Colorado: A spring jaunt on Mt. Antero

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Stunning vistas from Colorado’s 11-highest peak

Mount Princeton, 14,197 feet, lies north of Mount Antero, about twenty miles southwest of Buena Vista, above the Arkansas River Valley.

Fenske hiked three miles up Mount Antero to set base camp beside a stream at 11,000 feet and slept snug and cozy in a two-pound ultralight tent with a zero-degree rated sleeping bag.

Story and photos by Kim Fenske

Mount Antero, 14,269 feet, may rank high among the ugliest Fourteeners in Colorado. The peak has been abused by mining digs and cut with four-wheel-drive vehicle pathways for decades. During peak summer season, Antero can be crowded, dusty, and noisy with heavy traffic of all-terrain-vehicles.

Despite the blemishes created by modern machinery, Antero offers spectacular views of its neighbors, Mount Shavano, 14,229 feet, and Tabeguache Peak, 14,155 feet, to the south; as well as Mount Princeton, 14,197 feet,  to the north.

Mount Antero is the 11-highest peak in Colorado, named for Chief Antero of the Uintah band of Utes. (more…)

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Colorado: A spring hike on twin 14ers

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Kim Fenske hikes Shavano and Tabeguache

Kim Fenske on the summit of 14,155-foot Tabeguache Peak, with Shavano in the background.

The summit of Tabeguache Peak from the saddle to Mount Shavano.

Story and photos by Kim Fenske

Rising from the lowlands west of Salida, a giant mountain marks the path to Monarch Pass. This cornerstone of the lower Arkansas River Valley is Mount Shavano, 14,229 feet, southernmost peak of the Sawatch Range.

Mount Shavano is named after a great leader of the Tabeguache band of the Utes. Across a saddle from Mount Shavano rises the dramatic summit of Tabeguache Peak, 14,155 feet, protected by a wide ring of boulders and broken cliffs. (more…)

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Colorado’s peaks can be deadly when weather turns

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Kim Fenske hikes Bierstadt and talks mountain weather

Ptarmigan changing plumage from summer to winter blend in well in snow-flecked grass.

Story and photos by Kim Fenske

When the forecast is for unstable weather, hiking into a remote base camp and planning an ascent of a mountain with severe grades on unmarked slopes or exposed ledges is not a reasonable plan. It’s difficult enough to predict lightning storms in summer when summit strikes threaten. Sudden snowstorm can create white-outs in high winds on high altitude ascents and create slippery conditions for boulder scrambles.

During the spring and summer of 2011, the first four deaths on Fourteeners involved snow conditions. None of the mountains where these death happened are considered easy or moderate ascents on standard hike routes.

Torreys Peak killed a skier who triggered an avalanche in a snowstorm so severe that rescuers were unable to reach the scene by helicopter. A woman slipped down a snow-covered chute during an ascent of Mount Princeton in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area. On nearby Missouri Mountain, a father and daughter who were experienced hikers fell from the ridge near the standard approach and were found several days after they were killed.  By contrast, the eleven climbers killed in 2010 near a Fourteener summit were on the most difficult sixteen of the fifty-four peaks and often on non-standard routes. (more…)

Filed under: avalanches, climate and weather, Colorado, hiking, recreation, Snow and weather | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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