Summit Registers

[Kiefer]

Has there been any productive use of a summit register from a popular 14er in recent/memorable history?
If someone if lost I don't see the SAR team saying, "quick! Check the summit register!"

Maybe as emergency TP, which is perhaps the best use of that paper.

I remember a few years ago when that Wyoming firefighter went missing on Challenger and KC, SAR crews checked the summit registers to see if he had made the summit, to curtail their search location. I was up there during the search & talked at length with several of the volunteers. And yes, while summit registers on 14ers (or I suppose any peak really) can seem moot, they are used in emergency situations, situation dependent. I left a few myself over the years, I'll sign them if they're present but I don't go out of way to look for them...each to their own.
And he was found...at the base of the Kirk.

How does the CMC play into this conversation? I've always wondered what the correct thing to do is when I find an old register on a summit that's in a half broken container, or the pages are so frail and crumbling that pretty soon it'll be useless. I've never taken one off but it makes me sad to think they'll soon be lost to all of us. Should I bag those up and mail them in to CMC to keep and log? I'm not a member, so this is a genuine question. Is that something they do?

I found this link that says you can get a register and canister from them to place on a mountain...anyone know if this is still accurate/acceptable?

http://coloradomountainclub.blogspot.co ... sters.html

Current CMC employee here. That post is from 2009 and extremely out of date (the 14erWorld reference ). That's not even the current URL for the CMC blog -- that old Blogspot page probably hasn't been touched (or thought about) in more than a decade.

The CMC is no longer supplying or installing summit registers, at least not in an official capacity. (There might be a rogue volunteer here or there.) We will accept filled-out registers if someone brings them down from a summit and mails or delivers them to the CMC headquarters in Golden, but nothing is really done with them. They're simply added to the American Mountaineering Museum archives, which is a fancy way of saying they're stored in our basement.

Jeff, your comment only makes me more sure of my decision many, many years ago as being the correct one that I posted on FB.

[pfiore1]

And yes, while summit registers on 14ers (or I suppose any peak really) can seem moot, they are used in emergency situations, situation dependent.

Yes. And also trailhead registers. They not only help the USFS determine user numbers and summit registers for CMC, but both can and have helped SAR determine someone's plans and destination or at least Last Point Known.

[Wentzl]

So a box stuffed with scraps of paper SHOULD be replaced with a notebook. And the CMC does not want that stuff mailed to them.

All on board so far?

[CaptCO]

So a box stuffed with scraps of paper SHOULD be replaced with a notebook. And the CMC does not want that stuff mailed to them.

All on board so far?

Is the estimate on 14er finishers still over 3,000+?

[nsaladin]

So a box stuffed with scraps of paper SHOULD be replaced with a notebook. And the CMC does not want that stuff mailed to them.

All on board so far?

Is the estimate on 14er finishers still over 3,000+?

The estimate was 10k+ 5 years ago...

[CaptCO]

So a box stuffed with scraps of paper SHOULD be replaced with a notebook. And the CMC does not want that stuff mailed to them.

All on board so far?

Is the estimate on 14er finishers still over 3,000+?

The estimate was 10k+ 5 years ago...

I just used a google search, in that case clear the 14er registers!

[SurfNTurf]

Jeff, your comment only makes me more sure of my decision many, many years ago as being the correct one that I posted on FB.

While I certainly don't have a strong opinion about the event you're referencing ( ), I should clarify my previous statement. The summit records are "stored in our basement," but that's not to say they're forgotten or entirely useless. It's fairly common for hikers or family members to try to track down old registers. I've even fielded such calls and emails from a few people on this site who love to bag on the CMC. It's always cool when we're able to connect someone with their deceased grandfather's signature from Crestone Needle in 1962. And, at some point, if the CMC or a journalist or the American Mountaineering Museum or whomever wanted to do more with the registers, it's obviously beneficial to have as many as possible stored safely in a single location.

[Monster5]

Hold up, I don't recall ever asking you about registers.

...I've even fielded such calls and emails from a few people on this site who love to bag on the CMC....

[Wentzl]

Well, I am dusting off this thread because today I went up and took out the trash on Sneffels. I did leave the ammo box with a summit log and a new pen.

Here is what I brought down. Anyone want it?

IMG_1256[1].JPG (103.5 KiB) Viewed 625 times

IMG_1254[1].JPG (100.27 KiB) Viewed 625 times

The items have been arranged to obscure the obscene comments about Texas!

[greenonion]

Wow. Thanks for hauling that off the mountain Wentzl

[ellenmseb]

lol, I remember saying on Sneffels, "why tf is there so much random crap in this summit register?"

In California, old summit registers are archived in UC Berkeley's library: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf738nb2br/
Summitregister.org is dedicated to maintaining/replacing these registers.

So, start storing filled summit registers at UC Boulder? Not from 14ers though... the stacks would overfill in a summer..

[Makbrad]

I believe the American Alpine Club has a digital archive collection. They could add digital copies of the stored registers there.
https://americanalpineclub.org/library- ... e-archives