

Winter mountaineering of the 14ers outside of the Front Range during this period was less developed. Winter mountaineering in the San Juan Mountains was limited in subject matter until the winter of 1933-34 when the San Juan Mountaineers provisioned their recently completed shelter cabin and Gordon Williams and Melvin Griffiths made a February 7, 1934 winter ascent of Mount Sneffels.

After their ascent they wrote that “Winter mountaineering, the sport, has begun in the San Juan.” As to the future of the sport, “Winter mountaineering, like its companion sport of the summer, will develop slowly in the San Juan. The country is too isolated to become a winter playground over night.”

By the 1940's Colorado Mountain Club mountaineers began to look anew at winter. “Winter is no longer the symbol of inactivity: it has become the symbol of action at its best.”

Perhaps “action at its best” was exemplified by the first winter ascent of the Mount of the Holy Cross by three 10th Mountain Division soldiers from Camp Hale on December 26, 1943.

Two CMC mountaineers during this period, Bob and Dorothy Swartz of Boulder, Colorado reported their qualification climbs for American Alpine Club membership 1940-1952 as being 73 and 62 ascents respectively of all 52 peaks over 14,000 ft. in Colorado. 21 and 20 of these climbs involved technical difficulties or were winter ascents. There is no differentiation between the peaks which were not named as to the ones with technical difficulties or winter ascents. But from this record they were probably the first to become actively involved in climbing winter ascents of multiple Colorado 14ers.

In 1964 the Colorado Mountain Club added a new school, the Winter Mountaineering School “for those who want to climb, ski, snowshoe, or just plain survive the elements in winter.” The club noted that the Pikes Peak Group in 1968 has “scheduled a number of 14's as winter climbs to make this completion (of the 14's) more challenging.” William Glinkman was one climber who made winter ascents of Quandary, Bierstadt, Kit Carson, Humboldt and Evans while completing the fourteens in 1971.

The most notable winter ascents of the 14ers during the 1960's era involved the remaining first winter ascents of the more difficult peaks rather than cumulative winter ascents of 14ers. These first winter ascents were of Crestone Peak in 1965, Crestone Needle in 1960, Kit Carson in 1969, Windom and Sunlight Peaks in 1966, Eolus in 1971 and Mount Wilson in 1971.

By the early 1970's AdAmAn club climbers of Pikes Peak probably still had made the most cumulative winter ascents of Colorado 14ers with Jack McDowell having 23 beginning in 1949, Roy Rickus with 19 beginning in 1951 and Robert Ellingwood with 21 beginning in 1953.

In 1971 the CMC noted that more winter climbs of the 14,000 foot peaks are being scheduled than in the past. The 1971-72 Denver Group winter climbing program had its share of hardships while successfully climbing Longs Peak, Princeton, Bierstadt and Evans, Quandary, Bross-Lincoln and Ellingwood Peak while attempting Torreys and Crestone Needle. The popularity of these winter climbs was amazing. “There were never less than ten people on a trip; on some trips there were over twenty climbers.”

The popularity of winter climbing in the 1970's led one climber in 1976 to unintentionally begin his odyssey of climbing every 14,000-foot peak in Colorado during the winter months between the winter solstice and vernal equinox. Tom Mereness of Boulder completed his feat in 1992. Upon his completion a spokesperson for the Colorado Mountain Club said, “no one has reported climbing all fourteeners in the state in winter;” however, “the CMC would discourage people from attempting those kinds of climbs.”

Others had attempted “those kind of climbs” of the winter 14ers during the 1980's and 1990's including Joe Burleson and Ken Nolan. The climbing author Jonathan Waterman announced his intentions while living in Aspen in 1991 “where he balances attempts to grovel up all fifty-four of the state's 14,000-foot peaks in winter.” While Burleson, Nolan and Waterman have been unsuccessful in their quests another climber was not.

Jim Bock also of Boulder and a climbing partner of Mereness began his winter tour in 1984 and became the second person in 1997 to successfully climb every one of the state's fourteeners in winter.

From these two pioneer climbers of the winter 14ers there have been about 20 more completions during the 21st century including Aron Ralston as the first solo completer in 2005; Sarah Meisner as the first woman in 2014; and Andrew Hamilton as the first completer during one calendar winter, 2017-2018.

ALL OF COLORADO'S 13ERS
The systematic climbing of Colorado's peaks beyond the 14ers began with the publication of William Graves list of “Hundred Highest Summits In Colorado” in 1968 in “Trail and Timberline” magazine. From this list Spencer Swanger became the first to climb Colorado's Hundred Highest on July 3, 1976.

The pioneer work in compiling the list of Colorado's mountains above 13,000 feet was done by Jim Hoerlein in 1977. This original list was refined to produce the 637 ranked peaks above 13,000 feet using the 300 foot criteria as listed in the book “Colorado's High Thirteeners, A Climbing & Hiking Guide,” by Mike Garratt and Bob Martin published in 1984.

Garratt and Martin see sawed through the list of 200, 300, 400, 500, 550 (4,000 meter peaks) until Mike Garratt became the first to climb all of Colorado's 637 ranked Thirteeners on July 31, 1987. Bob Martin followed as the second finisher on September 14, 1989.

According to the Colorado Mountain Club's latest list in 2018, 37 persons have climbed All Thirteeners in Colorado.

MOST PEAKS IN A LIFETIME
This is an interesting subject from the standpoint of the prolific peak baggers of the later nineteenth century and mid twentieth century and the mega peak baggers of the later twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century based on the differences of transportation and accessibility, leisure time, lightweight equipment and the proliferation of information through technological advances.

The first great American peak bagger was the surveyor ALLEN D. WILSON (1844-1920) of the Whitney Survey, 1867-1868; King, 1868-1872; Hayden, 1873-1878; and U.S.G.S, 1879-1881. Wilson climbed peaks in some 40 mountain ranges across California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington.

A. D. Wilson was perhaps the most experienced climber in the surveys at that time, having climbed many of the higher peaks of the United States. He climbed about 250 high peaks in Colorado.

Wilson also made more than thirty ascents of Idaho summits to establish triangulation stations. In Wyoming he climbed 26 mountain peaks or points as triangulation stations.

George B. Chittenden, assistant to Wilson during the Hayden survey season of 1873 wrote that “Wilson is a first-rate topographer and as a mountaineer has few equals in the country.”

Wilson gave an idea of his number of ascents on his attempt of the Grand Teton in 1878 when he wrote that ”now for the first time, after climbing hundreds of peaks during my twelve years of experience, I was compelled to give up reaching the summit.”

Allen D. Wilson was the first American peak bagger to approach or possibly attain the climbing of 500 peaks in a lifetime.

Although he is not well known in the mountaineering world, THOMAS M. BANNON climbed nearly 1,000 summits throughout the American West during his surveying career with the U.S.G.S. from 1889-1917.

Bannon's work was primarily in the northern Rocky Mountains where he climbed more peaks than anyone before him. He climbed some 500 mountain summits in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana of which as many as 200 were first ascents.

T. M. Bannon was the last of the horse and wagon prolific peak baggers and the first to climb some 1,000 peaks in a lifetime. He died in 1918 or 1919 at the age of forty eight.

If Wilson and Bannon were the first to climb nearly 500 and 1,000 peaks in a lifetime, America's greatest male peak bagger Norman Clyde was among the first to climb over 1,000 peaks while climbing 1,500 peaks in his lifetime.

NORMAN CLYDE (1885-1972) climbed his first High Sierra peak in 1910. By 1927 Clyde had climbed almost 400 peaks in the American West and was called “America's most irrepressible mountaineer.”

A newspaper article from 1934 described Norman Clyde as “a veteran of more than 600 mountain ascents and a climber of many record-breaking feats, the best known mountaineer of the West.”

A source in 1946 indicated that Clyde had over 1,000 ascents in his beloved Sierra alone with the admiration of “here is a low and sweeping bow to a grand fellow and a climber's climber if there ever was one.”

Estimates of Clyde's peak bagging range from over 1,000 peaks in the Sierra Nevada and lifetime to over 1,500 peaks in a lifetime. As many as 200 peaks were attributed as first ascents. Norman Clyde climbed in all of the western states with the exception of New Mexico, Utah and Colorado plus climbing in Mexico and Canada. “No other man has climbed so many mountains.”

The most prolific of America's peak baggers in terms of lifetime climbing milestones appears to be R.S. SAM FINK (1904-1998). Sam Fink began climbing in 1926 and didn't stop hiking until he was 90. He climbed throughout the west and reportedly climbed 3,800 peaks in his lifetime. He was known as the “Grand Old Man of the Mountains” by the Hundred Peaks Section of the Sierra Club.

Numerical approximations suggest that he was among the first with Norman Clyde to climb 1,000 peaks in about 1944 and probably the first to climb 1,500 peaks in 1952, 2,000 peaks in 1962, 2,500 peaks in 1971 and 3,000 peaks in 1980.

There are several other prolific peak baggers during the Sam Fink era that should also be mentioned. CARL MELZER (1891-1981) was a Denver school teacher and professor who began climbing in 1933. He and his young son Bob had several notable mountaineering accomplishments in the 1930's. They were the first to hike the Continental Divide of Colorado in 1936, the first to climb all the Colorado 14ers in one season in 1937 and the first to finish climbing all the 48 state 14ers in 1939 .

Carl Melzer made his last climb in 1971. He claimed 2000+ ascents during his climbing lifetime in Colorado, California, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Mexico.

DON WOODS (1903-1989) was another school teacher and a prolific Pacific Coast climber beginning with his first climbs in 1926 and who accumulated either several hundred climbs in nine lands during his lifetime according to a bulletin notice of his death in 1989 or climbed several thousand mountains in the U.S. and other lands according to an “In Memoriam” source.

A trio of Sierra Club climbers were also prominent during this time. ANDY SMATKO (1917-2005) reportedly climbed 1,000 desert peaks and 1,800 Sierra ascents including 300 first ascents in over 40 years of climbing beginning in 1950. He left no Sierra peak above 11,000 feet unscaled. “As the 'Dean of Sierra Climbers' probably no other person has so thoroughly explored Muir's Range of Light as has Andy Smatko.”

BARBARA LILLEY (1929- ) began climbing in 1947 and by 2005 she had climbed more than 4,400 summits. She has excelled in every aspect of mountaineering from early 1950's rock climbing with Royal Robbins in Yosemite Valley, ski mountaineering, desert peaks explorer, high Sierra climbing and high altitude expeditions and many first ascents of peaks in western Canada. Barbara Lilley is America's greatest female peak bagger. Her current peak count is about 4,864.

GORDON MACLEOD (1924-2019) was a climbing partner of Barbara Lilley for many years. He climbed his first peak Half Dome in the 1930's and his second of Mt. Whitney in 1958 where he met Barbara Lilley on the summit. He began climbing peaks in 1962. Upon their retirement in 1986 they spent the next 25 years climbing peaks in the western United States. He stopped serious climbing at age 90. At the time of his passing in 2019 Gordon MacLeod had climbed over 5,000 peaks.

The era of mega peak bagging began with MIKE GARRATT and BOB MARTIN in the late 1980's in Colorado and eventually accelerated among numerous others pursuing climbing lists into the 21st century. While most California peak baggers of the time were occupied with repeating high Sierra and Desert peaks climbing lists and others, Garratt and Martin began the systematic climbing of lists beyond the traditional Colorado fourteeners.

Mike Garratt began climbing in Colorado in 1971 and finished the fourteeners in 1977. By 1999 Garratt had climbed most of the Colorado peaks over 11,000 feet and had accumulated some 2,150 ascents. Currently active his totals are about 6,243 peaks.

Bob Martin (1920-2008) climbed his first fourteener in 1966. He began his peak bagging career upon retiring to Colorado in 1977 and finished the fourteeners in 1981. By 1999 Martin had climbed the 1,900 Colorado peaks over 10,750 feet in addition to some 2,500 peaks in Arizona. In 2001 his peak count was up to 5,040. Based on numerical approximations Bob Martin was probably the first to climb 4,000 peaks in a lifetime in 1997 and the first to climb 5,000 peaks in 2001. At that time he was called “the world's premier peak bagger” climbing more summits than anyone in history. At his passing in 2008 his totals were 6,877 peaks.

There are probably more than a dozen mega peak baggers today with peak counts of more than 5,000 who climb year round targeting smaller and obscure summits with spreadsheets and metrics to add to their peak totals. BOB PACKARD probably leads the count with about 8,154 peaks.

MOST PEAKS IN A SUMMER
I am expanding this category to most peaks in a year as peak bagging hasn't been seasonal for decades. While most peak bagging in the late 19th to mid 20th centuries could be considered largely seasonal, current participation has year round intense interest and much greater numbers of peaks climbed.

The largest seasonal peak count of the late 19th century occurred with the government surveys. In the summer of 1874 the Hayden Survey of Franklin Rhoda, Frederick Endlich and Allen D. Wilson climbed 54 stations in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

By the early 20th century individual and recreational peak baggers came to the front. In the summer of 1925 Norman Clyde climbed fifty-three peaks in the Sierra Nevada of which 23 were first ascents. Clyde concluded: “I sometimes think that I climbed enough peaks this summer to render me a candidate for a padded cell, - at least some people look at the matter in that way. However, I got a lot of enjoyment from this rather strenuous form of diversion.” The following year in 1926 Clyde upped his total to sixty-six plus peaks in one season.

In 1934 Hervy Voge and David Brower, accompanied part of the time by Norman Clyde ascended over sixty peaks during a knapsack trip in the Sierra Nevada.

In 1937 Carl and Bob Melzer climbed all 51 Colorado 14,000 foot peaks in one season in the space of sixty-five days.

Even lesser seasonal peak counts of the time had merit. For instance it was reported that a record-breaking number of high peak ascents in the season of 1934 was made by Paul and Ruth Gorham of the Colorado Mountain Club. They climbed twenty fourteen-thousand foot peaks and made eight other ascents of twelve and thirteen-thousand foot peaks.

The 1930's also saw the climbing of 100 peaks in a season during prolonged backpacking trips by two different parties. In 1936 Carl Melzer and his eight-year old son Bob Melzer and Julius E. Johnson a nineteen-year old university student made the 800 miles long trip along the crest of the Continental Divide of Colorado in fifty-two days. They climbed twenty-six of the highest peaks on the continent and 118 lesser peaks.

Three years later during the summer of 1939 nineteen-year old Jack W. Sturgeon made a ninety-six day back-packing tour along the Sierra crest above 10,000 feet. While traveling the length of the High Sierra he climbed more than 100 peaks of which eleven were first ascents while “easily exceeding the number ever previously climbed by one person in a single summer – perhaps more than any other climber of nineteen years will care to undertake for some time.” (See Julius E. Johnson above.)

Perhaps the norm for the prolific peak baggers until the later part of the 20th century was Andy Smatko, the “Indomitable Explorer and Chronicler of the Sierra Nevada.” He topped 102 summits in 1975, his best season, but also had 70, 80 and even 90 peak years as well, beginning in 1953.

The first to climb 200 or more summits was probably Bob Martin in the 1990's who split his retirement time between Colorado and Arizona. The mega peak baggers of today easily exceed many hundreds of summits in a year while climbing virtually every day of the year.

MOST PEAKS IN A DAY
This pursuit involves individuals climbing numerous peaks on their own to organized competitions by various clubs based on number of peaks climbed, elevation gained and miles covered.

During the 1930's it was noteworthy when individuals would climb three or four 14,000 foot peaks in a single day in the High Sierra or Colorado's Rockies.

Probably the first cause for wonder though was Jack Sturgeon's record on August 6, 1939 when he was in the vicinity of Muir Pass during his ninety-six day backpacking trip of the High Sierra crest. “On that day he climbed nine peaks!”

One of the earliest timed records for multiple high peaks is that of Dick Walker who in June of 1965 ran the 22 mile ridge from Loveland Pass to Mt. Evans in 15 hours climbing over Grizzly, Torreys, Grays, Edwards, Argentine, Square Top, Bierstadt and Evans.

Climbing the most 14,000 foot peaks in a day has been around since the 1930's. In the summer of 1968 Professor Paget climbed five Colorado 14,000 foot peaks in a day and claimed a world record. But several other people ascended six such summits in the same manner that summer.

On August 29, 1969 Bruce Stewart reported climbing seven named mountains of 14,000 feet in Colorado in one day. These were Mt. Sherman, Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross and Bierstadt and Evans. Stewart remarked that “if a day be taken as climbing for 24 hours, then several others might be added.”

Unknown to Stewart, Steve Gaskill had done just that from noon August 2 to noon August 3, 1969 when he climbed nine fourteens in 24 hours. These were Evans and Bierstadt, Grays and Torreys, Quandary, Lincoln, Bross, Democrat and Sherman.

In 1991 Jon Halverson and John Pavy summited 12 fourteen-thousand-foot peaks in a 24-hour period Their game rules started the clock at 12 noon on the summit of Mt. Oxford and ended on top of Evans at 23:45:15. In between they summited Belford and Missouri, Huron, Sherman, Bross, Lincoln and Democrat, Grays and Torreys and Bierstadt.

The formal contest combining most peaks in a day with miles hiked and altitude gained originated in the hills of the English Lakes district in the early 1900's by Mr. A.W. Wakefield of the Climbers Club. The object of the game was “to ascend the greatest possible number of peaks above 2000 feet, and to return to the starting point within 24 hours, or as much less as is possible.”

Wakefield made his record on August 15, 1905, walking 56 3/8 miles and climbing something over 20 peaks with an aggregate rise of 23,388 feet in 22 hours and 7 minutes. He had five companions acting as pacemakers and carrying his extras while he himself wore only a jersey, shorts, socks, rubber-soled shoes “and a handkerchief.”

Wakefield's record stood for fifteen years until May 29, 1920, when it was broken by Mr. Eustace Thomas of the Rucksack Club who covered exactly the same course but completed it in 21 hours and 25 minutes.

In 1922 Thomas enlarged the circuit to 59 miles by adding two more peaks and increasing the total ascent to 25,500 feet in 21 hours and 54 minutes.

Thomas' record stood for many years until 1932 when a Mr. Graham added one more peak, increasing the total height climbed to about 27,000 feet in 61 miles and 23 hours and 39 minutes.

These performances also interested climbers in the Adirondacks of New York as “marathon hikes” in attempts to cover the maximum mileage, including the maximum feet of ascent of peaks, within a 24-hour period.

On October 7, 1933 H. L. Malcolm of the Adirondack Mountain Club climbed eighteen peaks covering 40 1/8 miles and making 20,067 feet of ascent.

Previous record holders determined by ascent feet and distance miles were:

Ernest S. Griffiths with 16,930 ascent feet, 32 1/8 miles and 14 peaks.

James E. Foote with 15,627 ascent feet, 22 9/16 miles and 28 peaks (this is the most peaks within a 24-hour period that I have found record of).

Robert Marshall with 13,600 feet, no miles listed and 14 peaks.

Southern California clubs have also shown interest in bagging peaks within a day. The Hundred Peaks Section of the Sierra Club held a Peak Bagger's Special on May 13, 1967 when the last four diehards of a group of 32 climbers totaled 15 peaks. They believed the 15 peaks for a day established a record of sorts with the thought of making 25 next time as 21 would be a cinch to make.

The next Peak Baggers Special now as an annual happened on May 11, 1968 when 2 girls and 4 guys out of sixty-seven ardent peak baggers placed the 21st peak register at 11:55 P.M., “all happy that it was ended.”

The Peak Baggers' Special of April 26, 1969 was altered by weather, so an expected 25 peak assault in 24 hours was impossible. 14 stalwarts out of seventy-five individuals bagged a total of 14 peaks for the day.

The now annual HPS Peak Baggers Special game of May 9, 1970 programmed 22 peaks as 21 peaks is the record. The original 42 climbers now reduced to 4 people after the completion of the 15th peak decided tying the record wasn't a worthwhile endeavor.

The Peak Bagger's Special of May 8, 1971 saw three people out of fifty-four negotiate 22 peaks completed at the stroke of midnight. Their report noted they would try for 25 peaks next year but I have no record of their success on subsequent Peak Bagger's Specials of the Hundred Peaks Section.

There are perhaps any number of peaks in a day records by individuals. For instance three persons reported a 17 peak day hike of all 10,000ers in the San Gorgonio Mountains in 2010 a feat that was first done as a solo hike fifteen years earlier.

Colorado climbers have also shown some interest in numbers of peaks climbed in a day besides the 14ers. John Kirk and Steve Knapp reportedly climbed some 27 (?) peaks in Park County several years ago.

Taken to its extreme (initials T. R.) claimed a new record in local climbing in the San Gabriel Mountains in 1959. Within a six hour period he climbed 11 peaks. The source reported that “We predict this feat will go uncontested. No one, even if he bettered the mark, would admit that he'd tried it.”

ALL PEAKS IN THE U.S. NAMED BALD MOUNTAIN
I am not sure how many named Bald Mountains there are in the U.S. nor do I particularly care to research whether anybody has climbed them all.

I do know that in 1997 Bob Martin published a list of ten of “Colorado's Highest Bald Mountains” ranging in height from 10,740 feet to 13,684. By 2001 Martin had climbed most of the 10,000 foot mountains and many of the 9,000 foot mountains in Colorado thereby becoming the first to climb the highest Bald Mountains in Colorado.

THE MORE BIZARRE THE BETTER
Today there are more peak lists than anyone can imagine. I don't think anyone really knows how many there are worldwide. There seems to be a cottage industry that churns out peak lists for every conceivable geographical groupings. With the exception of the most arduous and remote or the most technical of lists, most peak lists have their completions. And those bizarre lists of 1986 are the norm of today.

I don't know if Bill Napier of Boulder, Colorado is still out there but if you are listening Bill, these are my answers to your questions thirty five years later after you first posed them back in 1986.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by Scott P »

Interesting stuff.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by XterraRob »

I'm sure if you put all of your writings together, you'd have a great book to publish Gore Galore.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by gb »

Always interesting, thanks so much for your posts.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by Will_E »

Very cool history. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by Jorts »

Engrossing writeup Joe. Thank you for that.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by ScreeSurfer »

I always enjoy the history lessons. Thanks for the post!
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by ltlFish99 »

That was a most wonderful report.
Thank you for posting this.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by 12ersRule »

Thank you, good stuff. As far as I know 32 is the record for peaks in one day by John and Alyson Kirk. Here's the links to that:

https://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Conte ... 5-30&e=all
https://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Conte ... 5-30&e=all
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by gore galore »

12ersRule - Thanks for the reference for the Kirk's most peaks in a day of 32. It probably is the record from the 28 mentioned. I am not sure if the Climbers Club or Adirondack Club of the 1930's or the Hundred Peaks section of the Sierra Club of the 1970's continued on with their tradition of most peaks in a day. And those references for those clubs never mentioned the areas of peaks.
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by CaptainSuburbia »

12ersRule wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:34 am Thank you, good stuff. As far as I know 32 is the record for peaks in one day by John and Alyson Kirk. Here's the links to that:

https://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Conte ... 5-30&e=all
https://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Conte ... 5-30&e=all
They also hold the record for consecutive days with a summit at 3,000.
https://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Content/consec.php
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espressoself
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Re: Peak Bagging Lists, "The More Bizarre, the Better"

Post by espressoself »

gore galore wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:50 pm ALL PEAKS IN THE U.S. NAMED BALD MOUNTAIN
I am not sure how many named Bald Mountains there are in the U.S. nor do I particularly care to research whether anybody has climbed them all.

I do know that in 1997 Bob Martin published a list of ten of “Colorado's Highest Bald Mountains” ranging in height from 10,740 feet to 13,684. By 2001 Martin had climbed most of the 10,000 foot mountains and many of the 9,000 foot mountains in Colorado thereby becoming the first to climb the highest Bald Mountains in Colorado.
Out of curiosity I ran a quick query through the USGS GNIS, and, excluding variants, the number of summits and ridges registered exactly as "Bald Mountain" in the US is 304. 26 are in CO.

Out of further curiosity, I looked into some other favorites:
Red Mountain - 166, 19 of which are in CO.
Sheep Mountain - 129, 34 of which are in CO.
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