War and Peace and Queen of the Thirteeners

Trail & Timberline — No. 889 (December 1993)

By Ken Nolan
 

The war had been with us forever. It set friend against friend, separated husbands and wives, poisoned the very atmosphere of the mountains. Along the trail, on the summit, at annual dinners, wherever and whenever they met, Peakbaggers and Flowersmellers renewed the battle.

Blindly driven by an insatiable craving for conquest, obsessive Peakbaggers trampled the daisy-rich meadows and despoiled the sacred summits with their disgusting ego tubes (a k a registers). They collected mountains. High on essence of larkspur, gentle Flowersmellers wandered aimlessly, wrote poems, sketched tarns, talked to goats, and sighed. They experienced the mountains.

The Peakbaggers published lists. The Flowersmellers whined to the editor. Would it never end?

I wish I could tell you that some great compromise emerged. But no, it wasn't like that. The end came swiftly. On September 18, 1993, in an attack as devastating as it was daring, the Peakbaggers launched their secret weapon...a woman! Yes, a woman. Jean Aschenbrenner. She ascended Paiute Peak and became the first woman, and only the fourth person, known to have climbed each of the 637 Colorado peaks above 13,000'. I'm sorry, Flowersmellers, continued resistance is futile, peakbagging has become respectable.

I suppose that it was a compromise of sorts. For many years, Jean has moved comfortably between the rival camps. She grew up in Iowa with a love for camping in cornfields, hiked in New England during college years, learned rock climbing in Switzerland, went to Kenya for the Peace Corps and Kilimanjaro, and climbed her first Colorado peak on arrival in 1977. When not working as an engineer/programmer for IBM in Boulder, she is as happy exploring Utah canyons as crossing another mountain off the list. In fact, it isn't clear that she has the hardened Peakbagger's appreciation for suffering; despite succeeding on expedition climbs above 22,000', she would rather enjoy herself among the lower peaks.

Whether bagging 18 peaks on a summer weekend, forcing a summit through ferocious winter winds, strolling the trail to Sherman, or struggling up Lizard Head, Jean has proven herself to be one magnificent mountain woman. Her accomplishment has demanded strength, skill, nerve, and above all, tenacious commitment to a goal. Well done, my friend.