Well, its in the books. My great friend & climbing partner, J Weingast, completed his quest to climb all 55 of Colorado’s 14,000′ peaks this past Saturday, February 2, with a winter summit of Culebra Peak (14,047′) down in the southern Culebra Range near the town of San Luis, CO. Culebra Peak is the only 14er in Colorado that completely sits on private land and requires permission and a fee from the ranch in order to hike/climb it. I had climbed Culebra in summer years ago with Kristine and others, but always had the desire to come back in winter for the extra challenge and especially to come back with J if he ever wanted to officially complete the 14er list.

Culebra Peak (14,047′) as seen from the San Luis Valley

So, a post on 14ers.com about organizing likely the only winter climb up Culebra this year permitted by the ranch owners sparked my interest and immediately J & I were on board. Coordinating with our buddy Mike from Avon, who has climbed an amazing 350 of the 584 13,000′ peaks in Colorado, and Sarah, who is a Vail ski patroller, we all had dinner at our favorite Casa del Sol in Buena Vista and headed on down south to the ranch gate entrance arriving at about 11:30pm. I was looking forward to meeting Sarah’s boyfriend, Matt, from Denver since we had been corresponding via email for awhile now as well as Jason Blyth, whom Kristine & I had met on Fletcher Mountain a year ago in December. There would be several other 14ers.com members that we would meet on the hike and a few familiar faces for me. J and I threw down the Bibler and the -40 deg sleeping bags in the parking lot where several other cars and tents were already located and hit the sack for the 4:30am wake-up call. The alarm went off way too early, but we got up in the 5 degree pre-dawn air, packed up the tent, sleeping bags, & pads, got dressed and ate breakfast in the front seats of J’s prius with the heat on trying to warm up. The new ranch foreman, Sam, arrived promptly at 5am and let us in the gate and we all proceeded to drive to the ranch headquarters where we paid our fee and turned in our liability waivers. The ranch usually packs a snowmobile track 3.5 miles up the dirt road to an intersection called Fourway at 11,200′, but there was significant recent snow the last week in the Culebra Range (and around the state) which made trailbreaking a necessity. The crew left the ranch headquarters at 5:30am, which is just shy of 9,000′, and proceeded breaking trail in 6-8″ of fresh snow on top of the snowmobile track. J & I got a bit later start at 5:45am in getting our gear sorted. The morning was cold and still and J & I were quickly trying to catch up to other folks while trying not to sweat at the same time – me on my snowshoes and J on his favorite Koflach boot/Silvretta binding AT setup.

First light hits the Blanca Group to the north

J in the early morning light

We reached Fourway after about 2 hrs where we could turn our headlamps off. A 14ers.com fellow, Tony, who is soon going to attempt Orizaba in Mexico as his first high-altitude climb, had done a majority of the trailbreaking thus far and we thanked him profusely. Time for J and I and others to take our turn. The snow after Fourway was very deep and untouched. The snowmobile had not gone any further in recent weeks and thus there was no packed surface underneath the fresh 24″ of snow. J was able to stay on top of the snow more than the snowshoers so he plowed ahead packing down the surface snow for us which helped a bit. After an hour of laborious trailbreaking in deep snow, me switching leads with 2 others, we reached J and treeline and the gorgeous, untouched basin where we actually started the hike in the summer years ago! My is it a different beast in the winter, especially with fresh snow.

An untouched winter wonderland beyond treeline

Mark takes his turn at the extensive trailbreaking

We then aimed for the line of minimal avalanche danger towards the steeper northwest slope, which was bare of deep powder snow and would be easier going on the windblown snow and rock. The wind started to pick up and the long slog up the northwest slopes to the 13,000′ ridge was strenuous. However, we were getting close.

J skinning high above the San Luis Valley

J taking a break on the 13,000′ ridge with Culebra’s false summit behind

J left his skis at this ridge and we proceeded to lose some elevation to the saddle while regaining it up Culebra’s long northwest ridge. I stashed my snowshoes after looking at the rocky, windblown, snowy ridge. Mistakingly, I led a few of the climbers on a traverse on the ridge’s south side through deep, unstable snow high up across a steep couloir. This was not a good idea and we regained the ridge as soon as possible after the couloir. I aplogized to the crew as I honestly thought the ridge itself would be more miserable than the face with its rime snow-covered boulders. However, I was absolutely wrong on that account! Sorry guys! Nevertheless, we all proceeded onto the much easier northwest ridge proper and made our way up to Culebra’s false summit.

Culebra’s northwest ridge

We were getting really close now. I was so excited for J. Reaching the false summit you get a glimpse of the true summit still a good distance away, which is a bit defeating. Yet, we continued on and I got up to the summit first to take pictures and video J’s final steps to the summit of his final of the Colorado 14,000′ peaks.

J making his way from the false summit to Culebra’s true summit

J takes his final steps to Culebra’s summit

Here is a short video of J’s summit of Culebra Peak:

It was a special moment. I was so honored to share J’s last 14er summit with him. I honestly have no idea how many mountains we have climbed together – hundreds and hundreds. Everything from CO 14ers, 13ers, & 12ers to Denali to Castleton Tower. I was so happy for J, as I know he was, that he decided to knock off Culebra and finish climbing all of Colorado’s 14ers. It was even more fitting that he climbed this peak in winter. It was definitely no cakewalk as it is in summer. He earned this summit.

J & I on the summit of Culebra Peak (14,047′). J has now climbed all of Colorado’s 14,000′ mountains

J on the summit of Culebra Peak (14,047′), Februrary 2, 2013 – his final of the CO 14er summits

Matt, Me, J, & Mike on Culebra’s summit

We celebrated on top for a good 30-45 minutes welcoming other members of the crew to the summit and savored the moment. I collected a summit rock for J as a memento of the occasion. It had taken us 6 hrs to climb the 7.5 miles and 5,400′ up to Culebra’s summit topping out at around 11:45am. It was pretty chilly and breezy up top and on the ridge (likely below zero with windchill), so we headed on down the ridge, collected our snowhsoes & skis, and made our way down the northwest slopes with Mike.

J & the large cairn frame Culebra’s false summit on the descent

As the cherry on the cake, J got to ski pretty darn good snow down the northwest slopes back to our trench

My snowhsoes were on their last leg all day and that morning they had broke while I was trying to break trail in the deep snow. I had temporarily fixed the snowshoe with some shoestring I always carry, but on this descent they were breaking all over again. I took them off and plunge-stepped down the broken trench in my Koflachs. Thankfully, the trench’s bottom surface was very supportive and I didn’t sink in all that much. J made some wonderful turns down the northwest gully in buttery, smooth snow. It was great to see and I know it was icing on the cake for him on a terrific day. J skied all the way down to the ranch headquarters in no time while Mike & I plunge-stepped our way down the road for an hour arriving back at the car at 3:45pm. The ranch foreman, Sam, was so nice to offer us gatorade, granola bars, and bananas. It was a special treat.

The long road home after a 10 hr, 15 mile roundtrip day with 5,400′ of vertical gain

J & I joined Mike, Sarah, and Matt in Fort Garland for a post-climb dinner celebration and then we were all off on our separate ways back home. It was a long drive home but the trip was so worth it to be with J up on another summit, especially for his 14er finale.

My hat is off to J for completing all of Colorado’s 14ers and doing it in style. This was my first winter 14er finale, and while there was not 30 of our closest friends, buckets of KFC, PBR, and blaring 80s music from Steve’s boombox, this one was extra special in that it was just J & I (and obviously the other members of the crew) doing it together. J has been my #2 climbing partner and best friend for years now (behind my wife, of course, on both accounts) and I’m so proud of him and honored to have him in my life. Congratulations again, J, for you have earned it! Here’s to infinitely more mountains & adventures together to last a lifetime!

I think Kristine & I have lost track of how many times we have climbed the local 14er to Breckenridge, Quandary Peak, but despite being one of the easiest 14ers to climb in the state, it definitely has its advantages and benefits to climbers of all abilities and experiences. The standard east slopes route at around 5.5 miles roundtrip and 3,400′  vertical gain is a wonderful beginner hike in any season of the year. However, there are more difficult routes on essentially every other aspect of the peak such as the class 3 west ridge, the steep and direct Cristo Couloir on the peak’s south side and the tougher Quandary Couloir and Inwood Arete on the peak’s north side. I climbed and skied the Cristo Couloir in early June of 2011 with the dogs and good friend Caleb Wray and I’ve climbed the west ridge in the winter of 2011 with friends J Weingast, Jesse Hill, & Steve Cizik. I have yet to venture over to the north face, except for a north side McCullough Gulch winter camp one year, but look forward to doing so in the future. However, I, along with Kristine and the dogs, have probably been up the east slopes route 4 times a year on average for the past 6-8 years always in fall, winter, or spring. I honestly don’t think we’ve hiked up Quandary in the summer months yet. The moderate east face also provides for some nice ski-mountaineering and, if you are adventurous, some swiss-bob sledding. Quandary’s great winter access to trailheads, being only an hour’s drive away, relatively short roundtrip mileage, and ease of getting to above 14,000′ really make it a wonderful training climb for higher altitude mountains around the world. We always try and climb it several times right before embarking on any higher international climb. I believe I first climbed Quandary Peak back in June of 1998 as one of my first 14ers with my friend Andrew Norelli after we drove out from North Carolina for 5 weeks to venture throughout the west and climb mountains. I remember that was a tough day yet at the time had no idea it was one of the state’s easiest 14ers. Wow, was I ignorant. But, ignorance is bliss, right? Not that day – we were whooped. Anyway, here are some Quandary pics from over the years:

Me and the dogs on Quandary’s summit in March 2010 prior to leaving for Everest. Kristine & I tested out our Millet Everest boots a few times on Quandary before we left for Everest

Kristine after swiss-bob sledding down Quandary’s east face in her Millet Everest boots prior to leaving for Everest

Kristine climbing Quandary’s east slopes the weekend before we left for Everest in her Millet Everest boots. Our good friend, Ryan “Baba” Aldrich, joined us this day and is behind Kristine with his skis on his back

Rainier & Kona making their way to Quandary’s summit in March 2010

J Weingast, Steve Cizik, Andy Dionne, & Nico Cizik at our 11,800′ winter camp in McCullough Gulch at the base of Quandary’s north face in February 2011

Quandary’s summit with part of our Kilimanjaro team in May 2011 prior to our climb of Kilimanjaro 3 months later

Quandary’s south-facing Cristo Couloir in June 2011

Caleb, Rainier, & Kona in the Cristo Couloir about to enjoy some sweet spring snow

Me skiing Quandary’s Cristo Couloir in June 2011

Quandary’s west ridge in profile behind Kristine as she climbs towards nearby Fletcher Mtn’s summit in December 2011

Jesse Hill, Steve Cizik, & J Weingast on Quandary’s west ridge proper in December 2011

Here is a short video I shot of the fellas climbing Quandary’s west ridge proper in December 2011:

Kristine & I took our great friends & recent newlyweds Rob Casserley & Marie-Kristelle Ross up Quandary during their March 2012 visit as their first Colorado 14er. Of course, Rob has climbed Everest eight times, so it might not really compare, but he did enjoy himself tremendously. J Weingast & Megan Gilman joined us on this climb as well

In preparation for our upcoming Aconcagua trip this December to gain some altitude and to join in on the annual 14ers.com winter welcomer gathering, we headed over to Quandary this past Saturday and had an enjoybale 4-5 hrs on the mountain despite a not so ideal weather forecast. It was really wonderful seeing folks again whom we had met previously on mountains around the state as well as meeting new folks. The weather forecast all week was showing not such a great day on Saturday with winds gusting as much as 55 mph and wind chill temperatures well below zero. However, we went anyway and the weather actually didn’t seem as bad as forecasted. It was a hike on snow the entire way amongst loose rock and some scree and with the temperatures and wind it certainly felt like winter was here! I wanted to at least see the organizer this day, Jim DiNapoli. Since we got started near the rear of the pack, we slowly made our way up to the front meeting and greating folks along the way. By 13,500′, we caught up with Jim who had organized the entire day through 14ers.com. Jim is a winter climbing wizard as well as a great rock climber. He is currently trying to climb all of Colorado’s 14ers in winter, a hefty goal to say the least. I bet he will accomplish this goal most definitely. We saw him years ago on our way into Willow Lake  and Kit Carson & Challenger Peaks in the Sangre de Cristo Range. Kristine & I kept saying how we only wish we could be in the kind of shape Jim is in when we are 58 yrs old. Jim is amazing! He’s in better shape and younger at heart than most people I know my age! It was great to see him again for sure and the three of us had a great time breaking trail up to the summit. Once we crested the short summit ridge, the visibility really dropped and the wind and cold seemed to increase exponentially. Once on top, Jim took a few pics as I had forgotten my camera. However, the dogs were cold, really cold. Kona was shivering even in her doggy fleece and old down vest we had put on her. Rainie was having issues with her paws icing up. I believe the recorded temperature & windchill on top by another 14ers.com member 30 minutes later was 4 degrees and -19.2 degrees with windchill. Not your normal October 27 temperatures! We needed to get the dogs down so we departed the summit while Jim stayed up on top to wait for the other 14ers.com hikers. We chatted with several of the other 14ers.com hikers on our descent as they were still ascending wishing them luck. We arrived back at the truck around 1pm. Here are a few pics courtesy of Jim:

Me, Kona, & Kristine at about 13,800′ on Quandary’s east ridge during for the 2012 14ers.com winter welcomer gathering

Me & the dogs making the final steps up to Quandary’s summit ridge

Jim & I on Quandary Peak’s summit on October 27 for the 2012 14ers.com winter welcomer gathering

And last, but certainly not least, my dad harvested the biggest (in terms of physical size, weight, and rack scoring) white-tailed buck ever taken at Chalk Hill Farm in the mountains near Sparta, North Carolina. What makes my dad’s accomplishmnet that much more impressive is that he harvested this monster buck with his bow! The 218.2 lb 10 point buck scored an unofficial 138 1/4 which puts my dad and his buck in the Pope & Young record books! Congratulations, Dad, on a buck of a lifetime! No one deserves it more than the huntmaster of Chalk Hill Farm himself! Maybe its a good thing Kristine & I are not traveling back home for Thanksgiving because I certainly do not want to try and follow my dad in this respect! Good luck Uncle Bryan, Lee, Cole, & Ransome! 🙂 Here is a picture of my dad & his monster Chalk Hill buck:

My dad and the biggest buck ever harvested at Chalk Hill!

Ever since first visiting Telluride in 1998, I had heard of this infamous peak called “Lizard Head” at the base of the Wilson Group. I didn’t even know it was “climbable” for years. Then even when I did find out people climb it, I didn’t think Kristine & I would be attempting to climb it. Lizard Head is generally regarded as Colorado’s hardest 13er to climb by its easiest route with the standard southwest chimney, aka “south crack”, rated at 5.8+. Lizard Head is fairly easy to access off of Lizard Head Pass at the Cross Mountain trailhead yet its still about 4 miles and 2,800′ of elevation gain to reach the base of the tower. So, a bit more effort than going to your local rock climbing crag. Per John Kirk, Lizard Head is the hardest peak in Colorado above 12,461′ with 300′ of vertical rise. He notes that Twin Peaks at 12,461′ rated at 5.9 and Turret Ridge at 12,260′ also rated at 5.9 are harder to climb. The Index at 13,340′ is more difficult, but only has 240′ of vertical prominence. Lastly, there are other peaks in Colorado with over 300′ of vertical rise harder than 5.10 yet much lower in elevation.

Lizard Head from the Cross Mountain trail on the hike out

Now, a quick note about the history of this tower. From the book Climbing Colorado’s San Juan Mountains by Robert Rosebrough: “Lizard Head has an intriguing climbing history. At the time of its first ascent in 1920 by Albert Ellingwood and Barton Hoag, Lizard Head was probably the hardest rock climb then completed in the United States. Armed with three soft iron pitons, hemp rope, and nailed boots, Ellingwood and Hoag made a couple of abortive attempts on cracks near the southwest corner before rounding the corner to the west face. Ellingwood reported that ‘most of the enticing small holds crumbled at a touch, and large masses of the loosely compacted pebbles would topple dangerously at a slight pull.’ In spite of the difficulties, they struggled up and placed two of their rustic pitons in the lower cliff, saving one for the higher cliffs.” (note: the FA was via a different route than the present-day standard southwest chimney route.)

Our route up the southwest chimney, aka “south crack”, as seen from Lizard Head’s west shouler on the approach

Me starting up Pitch 1

Kristine & I hit the trail with fairly heavy packs (due to all of the climbing gear, rope, etc) at around 7:45am on what turned out to be a beautiful Fall day. A duo from Denver were at the trailhead when we arrived (I believe they slept in their car) intent on climbing Lizard Head as well and we got the feeling they were not too pleased with us showing up since they thought they would have the tower to themselves. Kristine & I booked it up the trail immediately and came upon a guided group of three about 45 minutes into the approach and quickly passed them as well. We figured if we got to the base of the tower first with plenty of distance between us and the groups behind, it would be safer and quicker and less waiting. We got to the base at around 9:20am, racked up, flaked out the rope, and I was off up Pitch 1 by 9:45am.

Pitch 1

Kristine all smiles almost up to me at the belay ledge

It was definitely some chilly climbing as we were in the shade rock climbing at 13,000′. We had to stop about every five moves and warm up our hands. Kristine then belayed me up the tougher Pitch 2 from the belay ledge. I started out by crossing onto the face to my left and clipping an old piton. I worked my way up the face for 20′ or so placing a few cams and a nut. This climbing was one of the sections rated 5.8+, but almost felt 5.9ish to me. There were definitely some tough moves – harder than I expected. I then was able to traverse back to the right side of the southwest chimney, place a few more solid cams in the crack, and top out at the webbing and rappel rings at the notch. I then belayed Kristine up to me and she agreed that there were some really tough moves on Pitch 2.

Kristine climbing Pitch 2

While we were climbing Pitch 1, the guided group of three had reached the base of the tower and were just going to wait for us to get to the base of the final Pitch 4 as the class 3 scrambling Pitch 3 is extremely loose and any loose rock would funnel directly down onto Pitches 1 & 2. Kristine then set off up a 5′ headwall above the notch at the top of Pitch 2 and then traversed across & up the class 3 section while on belay from me in the notch.

Kristine trying to stay on solid rock amongst all of the loose volcanic rubble on Pitch 3

Kristine slung a large, apparently solid, boulder at the top of Pitch 3/base of Pitch 4 and belayed me up the scrambling class 3 pitch. I did my best to tip-toe up this section being careful not to send down any large rocks, though small pebbles were unavoidable. We yelled a big “hoot” at the base of Pitch 4 to let the guided group know we were across the loose scrambling Pitch 3 and to signal it was safe for them to begin climbing Pitch 1. I then began to lead the tough final Pitch 4. It begins with a large bulge about 8′ off the deck in which there is an old piton in a small crack to protect the moves over the bulge. I clip the piton, wedge myself in the right crack/chimney, place a large #3 cam as high as possible, and then make the tough 5.8+ moves to the top of the bulge. Again, these moves felt 5.9ish to me, but it could be the fact that we’re making these moves at 13,000′ and not at 7,000′ in Wolcott where we normally rock climb.

Looking up the 5.8+ Pitch 4 with the bulge and fixed piton shown

I continued straight up the obvious chimney, which I heard was very runout (no means of protection), but I was able to get three cams in the 50′ or so I climbed up to the anchors on the summit ridge. This chimney climbing was real full body climbing by wiggling my way up and stemming in the chimney.

Looking down the final Pitch 4

With my belay from above, Kristine then set off to conquer the 5.8+. After a few tries, she just couldn’t quite make the moves necessary to get over the bulge. It is a very tough 8′ section to overcome the bulge – much harder than your typical 5.8+ crag. We both thought she was just physically drained from a long week, lack of sleep, the almost 3,000′ and 4 mile approach to the base of the tower, and the climbing thus far. Everyone has their off days and this seemed to be one of Kristine’s off days. Nothing to be ashamed of or frustrated with, though, as I know from personal experience, it is disappointing in the moment. Kristine is pretty much 100% everytime we go on some adventure, so its ok to have an off day here and there. I think bottom line is she just wasn’t feeling strong. Its good to have off days as it just makes you appreciate the good days. I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll climb Lizard Head again – hopefully, with me if I am lucky! The summit was not far off and so Kristine put me on belay from below and I ran out the rope as I scrambled across the very exposed and airy summit ridge to the top.

Lizard Head’s summit ridge from the summit with the final Pitch 4 anchors and my run out rope at bottom right

Old summit register atop Lizard Head

(L to R): Cross Mountain, South Mt. Wilson, Mt. Wilson, & Gladstone Peak from Lizard Head’s summit

Self-portrait on Lizard Head’s summit (13,113′)

Peering down Lizard Head’s vertical northeast face from the summit ridge

It was a satisfying summit as I had been wanting to stand on top of Lizard Head for some time now though I so much wished Kristine was with me. Another day and time for sure. Kristine took in the rope as I traversed back to the top of Pitch 4 and then she lowered me down to her. Thankfully, the rope pulled through the chains and down the Pitch 4 chimney though not without some serious muscle. We then belayed each other down to a perch where we could see the guided group finishing up at the notch at the top of Pitch 2. We communicated with the guide and waited patiently where we were for a good 45 minutes until they passed us en route to the base of Pitch 4.

Kristine on a perch with a view patiently waiting for the guided group to climb above us

The guided group of three climbing out of the notch at the top of Pitch 2 as seen from our perch above

Kristine then belayed me down to the notch at the top of Pitch 2 after some careful scrambling and placing a #1 cam to protect a fall from Kristine when I belayed her to me. I then set up the rappel down Pitches 1 & 2 from the notch as the guys from Denver were going to wait to start climbing until we rappelled all the way down. We weren’t sure our 60m rope would reach the entire way to the ground, so I rappelled first down to the Pitch 1 belay ledge. I then flaked out and threw the rest of the rope down Pitch 1 and it landed within a few feet of the ground which was good enough! Kristine & I had alot of fun on this long rappel. Good piece of beta here is that a 60m rope is long enough to rappel Pitches 1 & 2 in one single rap.

Kristine on the fun rappel of Pitches 1 & 2

We then stowed our gear, packed up the rope, drank alot of water & gatorade as we were severely dehydrated, and gave the guys from Denver a little beta on Pitch 1 and the rest of the climb as they racked up. After wishing them well on their climb, we headed off down Lizard Head’s west shoulder. Looking back at Lizard Head from its west shoulder, I couldn’t help but think that it reminded me of The Black Fortress from the 1983 British-American sci-fi fantasy movie entitled Krull. Yes, this movie would appear cheesy nowadays, but back in 1983 it was a great sci-fi fantasy film. Even a young Liam Neeson is in the film, so it can’t be all that bad, right? What I really like about the film is the music. I like sci-fi films even if they are 25 years old, though Kristine would beg to differ.

Lizard Head – the Black Fortress

The Chalks on the descent on a warm Fall day

We then hiked out to the Cross Mountain trailhead arriving at our car by about 4pm for a total roundtrip time of just over 8 hrs. We booked it back to the Telluride condo for Rainie & Kona had been home alone since 7am that morning. However, the Aspen leaves appeared to be at “peak” color along Lizard Head Pass and the hillsides were gorgeous. I am really happy Kristine & I decided to pay Lizard Head a visit. Kristine will climb it again and I sure hope its with me! I’ve heard many climbers vowing to never climb it again due to the dangerous and loose nature of the route. I believe, yes, it is loose from a rock climber’s perspective. However, it is not loose from a mountaineer’s perspective. The Wilson Group and other San Juan peaks are every bit as loose as Lizard Head. As always, one just needs to be aware of what is below him when traveling across loose slopes. I look forward to climbing Lizard Head again someday.

Close-up of Lizard Head on the hike out. Climbers can be seen on the summit ridge as well as rappelling Pitches 1 & 2