The non-standard14er Podcast

What’s the best way to climb Little Bear Peak---the hourglass route or the SW Ridge?  That’s the topic for discussion in this episode of the Non-Standard 14er Podcast.  JacerJack and Short-Rope are on Team Hourglass.  TornadoMan joins the podcast with Colorado Trail Patrick to represent Team-Southwest-Ridge. TayJack is the moderator.  We talk about rock fall, camping at Lake Como, and day-hiking one of the most difficult 14ers. You can find TornadoMan’s detailed trip report on the Southwest Ridge here https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=18943. 

The logistics of climbing the Wilson Group 14ers (Mt. Wilson, Wilson Peak, and El Diente Peak) was the topic of discussion as Ryguy and Colorado Trail Patrick re-join Short-Rope on this episode of the Non-Standard 14er Podcast.  We debate the pros and cons of Kilpacker Basin compared to the Navejo Basin or the Rock of Ages approaches.  We talk about the crux moves on each peak.  We also discuss the most efficient way to bag all three peaks in a day (if you had to). 

Short Rope invited Colorado Trail Patrick and Ryguy to the podcast for the first edition of the Non-Standard 14er Podcast trivia episode featuring 14er and Colorado trivia.  The format includes 5 rounds with 3 questions per round, a midpoint question and a final question in which the contestants can wager the points they’ve earned throughout the game.  We cover topics from Woodrow Wilson to Alec Baldwin and from San Juan 14ers to Gaelic sayings. 

Thru-Hiker Cloud returns to the Non-Standard 14er Podcast for part 2 of our conversation about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (2,650 miles) and the Continental Divide Trail (3,100 miles). We learn all about trail names, trail magic, trail angels, trail music, and trail etiquette.  Part 2 has more goofiness and even more acronyms than part 1. 

Short-Rope, JacerJack, TayJack, and Colorado Trail Patrick welcomed thru-hiker, conservationist, mountaineer, outdoor enthusiast, and blogger Jenny Gaeng to the Non-Standard 14er Podcast.  Better known by her trail name “Cloud,”  Jenny joined the podcast just 9 days after she finished hiking all 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and three years after she hiked all 3,100 miles of the Continental Divide Trail in 2016.  We chatted about such topics as hiking through the grizzly bears sections of the Continental Divide trail, hiking gear that you wouldn’t think you needed when thru-hiking, and how to get enough calories when you’re hiking 5 to 6 days between re-stocks from Mexico to Canada. Find Cloud's blog here: https://adventuresofcloud.com/  We had so much to talk about that we broke it into two episodes.  Here’s the first…

Short-Rope and Kunckel drove up to Kremmling Colorado to sit down with Shuei Kato to hear the story of how he got turned around on the Summit of Missouri Mountain and got lost in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area for three nights in October 2017.  We chat all about what went wrong, what gear he had with him that allowed him to survive three nights alone, what he learned from his experience and what wisdom he shares with others. 

TayJack, JacerJack and Short-Rope invite Brian Sargeant to the Non-Standard 14er Podcast to chat about his role working with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, a non-profit out of Golden that protects and preserves our 14,000 foot peaks.  We learn about CFI’s thermal counters that keep a tally of hiker counts.  We get an early glimpse of the updated 14er report card that grades each 14er on the amount and difficulty of trail restoration needed. We talk about their current work on Columbia’s standard trail.  And we learn about CFI’s projects, funding, staff, mission and history.

Short-Rope, TayJack, and JacerJack welcome our first canine to the Non-Standard 14er Podcast.  We sit down with recent 14er finisher Elle and her husky Loki, who both climbed all of Colorado's 14ers and recently finished on Capitol Peak.  We talk about Loki's special training and how Elle and Loki work as a climbing team. We also hear some answers to popular questions that the 14er community instantly asks when they hear a dog did all the 14ers including: how they crossed Capitol's knife edge, how they tackled Little Bear's hourglass and what about the class 4 chimney move on North Maroon Peak? 

RyGuy returns to the Non-Standard 14er Podcast to talk about his experience in a search and rescue mission on Crestone Peak. RyGuy reflects upon what went wrong, what he learned and what others should avoid when climbing snow-covered gullies like Crestone Peak’s Red Gully.  We discuss emergency beacons, the difference between north and south facing snow conditions, and what it’s like to be picked up off a mountain by a Blackhawk Helicopter.  We also chat about best practices if you ever need to call Search and Rescue.

TayJack, JacerJack and Short-Rope welcome our first Centennial Finisher to the podcast: RyGuy.  With an extensive alpine resume (RyGuy has climbed 34 of the 14ers in Winter, summited over 150 of the 13ers, and is currently an administer of the 14ers.com Facebook page), we had a lot to talk about.  The topics ranged from Winter camping/climbing to summit signs to the 14er.com social gatherings. We also learn how many of the highest 100 peaks in Colorado require rope climbing and just how different the Colorado 13ers are compared to the 14ers.