Favorite repeats

[Cruiser]

What's your favorite 14er repeat and why?

I keep going back to Kelso Ridge. It's a quick drive from my house. The route is a super fun scramble on good rock. Being a non standard route, it doesn't see a ton of traffic after the turnoff. And it's an easy descent on the standard route.

[JROSKA]

I’ve repeated a couple of peaks like Bierstadt or Blue Sky just out of convenience.

But there are a couple peaks like Wetterhorn or Wilson Peak that I’d absolutely love to repeat. One of my regular hiking partners (at 52 on the checklist) needs both of these peaks and I’m basically begging him, if you need anyone to climb these peaks ….

[hokiehead]

What's your favorite 14er repeat and why?

I keep going back to Kelso Ridge. It's a quick drive from my house. The route is a super fun scramble on good rock. Being a non standard route, it doesn't see a ton of traffic after the turnoff. And it's an easy descent on the standard route.

same for me on Kelso Ridge. I'm not sure there's a more fun route I've done.

beyond that, I need to make a pedantic distinction between favorite 14er repeat and favorite route repeat. a few notes on that subject:
Quandary was my first 14er summit and later became my first skied 14er. it's going to maintain a special place in my memories.
I did the DeCaLiBron from Kite Lake early in my 14er adventures and then repeated several years later via Democrat's N Ridge, which was really fun
in the future-looking / anticipation-of-repeat category, Sneffels leads the list. I didn't have a good day on my only attempt but keep reading how many consider it one of their favorites

[Mtnman200]

My favorite 14er repeat is Crestone Needle because the conglomerate rock makes for superfun scrambling.

[daway8]

To perhaps cheat slightly, my favorite 14er is NE Crestone (14er sub-summit) due to that awesome Crestone conglomerate and the option to choose a class 4 or class 5 approach.

Another favorite is Longs Peak - closest 14er for me and so many different routes to do! Different look/feel over the seasons as well.

Kelso Ridge is also a great conditioning hike but not nearly as fun as NE Crestone...

[d_baker]

Pikes Peak.
But usually, and for me typically in the winter months, I only get as far as the top of the incline....sometimes that's it, but sometimes 2-3x at a go.....

[chicagostylehotdog]

I need to make a pedantic distinction between favorite 14er repeat and favorite route repeat.

I was wondering the same thing.
Capitol was fun to repeat because we did the ridge direct on the descent between K2 and Daly saddle. I underestimated how much that was going to be mentally after a long day. Neither of us could wait to get off that ridge, mostly because we kept expecting to get to a section where we didn't feel comfortable downclimbing and have to retrace our steps. All that being said, I felt a lot of regret skipping the ridge direct on my first go on Capitol, so being able to hit that route was very satisfying.

Quandary has been fun seeing it first in winter conditions, then summer conditions, and then doing the W ridge route as a way to introduce a friend to class 3 scrambling.

[Cruiser]

My favorite 14er repeat is Crestone Needle because the conglomerate rock makes for superfun scrambling.

I just reclimbed the needle this past weekend and had a mighty darn good time. Such confidence inspiring rock...

[MidsizeAl]

I've only repeated a couple, but of those, Elbert's E Ridge comes to mind. Easy, safe in winter, runnable, and hardly sees the foot traffic that the standard trail gets. The last time we were up there, we made a fun loop by going up the E Ridge, descending the NE Ridge, and then looping back along the CO Trail. Bierstadt and Quandary are great repeats during the winter/early spring, but I wouldn't go back for either of those during the summer.

Of those that I'd like to repeat, I'm definitely looking forward to exploring the many routes on Longs. I'd gladly go back and do Crestone Needle again, and if it weren't such a challenge to get back to Chicago Basin, I would love to repeat the whole group, especially Eolus.

Hijacking this thread to tack on another question that my wife and I were recently discussing: Which peak would you NOT want to repeat, and furthermore, if a friend who needed to add the peak to their list were to ask you to accompany them, which peak(s) would you decline the invitation on?

[seannunn]

Long's Peak. I have done it twice and would gladly climb it again. Sneffels was also fun the second time around. Wouldn't mind a third time on either of those.
Sunlight also.

Sean Nunn
Peculiar, MO

[HikesInGeologicTime]

For quick + easy, just-want-some-exercise-at-altitude: Mt. Bierstadt. Not during a Saturday morning in July or August, of course, but outside of typical hours/seasons, it's a solid hike that isn't too demanding. And if you go far enough outside of those popular times, you might even have its summit all to yourself, as I have on several of my latest visits.

A little farther out of the way but worth if I'm passing by closely enough to justify it: San Luis. Yeah, it is kind of a pain to get to unless you happen to live in Creede or South Fork or maybe Gunnison, but remoteness = fewer people. Also a good workout without being excessively draining, although the views above treeline are worth taking a breather or several even if unnecessary.

Hijacking this thread to tack on another question that my wife and I were recently discussing: Which peak would you NOT want to repeat, and furthermore, if a friend who needed to add the peak to their list were to ask you to accompany them, which peak(s) would you decline the invitation on?

Hoooo boy. If we're only talking fourteeners, it's a long list. But you didn't limit it to fourteeners, so it's an even longer list.

1. Pyramid. Anyone who knows my personal history would not be surprised by this.

2. Maroon. Sorry, Will_E...

3. Teakettle. Actually, the friend who led me up it the first time did invite me to go for a second round so I could "do it clean," seeing as how I fell during the crucial move the first and only time I did it (fortunately, while roped), and I was in such a state of shock that a) he'd think I'd WANT to travel the 6.5 hours or whatever it is back to Yankee Boy to repeat that festering pile of garbage when there are so many other, nicer things to do in that area that are worth the 6.5 or whatever hours and b) that I'd somehow developed the skill set necessary to "do it clean" when Teakettle was crucial in helping me establish that climbing is a skill set I have no personal interest in developing that I think the only response I could come up with at the time was a blank stare and an eventual series of expletives.

4. Dallas. See above, although that same friend evidently deduced from my response to the Teakettle offer that this was also not one I had any intention of repeating.

5 and 6. Challenger and, by extension, Kit Carson. Much as I hate that gully, my overall disgust with scrambling makes me suspect I'd hate any other route up KC even more.

7. Crestone Needle. To judge by above responses, if you do like scrambling, you're probably gonna love it. If you don't, you might well think it's a festering pile of garbage.

8. Little Bear. 27.5 hour "day." Probably 'nuff said.

9. Capitol. Scrambling after already being exhausted by the backpack in and lack of quantity and quality in sleep the night before was not my idea of fun.

10. Crestone Peak. This one really should be higher on the list, since Red Gully is so long that I'm not entirely unconvinced that everything that has happened since is a hallucination my brain came up with to help me deal with the fact that I am still crawling up Red Gully and, similarly to Sisyphus with his own boulder, am doomed to never leave it, plus of course going back up Broken Hand Pass was really not what I wanted to be doing that late in the day, but this one does get something of a pass for being my finisher. Doesn't mean I ever want to do more than wave to it, perhaps with more than one finger, from Humboldt ever again, though.

11. Windom. Boulder-hopping after all that packing in, even if it was mostly just Difficult Class 2, was also not my idea of fun.

12. Sunlight. I was roped and had TWO guides, and climbing that stupid summit block still made me want to puke.

13. El Diente. Stupidly loose and tedious from Kilpacker, yet another case where I likely would've hated any other route, not even ranked.

14. Mt. Wilson. Similar to El D, but slightly longer. At least it's ranked.

15. Sneffels. Not as bad as its demoted-to-Bicentennial neighbors in that I did manage to get up and down it without needing to be roped up to survive, but still a case of, "If I'm spending that much gas money, I might as well go do something I actually enjoy."

ETA: 16. Oops, I totally forgot Mt. Lindsey existed. I do hope for a restoration of access so that others can determine for themselves whether this one is worth doing a second (or even first) time, but I got it done when it was still cool with the landowner, and suffice to say it's been no skin off my nose that it's been legally unrepeatable for a long time since.

For the rest, even of the scrambly ones, there's at least a possibility that I could be arm-twisted into a repeat, though only with a whole lotta terms, conditions, and caveats for the scramblers (and some of the Class 2s as well...I am pretty sure I will never not pronounce a certain Sawatch as "Misery" Mountain). The only reason I'd ever consider any of the ones I named here, however, is if I eventually developed the mental and physical abilities to ski them...and of course if conditions were Goldilocks levels of Just Right for doing so. Otherwise, those will remain firmly in the One and Done file.

[randalmartin]

Favorite 14er repeats

1] Huron - Prettiest hike of all the 14ers with the view of Apostles on the way up.
2] Uncomphagre - Prettiest summit view of all 14ers and enjoyable chill hike

Favorite Non 14er repeats

1] Bison Peak - Most unique mountain in Colorado. Expansive summit plateau with amazing boulders.

Favorite Workout repeats

1] Mt. Herman - I have climbed about 100 times. Short and sweet workout hike 1600 ft in 1.5 miles with most of that gain in under a mile
2] Bear Peak/South Boulder - I have climbed about 15 times. The very best front range workout hike with 2800ft of gain and 1000ft/mile or more grade.