Spotlight on Rick Brown!

C

Q: What was your first fourteener, and when did you climb it?
Mt. Elbert, on August 28, 1980. After an extended non-climbing backpacking trip in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness with three friends, we wanted to climb a fourteener and chose Elbert because I was collecting state highpoints at the time (I later got bored with that project and abandonded it after 30). We went up the NE Ridge and descended by the Mt. Elbert Trail.

Q: At what point did you commit to finishing them all?
There were 17 years between my first and second 14ers. The second was Mt. Bierstadt on August 30, 1997. By that time I had just decided, after buying and enjoying a couple of Roger Edrinn’s photo books, that I wanted to collect a grand slam within the decade of my ‘50’s (1997 – 2006). I didn’t climb every year because of moving from New Mexico to the PNW, so there were just 6 years of actual climbing in there. I finished with exactly 6 months to spare!

Q: What is your favorite fourteener route?
Of course it’s hard to pick just one, but the North Ridge on Kit Carson and the traverse from South to North Maroon come to mind immediately. I suspect there are other routes lurking out there that I have not done that would become other favorites if I were to climb them.

Q: What was your most delightful moment on a 14er?
Every summit is delightful in its own way, unless it is socked in and/or raining. When my wife Taehee and I reached the summit of Holy Cross on a perfect day, after a four-year hiatus in the project, and had it all to ourselves…that has to rank right up there. Maybe the funniest was when one of the tame Marmots on Longs got in my lap and tried to steal my sandwich.

Q: What was your most terrifying moment on a 14er?
When I saw a huge rock heading right for Taehee near the top of El Diente this year. She did a good job dodging it, but I had a hard time getting my heart back down my throat. Other than that, I can’t recall any particularly scary moments except for storms. I don’t much care for being a human lightning rod and my most terrifying moments have been trying to get down Longs, Princeton, and Crestone Peak with lightning bolts hitting all around.

Q: Do you have any plans for future mountain lists?
In a word…no. Taehee and I have spent our last three summer vacations taking long trips to Colorado to finish this project and we are ready to spend the next few doing something else. She has been very patient and supportive of me with this project and I can’t thank her enough. She doesn’t care about a grand slam for herself, but she has climbed 36 14ers while going with me on trips to work on mine, which I am dedicating to her. Now it is her turn to decide where we go and what we do. We will of course continue to climb, and some of that will no doubt be in Colorado, but no more list-chasing.

Q: What 14er did you climb last? Did you intentionally save it for last or is it a 14er that previously eluded you?
The last one was Snowmass, on August 21 of this year. It wasn’t chosen to be last, but it became the finale by default. It did elude us once: our plan was to do the S-ridge and last year we bailed because of pouring rain on the one day we had to do it. This year we got to it last and the weather was cooperative.

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out?
I second all the advice that others have given in response to this question. Other than that,

I would say to not let it become such an obsession that it rules your life and strains your relationships. Have fun with it and don’t take it too seriously. Unlike some of our mountains here in the PNW, the Colorado 14ers aren’t going away any time soon, so take your time and enjoy the journey.