Spotlight on Brian Beyer!

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Q: What was your first fourteener, and when did you climb it?
July 27, 1996 I drove my 1987 Four Runner up South Colony Lakes road, the first of five trips to this basin, and climbed Humbolt Peak with my good friend and fourteener mentor Eddie Mize.  I looked back at the pictures from this first fourteener and realized how inexperienced I was at that time.  I had only been in Colorado for a little over a year and had done some hikes on local trails near Colorado Springs.  I had no concept of the conditioning and effort required to climb above 10,000 feet.

Q: At what point did you commit to finishing them all?
In September of 2002 Eddie organized an expedition to Snowmass Mountain from the Snowmass Lake side as his 54^th fourteener climb.  Ten of us reached the summit that day and helped him celebrate.  I was inspired at that time to finish all the fourteeners before my 51^st birthday in 2006.  Snowmass was number 38 for me and I still had most of the class 3 and 4 peaks to climb.  I actually beat that goal by a year finishing them all this summer.  The key to finishing sooner was the sudden access to Culebra Peak when the ranch was sold in the summer of 2004 thus avoiding the frustration of the Colorado Mountain Club lottery. 

Q: What is your favorite fourteener route?
I’ve enjoyed most of them and can only think of a few that were just no fun.  Among my favorites are; Wetterhorn Peak, because of the pleasant surprise of solid ledges on the final summit pitch and Capitol Peak via the “standard” route, because of the relative ease of the knife edge and the challenging route beyond.  Other standouts are Kit Carson via Willow Lake, Snowmass Mountain from the lake side, and the Windom group from Chicago Basin.

Q: What was your most delightful moment on a 14er?
In February 2001 I suffered a heart attack and spent the next 4 months recovering.  My heart had healed with minimal permanent damage and I convinced my cardiologist that I should climb that summer.  He hesitated, but gave me the green light. On July 27, 2001 I stood on the Summit of Blanca Peak and traversed over to Ellingwood Point the same day.  That was an especially sweet moment and I was thankful for a good and gracious God.

Q: What was your most terrifying moment on a 14er?
I can actually think of two.  The first after successfully touching the summits of Sunshine and Red Cloud peaks my friend Eddie and I decided to exit down the talus slope from the saddle between the two peaks in order to dodge a quickly building thunderstorm.  If you’ve been on this route that slope is just below the sign that warns you not to go that way.  As we descended it seemed like every boulder I stepped on moved.  I was convinced at any moment I would trigger a massive rock slide and kill us both.  My second moment of terror happened on Castle Peak, of all places.  During a family camping trip my two daughters and I planned to climb Castle Peak.  We drove my Toyota Four Runner as high as we could and parked just below Montezuma glacier.  In late August all the snow was gone leaving shear ice.  On the way up the mountain we went around the glacier.  On the way down I decided to attempt going down the glacier itself.  As soon as I got on the ice I was out of control but managed to stop about 200 feet later in a small boulder field with minimal injury.  My two daughters followed my lead and watching them slide down out of control on the ice was simply horrifying.  Fortunately none of us was seriously injured.  Talk about stupid!!

Q: Do you have any plans for future mountain lists?
I don’t have any formal plans as of right now.  My daughter gave me a copy of Gerry Roach’s book on the high thirteeners and I’ve purchased his guide to the Indian Peaks Wilderness.  There are plenty of mountains to climb in Colorado, not to mention the bordering states of Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah.  I am a peak bagger and have climbed little else except the fourteeners.  I would like to broaden my view and experience the less crowded peaks and basins.

Q: What 14er did you climb last? Did you intentionally save it for last or is it a 14er that previously eluded you?

My last 14er was Mount Eolus on August 22, 2005 as part of an excursion to Chicago Basin which also included Sunlight and Windom.  I suppose I could say I saved it for last in that I'd climbed all the other 14ers prior to that.  Really though it was totally random.  I was really afraid I was going to have Culebra for last and be a member of the ABC (All but Culebra) club for year while waiting to win the Colorado Mountain Club lottery.  That all changed when the ranch changed hands last summer.  Climbing the 14ers in Chicago Basin as my last three turned out to be a truly marvelous experience.  I'm looking forward to exploring the less traveled regions of Colorado.

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out?
There is just some gear you should not be without: good boots; quality rain gear; first aid supplies; water, lots of it, carrying more than you need is never a bad idea even if you carry a filter.  Turning back on the trail is not a disgrace.  If conditions are bad, if you’re not up to the challenge don’t be embarrassed. Just look at the day as part of the joy of experiencing the mountains.