Spotlight on Mark Brown!

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Q: What was your first fourteener, and when did you climb it?
August 1998, Longs Peak via Keyhole Route, with about a thousand other people. I worked in Boulder for a brief time and met some good friends. They mentioned that they had tried to climb Longs twice before and were unsuccessful. After leaving Boulder they called me and asked if I wanted to come back and attempt Longs with them, of course I did. Making the summit was an awesome experience and I wanted more.

Q: At what point did you commit to finishing them all?
After Longs I didn’t climb another 14er until October 2001 and just a few more in 2002. I think it was in 2003 when I doubled the amount of 14ers I was climbing. It was then when I thought I would attempt to climb them all.  I really didn’t know if I could but I took a mountaineering course and wanted to get all the training and proper gear I could that might help me in this quest.

Q: What is your favorite fourteener route?
I don’t think I have one favorite route, but the SW Ridge on Ellingwood comes to mind, solid class 3 with exposure and lots of fun. I also think some of the harder routes on 14ers are among my favorites. They made me nervous before attempting, excited while I was climbing and looking forward to the next one when was done. I can also get excited about walkup routes, so it’s hard to pick just one.

Q: What was your most delightful moment on a 14er?
When I started climbing 14ers, most of them I did solo and then I started taking my dogs with me. Doing 14ers with my dogs were some of the most delightful moments for me. Then when I joined 14erworld I started to meet and climb with other members and have accumulated a lot of delightful moments. Of course finishing the 14ers is high on the list.

Q: What was your most terrifying moment on a 14er?
I’ve been very fortunate to not get into much trouble on 14ers. I’ve been chased off peaks by thunderstorms, had boulders race down the mountain near me and I have been real nervous on some of the more difficult climbing routes, but nothing that I would classify as terrifying.

Q: Do you have any plans for future mountain lists?
I’ll slowly work on the Centennials, CO/NM county highpoints and maybe some more state high points. It won’t be at the pace I’ve been at the last few years but I’ll still be out there. There are some other small goals I would like to set for myself, like ski from the summit of a 14er, complete the classic 14er traverses and register a 14er summit in every month of the year (pretty close on that one). These aren’t lists but I would like to work on my mountain photography, do some more snow climbs, get my new dogs ready for some summits and maybe work with video on 14ers.

Q: What 14er did you climb last? Did you intentionally save it for last or is it a 14er that previously eluded you?
I originally wanted to save Pikes Peak for last so my wife could drive to the top and be there for my final 14er. I ended up climbing Pikes in March of this year so I moved the last one to Evans for the same reasons. It didn’t quite work out the way I planned, they closed the road to the summit of Evans 2 weeks or so before I was going to climb it. So my wife settled on being at the TH when I got down.

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out?
Be prepared with physical training, proper gear, knowledge and some technical training. Getting an early start is a major factor in being successful. When I was on the summit of Evans I met two other people that mentioned that it was #8 for one of them and #9 for the other. The first thing I thought of was WOW; you guys have a lot of beautiful places, spectacular scenery and great adventures ahead of you. Have fun.