Finishers - why so many

[Scott P]

Set lists have become more trendy in recent years; whether it be County Highpoints, State Highpoints, 14ers, Seven Summits, etc.

I haven't seen the same increase in crowds on "random" mountains than I have on the set "lists" mountains.

While every major peak in Colorado is on some sort of list, it's the 14ers that are most trendy and have seen the biggest increase.

This trend isn't confined to Colorado or even the US either; it's pretty much a world wide trend. The most popular lists seem to be the ones with 7-100 peaks; depending on elevation and achievability. Outside Colorado, lists like the Idaho 12ers, California 14ers, Utah 13ers, Alps 4000ers, Seven Summits, etc. have all seen huge increases in the number of climbers.

For the 14ers, this website's influence can't be ignored either. It has actually had a huge influence on and have caused some changes to happen in trends.

If you want an example, before 14ers.com existed, the 58 Colorado 14ers list was not accepted or even well known (if at all). Before 14ers.com, very few Colorado 14ers finishers completed North Eolus and perhaps a few other peaks. Now they do. 14ers.com is the site that popularized the 58 list.

Anyway, I moved to Colorado in 2001 and this year I worked in the same area (Grand County) that I did in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2011. I got to repeat a lot of peaks this year that I did in those years. One thing I noticed is that other than the big changes from the East Troublesome Fire, all the peaks I did were pretty much the same as they were 12-22 years ago and haven't changed much, crowd wise. This definitely isn't true of the 14ers; I have noticed huge increases in numbers from even 22 years ago.

It's not just summer 14ers either; winter 14ers have gotten a lot more popular too. 15-20 years ago, it was pretty much expected that there would be lots of trailbreaking on winter 14er approaches other than Bierstadt and Quandary, and to a lesser extent on Grays and Elbert. Now days there's a really good chance of finding a broken trail on many 14ers, perhaps even a majority (though that still leaves quite a few that aren't climbed that much in winter).

[aholle88]

Anyway, I moved to Colorado in 2001 and this year I worked in the same area (Grand County) that I did in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2009, and 2011. I got to repeat a lot of peaks this year that I did in those years. One thing I noticed is that other than the big changes from the East Troublesome Fire, all the peaks I did were pretty much the same as they were 12-22 years ago and haven't changed much, crowd wise. This definitely isn't true of the 14ers; I have noticed huge increases in numbers from even 22 years ago.

It’s surprising over the last 5-10 years with the huge gain in popularity of 14ers that the other peaks are still seldom travelled. It’s a rare day to see someone on a 13er and I’m doing 50+ a year, even the centennials and bicentennials are not that frequented comparatively. I shied away from the centennials and bicents years ago because I didn’t want to do a popular list after the 14ers (which I still haven’t finished), and focused on the Eagles Nest wilderness peaks, Sangre 13ers, and sawatch 13ers. But after watching Amy knock out the bicents this year, it motivated me to start cracking on the cents and bicents since there’s a lot of cool peaks on those lists. And what do you know, still hardly see anyone. Still a lot of off trail travel and route finding to do in infrequently visited places, which is what I enjoy.

Over 9 days in the SJs a couple weeks ago, 21 summits including 6 14ers and a bunch of cents/bicents, I only shared one summit with other people, and that was Uncompagre. Only have seen one person all year on the 13ers. If there’s so many finishers of things, where are allll these people?! Must be everybody just faking their lists. Or aside from the 14ers, these lists still aren’t THAT popular and the people finishing this year just happens to be coincidence and timing. There is a “generation” of 13er folks that are all coming near the finish line at the same time. Henes finished this year, heather and Natalie aren’t are off. Amy finished the bicents in a strong push but it’s not like she’s a new kid on the block. Same goes for CarpeDM finishing the bicents. Everyone is just getting close to the lists at the same time and all of them are making strong pushes towards the end to get them done. To the outsider, it seems random. But the peak bagging world is small and most of these folks know each other and climb or have climbed with each other and are helping one another out finishing the lists.

[supranihilest]

I think it's because of the ready availability of quality information. I look at the 13ers as my example of this. There's been 40 something finishers spread out since the 80s, but look at how many are close now - there will likely be multiple finishers next year - and I credit the great trip reports and GPX tracks that are now widely available. There's still plenty of planning to do, but the total amount is significantly less than it was when all you had was a map and you'd have to go in and figure out the routes in the moment. Gone is the mystery and energy spent on planning and subsequent failure, in large part, unless you specifically avoid doing the research, which I doubt most are. I know I wouldn't be anywhere close to finishing without the beta of those who came before me like Furthermore, bergsteigen, John and Alyson Kirk, etc. The smaller and more popular lists like 14ers, Centennials, etc. are even stronger examples of this. There's a nearly constant stream of fresh info about the 14ers especially, which makes it easier for people to hike with a lot less thinking.

As a counter example, I struggle sometimes with peaks of lower elevation not because they're hard but because there's so little/no info about them. How do I get there? What's the road like? Can my vehicle handle it? Is the peak on private property? Are there seasonal closures? Is there an established trail or is it going to be a bushwhack? Will there be creek fords? What are current conditions (especially relevant in winter)? Screw it, I'll just go do this peak that has a dozen GPX tracks and trip reports instead...

[Matt]

Social media, transplants, and learned helplessness overcome by dependence on tech.
Screen Shot 2023-10-02 at 10.31.45 AM.png

Ok...I had to Google what microdose meant. Assuming that post from that person was a joke...

The post is real but not serious, I hope. These people clearly don't get much from microdosing.
It's from a subreddit that mirrors and mocks silly but seemingly genuine posts from the local Denver page--kind of a cultural check that's got some comedy gold at times.
Of course, we don't need such a thing here on 14ers.com
However, there appears to be some overlap on topics, if not tone. Here's the latest post I saw when pulling up the link to post here.

dcj tx.jpg

[Chicago Transplant]

Interesting discussions! Not much to add to the "why" discussion but I did have some thoughts on trends from some of the recent posts...

When I moved here in 2004 there were 9 known 13er finishers spread over 17 years (1987 Mike Garratt being the first known finisher). It took me 17 years to finish and I was approximately #45, so 35+ more people finished in that next 17-year span or nearly 4x as many in the same number of years. Not sure how long each person took, would be interesting to see a list of people who finished what was their FIRST 13er. (Peak 9, 6/5/2004 for me). Looking at the # of finishers by year from rijaca's post in Alex's finisher thread https://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 3&start=36, the number of finishers per year still saw several years with only 1 finisher, but there were also a few years with 4 or 5. I think there have been 3 this year plus some LiDAR refinishers? Seems the coming years will follow that trend based on where others are in their lists, so maybe 2-3 per year on average these days which is a lot less than the 14ers see.

There are 10x as many peaks on the 13er list as the 14er list, so even with more people climbing them than in the past, they are still pretty spread out. I think it's still a fairly small subset of peak climbers in Colorado that are trying for them all and everyone is doing them in their own order. I am not sure the number of people actively chasing them at once, but unlike the 14ers, it is certainly far less people than there are peaks so even if every person chasing the 13er list is out every weekend, they aren't that likely to be on the same peak. I have even seen names in the register the same day as me and not seen the people!

As far as the lower peaks, I tend to prefer getting a view, so I like being above treeline. There are some below treeline peaks that have nice views too (or interesting scrambles, another part I enjoy), but often I'd rather repeat a 13er than bushwhack something lower just to get a new checkmark. Though I agree with Ben on some of the things he listed, particularly the access issues. On map it might look like a shorter day until you come across a gate or some roads your vehicle is not equipped to drive.