How did you get to where you are now?

[trail_gal]

What got you interested in climbing and 14ers and where/how did you start?

I am in my early 20s and have recently moved to Colorado (CO Springs area). I have been interested in climbing mountains for a long time, but have only just recently gotten to a place where I can spend more time developing skills and climbing mountains in Colorado. I have done Quandary and Grays (last year), but haven't done any 14ers since. None of my friends are into climbing, and I have yet to meet any climbing partners that are in my area at my skill level.

I would love to climb more and get more experience, but where do I start? How did you start?

[dsunwall]

http://www.cmc.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Colorado Mountain club, they have meetings and classes in Co Springs.

[Tornadoman]

My wife and I did our first 14er in September 2007 (Bierstadt). Since then we have been going out to Colorado 2-3 times a year from Kansas, (and I have come out with a friend a couple times to do peaks in the Elks that my wife didn't want to attempt). I believe in gradually doing more difficult peaks to slowly increase your comfort level. I am sure that using this forum you will find plenty of climbing partners. Start with class 1 and 2, and pretty soon you will be doing class 3 and beyond!

[climbing_rob]

Dee-wight beat me to it, but yeah, check out the CMC. Lots of CMC bashers in these parts though, so expect some "negative ads" on this forum... complaints about this or that, some of them somewhat true. All-volunteer club, the CMC, so you do get all kinds, of course.

Basically, I've lived in CO for 35 years, in the first 20 years climbed maybe 50 mountains off and on (well, I was raising kids, that does take some time). Finally, I joined the CMC in 1999. Since then I've learned all the major skills (climbing, glacier travel, high altitude climbing, etc) both by taking the suite of classes and then teaching the classes (where you REALLY learn stuff...). Nothing like some of the peak baggers around, but now I'm up to 300 CO peaks of all difficulties and have climbed all over the world, at least a dozen international climbing trips pretty much exclusively with the CMC. Most of my hiking/climbing pals I met in the club. I even met who became my wife at the CMC on a Kilimanjaro climb. We lovingly call the CMC the "Colorado Mating Club".

The Denver group is the largest, but CO springs has a nice sized and very active group. Yes, the demographic in the CMC tends to be older, but still plenty of youngsters (that would be you, OP) in the club. Check it out.

[SkaredShtles]

Beer. I'd say that it was beer.

[polar]

Like others said, this site is a great resource for finding partners. Just post an objective and ask for people to join you. And if by "climbing" you just mean summiting Colorado 14ers in summer time, then there is really not a lot of special skills you need, at least not anything you cannot learn on your own. It's really easy to gain more experience by working your way from the easier 14ers to the harder ones. Of course it may be more fun to hike the 14ers with other people, but they're certainly doable on your own.

On the other hand, if by "climbing" you mean roped climbing, winter 14ers, steep snow and/or ice, that's a different beast than hiking 14ers in summer. I'd recommend taking classes, joining the CMC, or finding experienced partners to teach you the skills you need.

[fahixson]

First got interested when I moved to CO in 2007. I met a couple guys that were in to hiking/climbing, but I figured their skill level and fitness were well beyond me. Then I met a girl that had hiked "a few" 14ers, including all the easier/close ones (a few turned out to be more than 20). Being young and dumb, I somehow thought a girl would be much easier to keep pace with on the trail and maybe I could impress her, so I joined her on San Luis. Suppose I could have been correct in making a good first impression, now we're married and still generally do all our 14er hikes together.

As for finding partners, you've found the right place. I've had good luck with the Climbing Connections forum when my wife didn't want to repeat. You could also try the CO Springs 14ers.com happy hours. PM Derby Ale to see when the next one will be. They just had one on 7/15. I've only been to a few Denver HHs, but assume Springs group would be a good place to meet new people with common interests.

As mentioned previously, CMC is likely a good resource as well. I don't have any direct experience with the club, but nothing bad to say about it either. I've hiked with a couple people involved with CMC and they were strong, well prepared hikers, but didn't make me feel inferior at all even though my skill set was definitely below theirs. Along those lines, I wouldn't worry too much about finding hiking partners that match your skill level. Everyone I've met through 14ers.com has been great to hike with and pretty much all of them above my skill set. You'll learn from those with more experience and like Rob pointed out, really learn when you get the opportunity to teach those with less experience.

[dpage]

I grew up in Roanoke, VA which is near the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Appalachian Trail and spent tons of time backpacking and trail running throughout the area. Some friends starting running ultras and David Horton lived 30 minutes away. I knew that he came to Colorado to run Hardrock which he shared stories about running across talus and summiting Handies although I didn't understand it was a 14er. I continued with endurance events most trail running and triathlon about the same time "Into Thin Air"came out. The book made me explore more into mountaineering but I still had not climbed a mountain. The college I went to in Virginia did a outdoor rec extended classroom trip to Colorado, not that I did the trip, but classmates came back with stories of climbing the Angel on Shavano which was the first time I had heard of a 14er. I came to visit a friend at CSU and with little knowledge about the route climbed Longs standard route. I did not return to a 14er for many years until I started a travel healthcare job, met my wife, and moved to Colorado in 2008. She moved to Ft Collins after college to be near RMNP and had a goal of climbing a 14er and someday climbing Longs, so we started hiking the 14ers together. After climbing/hiking 8 other peaks, she felt ready for Longs which ended up not being as hard as she thought it was going to be. Somewhere along the way together we decided to climb all of the peaks but did not feel ready to do so. We joined the CMC and took the courses through the Boulder club since the Ft Collins club was not consistent in offering Basic Mountaineering School. We did all of the "pod" classes including the basic hiking and survival classes, basic rock school, beginner and intermediate snow and felt that between those classes and gradually progressing along the list of peaks from easiest to hardest that we were ready for most anything the 14ers in summer conditions would send our way. Gradually the hiking and scrambling has lead to an interest in rock climbing and a whole world of places to play has opened up but I feel like I'm back where I began not knowing the skills to go do those things on my own like when I started climbing 14ers.

[ortegajv]

Hi Trail_gal - Everybody's situation is somewhat different, but I find mine kind of amusing. When I was a kid (1970's) my family would go to the San Juan mountains to fish and backpack and I just liked being outside. As a teenager, I started going on longer hikes and backpacks and then one day, finally made it to a pass on the Continental Divide. After that, the lure of higher altitudes was stronger than fishing, so I gave up the latter. In 1988, my friends and I were old enough to drive, and we just went into the Weminuche to explore and without even knowing what we were doing, we hiked in from Purgatory to Chicago Basin and accidently ended up on the summit of N. Eolus. That was a very cool experience. We had never heard of a 14er and it way before there was even an internet. We just liked being outside in the mountains. I started doing more hikes and somewhere in the mid-90's, I had ~1/3 of the 14'ers climbed and finished the others in the late 90's - other than Culebra. I did that one in February 2012 and joined this group in the process. I've met some people on this forum and have had a good time re-climbing the 14er's and also doing lower summits (12ers, and 13ers). I love the process of working to get above treeline and having the views open up more and more until I'm finally at the summit. When I did the 14er's, there was more route finding involved, and while they were somewhat popular, it was nothing like now, and it was common to have the summit to myself. I have just kept a small group of friends and my sister that like to do the same thing, and they've become my main climbing partners. I've also climbed peaks in WA state, Montana, and BC Canada. I would suggest trying to find climbing friends through here, other friends that have similar interests and/or the CMC and from there, your network will grow. Have fun. John.

[shredthegnar10]

What got you interested in climbing and 14ers and where/how did you start?

I enrolled at Western State College of Colorado (now Western State Colorado University). Seriously. It's not what got me interested in 14ers, but it was a great place to live, and I had the opportunity to climb a lot of 14ers and learn a lot more about climbing (learned to ice climb through their Wilderness Pursuits program).
Most importantly, I could excel both academically and in my outdoor pursuits. And I decided that was how I wanted to live my life. Now I'm a part of the "professional workforce" with a good job in Seattle, and I just got back from climbing Denali.

None of my friends are into climbing, and I have yet to meet any climbing partners that are in my area at my skill level.

I had the same problem when I started out. I met a lot of people on this site, but I gradually got more comfortable being on harder (class 3/4 routes) by myself. That's a thing that only comes with experience. I'd say give it two to three seasons. Oh, and don't let anyone give you crap for being female and soloing (I'm assuming this based on your username). Terminal velocity is the same for all humans, and altitude doesn't discriminate either.
Realistically, if you're on a standard route (even a class 3 route) on a 14er in the summer, you probably won't be alone -- especially on a weekend -- even if you're hiking by yourself.

[Sean Nunn]

Grew up and still live in Missouri, but have been in love with Colorado and the mountains since my first trip there as a kid. Honeymoon was in Estes Park. Started bringing a group of high school cross-country runners out in the summer of 2001, and we climbed Long's Peak (bad idea for a rookie climber to take a bunch of high schoolers up Long's Peak). Have been back every summer since; 1-2 trips a year. Hope to own a place in the fair state someday.

As far as getting your skill level up, I would echo what previous posters have said. If you are just limiting yourself to class 1 & 2 in the summer, then read up on what people here say about a mountain, take plenty of water, start early, and have fun. Once you have done several then you would probably be OK on class 3's also. That system has worked fine for me getting up 30+ of the 14ers. The more I climb the more I learn by trial and error. Just make sure your errors aren't going to be fatal errors: avoid thunderstorms, and if it looks like a climb is exceeding your skill set or comfort level, turn back, try some easier mountains, and come back to the harder one later.

If you plan to do more difficult stuff, I would agree that you should probably take a class or two about ropes, ice, snow, etc. I haven't done that yet but I will before I go trying to knock off the Elks in one day or anything like that.

Sean Nunn
Raytown MO

[oh2co]

More of the same - As an avid hiker, and growing up a few hours from Appalachia, I found myself constantly seeking high points and spots that most people had never been. That last piece I think is what drives me to this day - the desire to do things and see things in places that most don't have a chance (or desire) to. Even standing on a summit that thousands climb annually, still puts in a very small bracket of breathing humans who've stood there.

I still consider myself new to climbing, and probably always will. I too am in my mid-twenties, and have taken it upon myself to own my mountain education through obtainable resources (books, classes, and this website). Sure, I have some gurus that I lean into for advice, and ask to guide up difficult routes, but I don't rely on them to teach me and plan my weekends. Probably stupid, but the bulk of my basic skills and trail knowledge were obtained by "just going for it". Yes, I did my first multi-night backpacking trip solo in North Carolina, and I climbed my first 13er and 14er entirely solo (I'm not unique to this I know). I say this though, because I learned from my ignorance and admittedly got myself out of a few sketchy mistakes that could have cost far more than they did. I know there are some on here that will shame me, and never respect me going this route - I can comfortably say, they all got where they were by learning from their own mistakes (solo or not).

As some mentioned, CMC can certainly offer you opportunities to learn fundamentals - value can vary from one season to another given the volunteer base at hand. It's certainly a resource to meet others (which I have), and once you meet a good guide or instructor you target opportunities they offer. Say what you will about CMC, but it is what you make it - some think they're elitists with their pre-reqs and certs to participate in higher level schools..I value this.

As far as skill level and training - I find most people struggle on mountains unless they train on mountains. I had to get into shape and loose 25lbs before I took on climbing seriously, and just that easily extended my days by 4-5 miles. Early season I burn up and down routes with heavy gains - 1000+ per mile minimum. If you want to make friends though, running them into the dirt because you've hit beast mode is not the best route

Firm believe in that you own your ability to learn, and acquire skills.