Holy Cross Mountain

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Holy Cross Mountain

• Not Yet a Fourteener
• August 1961
• 6.5 hours up, 5 hours return
• Now a Fourteener
• September 19, 2006 at age 76
• 16 hours round trip
  

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Holy Cross from Saddle
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Gary Schott and Emma Jean Mader at timberline
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Emma Jean andCharlesMaderonHoly Cross Summit
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Emma Jean Mader on Summit
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Gary Schott
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Notch Mountain Ridge and Shelter
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Notch Mountain and Bowl of Tears
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Ridge Climbed and route from Saddle
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9/19/2006
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Ellingwood Point

August 8, 1970
3.5 hr backpack to Lake Como from Jeep 3.5 hr to
Summit by West Ridge the technical way to
summit 1.5 hr back to Camp by East Route
Ellingwood Blanca ridge 2 hr backpack back to
Jeep
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Ellingwood Point
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Ellingwood West Ridge
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Blanca from Ellingwood Point Summit
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Charles Mader and Roy Greiner on Ellingwood Summit
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Blanca Little Bear Ridge from East of
Ellingwood descent route
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Lake Como camped at trees
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Challenger Point

• On route climbed to get to Kit Carson before it
  had a name other than another damn false summit.

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2008List of 14ersfrom14ers.com
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Colorado 14ers Locations
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History

• The mountain climbers lived in Los Alamos, New
  Mexico and were scientists at the Los Alamos
  Scientific Laboratory. Most of the climbers had
  college degrees in Chemistry, Physics or Math.
  The results of recent experiments were often the
  climbing conversation topic.
• Of the main climbers, Dean Taylor, Gary Schott,
  Don Bunker, Joe Bubernak had PhD degrees in
  Chemistry. Only Don Bunker and Liz Marshall were
  married.
• Six or more hours of automobile travel time was
  required to get to the base of the mountains.
  The cars had only rear wheel drive. Jeeps were
  rented at gas stations near the mountains when
  needed.

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History

• The only route information available was that in
  the original Ormes Guide to Colorado Mountains
  The topo maps were seldom of any help. Trails
  were mostly mining or animal ones.
• Seldom was anyone else climbing or camping at the
  base site. Many of the registers were placed
  there by the earliest climbers with Ellingwood
  often being the first name.

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History

• Route finding was a challenge and often when one
  route did not go or the weather became
  marginal, it was necessary to return to camp and
  come back another weekend.
• Base camp was often the nearest motel and those
  peaks that were climbed from a motel were called
  Mader Horns.

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History

• Being the only climbers or hikers on the
  mountains and no outside communication available,
  safety of the party was the major concern. If
  someone in the party could not or did not want
  to continue everyone returned. Three climbers
  was the smallest group on any of the climbs. The
  idea was if anyone was hurt, one would go for
  help and the other one stay with the injured
  party.

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History

• A 120 ft nylon climbing rope was carried on most
  trips and each climber had their own carabineer
  and a piece of rope to make a Swiss Seat for
  repelling. Every climber could do a body repel
  and do a dynamic belay. Pitons were used for tie
  in points for belays and upper anchors for repel
  ropes.

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History

• While the climbers practiced the self arrest
  using an ice axe, if there was any hazard,
  descent down snow or ice fields were always done
  belayed with one or more ice axes used to anchor
  the belayer.
• Often regardless of any self arrest effort, the
  descent was brought to an end only by the of the
  rope.
• The party moved on a rope only if the rope was
  being belayed or attached to the mountain.

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History

• In the early 1950s the climbing equipment was
  mostly WW II surplus. It was very heavy.
• Nylon rope became available and had the advantage
  of stretching under load resulting in an
  automatic dynamic belay.
• The Vibram boot sole was developed.
• Dacron fiber was developed for clothing which
  was windproof and water repellent.
• Goretex fiber was not available until the 1960s
• Backpacks placed all the weight on the shoulders.
  The waist belt was not available until the
  1960s
• Lightweight sleeping bags and tents were not
  available.

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History

• The small backpacking Primus gasoline stove
  became available as did early versions of dried
  food.
• Water in the mountains was considered safe to
  drink without treatment. Only one canteen was
  carried as it could be filled at the streams.
  Salt tablets were carried and considered
  essential to replace body salt lost during
  climbing.

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History

• Improvements in climbing and backpacking
  equipment were made by the Holubars and Gerry
  -initially small mail order home based, family
  operations in Boulder.
• REI of Seattle was started and initially a source
  of cheap, low quality, often Japanese copies of
  US military gear and home made pitons, wooded
  handle ice axes, and even manila climbing ropes.

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History

• In the 1950s, the center of mountain climbing
  was in the Alps with Zermatt and its climbing and
  skiing guides being the gold standard.
• Custom made leather Molitar climbing and ski
  boots made in Wegen, Switzerland were work of
  master craftsmen as was the other Swiss climbing
  gear.
• Los Alamos mountaineering and skiing scientists
  became clients of the Zermatt ski instructor and
  climbing guide, Eddie Petrig. Petrig was also
  a ski instructor at Sun Valley and was featured
  on a magazine cover. Climbs guided by Eddie
  Petrig are described in the PowerPoint
  ZERMATT.PPT. He taught safe climbing techniques
  that reduced the grim Los Alamos mountaineering
  death toll.

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Eddie Petrig 1958 - guiding on Zermatt Gorner
Glacier