Mark P. Addison, Pioneer Climber of the Zodiac Spires, 1956, Gore Range

[gore galore]

The Zodiac Spires of the Gore Range are fairly well known now judging by the several trip reports posted on 14ers.com. The spires were hardly known when I began climbing them in 1984, much less so in 1958 and 1960 when Gary Ziegler and partners climbed them, and except for a mention of the “sharp serrated ridge” at Willow Lakes by Carl Melzer in 1942, were wholly unknown when Mark Addison first climbed and named them in the summer of 1956.

Mark Addison was a ski instructor in the Army beginning in 1955 at Camp Hale. Hale was reopened in 1952 to support the new Mountain and Cold Weather Training Command to train troops to move in mountainous terrain and survive winters. As Mark wrote, “we were a small group of enlisted men: former Class A ski racers from back East, a few climbers like me and some locals who knew the area. Many think of us as ski troopers, and we were if you meant that we strapped on 7-foot skis, hoisted a rucksack and tromped up local mountains.”

Addison learned of the spires from the proprietor of the Dillon Hotel with a stay there sometime in the winter of 1955-1956. The proprietor, Leo Sharpe took people into a fishing camp at Willow Lakes during the summer and from his pictures the region looked promising to Mark with several prominent pinnacles.

In the summer of 1956 Mark and partners took two climbing trips to the Willow Lakes. The first trip with Don Brown concentrated on the faces and pinnacles of Red Mountain as they referred to Red Peak as. Their first climb led up a 300-foot face to the north ridge and though roped for this section, “technical difficulties were not numerous.” They moved along the ridge and climbed a gendarme which they called the “Loose Goose” due to the poor quality of its rock. This was a technical climb of two leads up a shallow chimney with two pitons for protection. Several other pinnacles offered them good practice on the way to the summit of Red Mountain.

The mention of the “Loose Goose” in Mark's trip report from long ago captured my latent attention. In 2013, I camped at Willow Lakes for the specific purpose of locating this gendarme and its two pitons. But despite moving up and down the north ridge I was unable to locate a formation resembling this gendarme marked by an * on a hand drawn map accompanying his trip report.

The following day Addison and Brown found a route to the base of Cancer Spire, the southernmost of the group. They climbed an overhanging crack of the south ridge and then rappelled off. It was on this climb that Mark wrote in his trip report that “we took the liberty of naming these spires after signs of the Zodiac, thus the Zodiac Spires.” The names of the Zodiac Spires have been carried forward by climbers to this day and are a treasured part of the lore of the Gore Range.

The second trip with Joe Prow concentrated on the Zodiac Spires working along the ridge from left to right. They eliminated the second, Capricorn Spire as it looked too easy. The left Gemini Twin was reached over near vertical grass slopes to a chimney climb up its east face to a broken summit. The right Twin was climbed via a shattered chimney on the south ridge. Taurus Spire was climbed with two pitons for protection on its sixty-degree west face.

They found Scorpio Spire as the best climb of the spires. The route up the north face led to an overhang and into a hole where a piton was placed. The climb out of the hole led to an awkward face and then to the ridge and top.

The next day they climbed Libra Spire's exposed south ridge and made a knife edge traverse to Sagittarius Spire which was mostly scrambling. After rappelling the north ridge of Sagittarius they descended a good scree slope, leaving Aries Spire, the most northerly to another group. They found no evidence of previous climbers and left match book covers under rocks on most of the spires.

I wrote Mark in 1985 hoping to find some more information other than beta on his climbs of the spires. His terse reply of “this is almost 30 years ago” meant to me that no further information was forthcoming. Thirty-eight years later, I met Mark in a brief chance encounter at a Tenth Mountain Division lecture in Frisco in 2023. Overhearing his name, I asked if he was the Mark Addison of the Zodiac Spires, and he answered in the affirmative.

I write something of the history of Mark climbing in the Zodiac Spires because on January 7, 2025, Mark P. Addison passed away at the age of ninety. I know little else of him other than he was one of the last of the pioneer climbers in the Gore Range of the 1950's. His mark in the range is lasting for he was first on the Zodiac Spires that he named.

[Ed_Groves]

Thank you. Your historical essays are a highlight of this forum. May Mr. Addison rest in peace.

[Gore Girl]

A wonderful tribute to an inquisitive and committed explorer!

[14erFred]

Thanks for your entertaining and edifying post on the climbing history of the alluring Zodiac Spires, gore galore. And thanks for memorializing Mark and his pioneering routes on these prominent pinnacles. He and his climbing partners were bold and visionary, and they were ahead of their time. I can almost taste their excitement in discovering these untouched gems right in their own backyard. As always, your keen eye for fascinating alpine lore and your creative gift for weaving historical narratives not only make delightful reading, but also bestow a deeper appreciation of those who came before us in the mountains. Thanks for sharing your time and talent with us and for enriching the forum with your contributions. Keep the faith, and keep on climbing.

[Jorts]

Thanks Joe. Nice reminder that some of the more recently popularized routes in Colorado had FAs that only occurred a generation ago. Plenty of those legends still walk amongst us. RIP Mark P. Addison.