Spotlight on Chris Saltsman!

Congratulations to our latest Grand Slam finisher Chris Saltsman! We had the opportunity of asking Chris a few quick questions.

Q: What was your first fourteener, and when did you climb it?
August 25th, 1985 my sister, her husband-to-be, his sister and I all set out to climb Mount Evans. We were all quite naïve about climbing, didn't consult any climbing guides and basically just headed up the slope towards the top. When we got to the top, there was some idiot hitting golf balls down into the slopes below us. We all just stood there and watched dumfounded.

Q: At what point did you commit to finishing them all?
I can't really say exactly when or if I committed to finishing them all. I think that I just decided to concentrate on the next unknown fourteener and at the end thought a lot about what it would be like to know 54 distinct and magical places. While it is a great goal to have, I am also a little sad to know that the mystery of the mountains and their main routes are now known to me.

Q: What is your favorite fourteener route?
My favorite day was on now downgraded North Maroon. It was a beautiful day, great company and amazing colors. The Bells are truly a unique set of mountains. Route finding is difficult, the dangers explicit in the plaque that warns at the beginning of the trail- The Deadly Bells. However, on this day, I was totally taken by the blue, green and maroon colors that were accentuated by the clear blue sky and we all had a great day climbing the grassy slopes and flower filled basins.

Q: What was your most delightful moment on a 14er?
My most delightful moment on a fourteener came early on my second fourteener, Mount Massive. As usual, I left early to climb and when I reached the top, I had the mountain to myself. The weather was warm and not too hot with little or no wind I found a nice perch on some rocks and sat viewing the landscape below me. There was Leadville to the north east, Turquoise Lake to the north, and the Leadville airport below. The Arkansas valley stretched out before me with lazy clouds drifting by in a perfectly blue Colorado sky. I could watch planes take off and strain to try to get as high as I was while the radio show Car Talk played in my headphones.  As I sat there gently nodding off a voice came to me from the distance "Is this the top?"  Another climber and his group had come up from another direction and we all spent the next hour scampering over the rocky outcroppings searching for the official pinnacle of Mount Massive. .

Q: What was your most terrifying moment on a 14er?
My most terrifying moment came on a day that was almost a day, literally 23 hours. Little Bear was the peak, and due to some circumstances beyond our control, the two of us were trying to negotiate the valleys and cliffs to  the North West of Little Bear Peak in the dark. I had some way points roughed in to my GPS and was using my compass on my watch to aim us towards them. We were out of water, but fortunately there were two water caches that we had placed earlier in the day and I had marked them on my GPS.  The first cache we couldn't find, but the other, after some searching, we found and gratefully replenished our reserves. We trudged on into the night hoping that we wouldn't cliff out. Entering a thorny bramble patch I noticed that our next waypoint was only about 40 yards away. We both forced our way into the thickets and reached a point that we could go no further despite our efforts. The brambles were like a barbed wire fence holding us and encircling us. I think this was my most terrifying moment, when I could go no further and the thought of returning the way we came was too much to take. We surveyed our possibilities, the bramble patch or a 4th class cliff in the dark. Of course we took the cliff and eventually found our way back to camp. 

Q: Do you have any plans for future mountain lists?
I hope to finish out all of the fourteener sub peaks and help some friends and relatives  finish out their fourteener lists. I also hope to climb some smaller peaks, but beyond that at this time I have no set goals.

Q: What 14er did you climb last? Did you intentionally save it for last or is it a 14er that previously eluded you?
It was only intentional after my list came down to the last year. I had tried to climb Kit Carson two other times. The first time we climbed from Willow Lake side and ran into too much snow on Challenger's North slope in June for our one day attempt. The second time we tried to combine Kit Carson with Humboldt from the South Colony Lakes side and ended up climbing Humboldt in the clouds. The weather was not going to cooperate for a trip through the Bear's playground. This year I ended up with 5 peaks left and with my nickname being Kit, it was a shoe in for last place. At least I stand a good chance of remembering the name as I get older. I am glad that Kit was my last peak as it shared aspects of all the other peaks that make up the list and was a worthy challenge. It also worked out to being my 54th peak which means that I have climbed one peak a year.

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out?
Have fun, these are some wonderful places that show the absolute beauty of this state that we call Colorado. Play dot to dot. Look back at the peaks that you have climbed from other peaks and remember the places that you have shared with some of the best mountaineers in the world. Help someone new enjoy themselves on these great adventures. I was blessed by having someone introduce them to me not to mention the great support that I had from my family.