Spotlight on Jeff Kunkle!

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

Q: What was your first fourteener, and when did you climb it?

My first 14er was Pikes Peak on 6/12/98, a year after moving to Colorado. A guy I worked with had finished them all and it sounded so cool to hike something that I look at everyday! I worked till 2am one night, slept for a couple hours then started out on Barr trail in all cotton. I was terribly out of shape and felt like crap the entire way, taking over 6hrs just to go up. Little did I know at that point that I’d hike/run up Pikes over a dozen times by now!

Q: At what point did you commit to finishing them all?

I was committed the second I got to the top of Pikes Peak for the first time. I decided then that I was going to get into great shape and climb everything I could! I studied Roach’s book and read the route descriptions over and over until finally seven years, I finished them. I was hoping to finish them 2 summers ago, but broke my elbow (playing roller hockey with a bunch young kids, d’oh!), then wanted to finish them last summer before my 30^th birthday but got sidetracked into a couple other long w/end fun trips.
 

Q: What is your favorite fourteener route?

That’s a tough one! I love the east ridge of Quandary in the winter, Capitol’s knife-edge was just plain fun, mtn biking up Bross east side was epic, the Cross Coulior was my first real snow climb and got me hooked on them. But when it comes down to it I’d probably have to say Barr Trail on Pikes. Just because it’s in my backyard and I’ve been up and down it so many times. It gets crowded, but there’s such a fantastic mix of people on there. I can honestly say that I remember something fun about everything hike on every 14er no matter how many times I’ve done it.
 

Q: What was your most delightful moment on a 14er? 

Getting engaged on Belford’s summit a couple weeks ago. It was cloudy and I swore it would start POURING, but luckily the sun came out instead! I was so nervous that I would drop the ring and lose it, or my dog would eat it and I would have to follow him around with a baggie for a week.

I thought that finishing the 14ers would be a “delightful moment”, but it was on top of El Diente and Keith Bershader and I were totally dreading the down climb of the steep snow.
 

Q: What was your most terrifying moment on a 14er?
My buddy Jon and I were trying to climb some of the tougher 14ers without knowing what we were really doing so we often got ourselves in “situations”. We still laugh about them today over beers frequently! There one that stands out most…we decided to try the north side of Crestone Peak so we could traverse to the needle without helmets, ice axes, or crampons (we didn’t even own them!) and it was still packed with snow and ice in spots. We kept going up and up until we were dislodging rocks down towards each other. So we decided that we would take turns hiding behind a rock until the other person was up a bit and hiding behind another rock. Well, it was my turn to hide when I heard a rumble and looked up to see a microwave-sized rock doing about 100mph towards my head. It just BARELY missed me. We decided we had enough at that point and headed back to camp to work on something more achievable….the cases of beer in the truck.
 

Q: Do you have any plans for future mountain lists? 

Nothing in particular. I’d eventually like to finish the centennials, but in no rush what-so-ever. I’ve done four of the seven summits and will probably stop there too….can’t afford Everest or Vinson and can’t see going to Australia just for a ski lift ride and a short hike. For now I’d like to spend some good quality time with my mountain bike and head to other places in the world that have been on the “to do” list as well as some of the “classic” routes and hikes here in Colorado.
 

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out? 

Have freakin’ fun!!!! It’s all about the stories to tell while drinkin’ beers years down the road. Enjoy the company you’re with and laugh a lot! Oh yeah, and be safe and try to know where you’re going.