Spotlight on John Collard!

Congratulations to our latest Grand Slam finisher

Q: What was your first fourteener, and when did you climb it?
Grays Peak August 17, 1996 solo from Peru Creek after reading Dave Muller's alternate route to Stevens Gulch in the Denver Post, wearing jeans, not enough water, late start, not in shape, etc.  Met two nice guys that I followed off-route, straight up the scree to Grays' summit and who gave me a can of Guiness Stout to celebrate my first 14er.  I found myself coming off Torreys with a thunderstorm approaching and all smarter, faster climbers safely back down Stevens Gulch while I still had to reclimb Grays to get to my car.  It took two days to recover enough to drink the beer!

Q: At what point did you commit to finishing them all?
I got "serious" about working on the 14ers in 2001, but it wasn't until 2003 when I took BMS and met Renata that I figured I had a chance to complete them all.  I excel at planning and route finding, not technical climbing, so I had been leery about doing the more difficult ones.  Completing the list though was never a huge priority, just an excuse to visit some beautiful places in the mountains.

Q: What is your favorite fourteener route?
It's hard to give just one because there are many great routes.  No laughing from the peanut gallery, but the easy route on Huron Peak is a delightfully simple set of switchbacks up a beautiful mountain with incredible views and relatively uncrowded.  I've done it three times, including the last time I hiked with Don Suopis, bless his soul, while he talked non-stop about WWII artillery during a CMC in-state outing trip I led.

Honorable mentions: the Halo route on Holy Cross and the standard route on Uncompahgre impress me for the continuously spectacular views of these peaks throughout the hikes. 

Q: What was your most delightful moment on a 14er?
Wow, so many delightful moments and yet only one takes the prize: I proposed to Renata on top of Mt. Lincoln on October 1, 2005.  She wrote in the register "I hope that our life together will be as happy as this day on top of Lincoln (sunny, warm and without any storm)."  I couldn't ask for a better partner.

Q: What was your most terrifying moment on a 14er?
One of my crampons came loose half way up a snow gully on El Diente.  Don't let that happen.

Q: Do you have any plans for future mountain lists?
Renata and I will work on any mountain list, we just don't care if we finish them.  Next up, I have two Colorado county highpoints left and would like to finish with a dozen others on a non-stealthed Bent county trip this September.  Renata has seven counties and two 14ers left.  Otherwise, we'll be working on centennials, 13ers, 12ers, 11ers, state highpoints, county highpoints, National Park highpoints, country highpoints, and the ten provincial highpoints of the Czech Republic.  I'm lazily working on segments of the Colorado Trail, but gotta include a peak climb or Renata might fall asleep.  We are NOT going to pursue any more flat counties unless it's a state highpoint! 

The beauty of finishing the 14ers is that the lists open wide again and we can climb unranked 11ers just because we haven't been there before and nobody else will be there.  Renata will more likely spot her first bear or mountain lion in the wild, plus a rattlesnake closer to home, and I can lead more obscure trips for the CMC. 

Q: What 14er did you climb last? Did you intentionally save it for last or is it a 14er that previously eluded you?
Lindsey.  I firmly believe that the mountain chose me instead of vice versa.  I went into 2006 with Little Bear, the Bells and Lindsey to go.  I was dreading doing Little Bear and thought about going up to the hourglass just to have a looksee, but didn't set any dates.  Back in May, Kevin Baker set the Bells date as the last weekend in July.  Lindsey was a no-brainer and we set a date in June, but canceled because of the forest fire.  I repeated several 14ers to help Renata catch up to me.  We set another Lindsey date for the second to last weekend in July, but received an opportunity to join some CMC friends going up Little Bear that weekend.  Lindsey got canceled again, and we were blessed with good weather and only one other person in the hourglass that Sunday!  Suddenly the scariest peak was out of the way!  I was never psyched out by the Bells traverse like I was with Little Bear because I knew we could climb the peaks separately and the weather forecast was horrible.  Somehow the 70% chance of rain resulted in non-stop sunshine and we were off doing the traverse like we knew what we were doing, or pretending to anyway.  Lindsey somehow decided that I should climb this peak last!

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out?
By all means, utilize the trip reports found here on 14er World.  While not as concise or comprehensive as Gerry Roach's books, they are a good source of current conditions.  Just remember to multiply the time estimates by two, and for the speed record setters, a factor of three is more appropriate.  Have fun and be safe!