Gerry Roach Interview: Update to the Colorado 14er Guide Book
If you have ever climbed a Colorado 14, and 000 foot mountain the odds are you used a guide book or perhaps an internet site to research your climb. Well, it is also highly likely you used some of Gerry Roach’s famous research. His famous guide book simply called Colorado’s Fourteeners: from hikes to climbs is the premier guide book for all things 14ers describing 250 routes in sufficient detail for most people to make the summit. Now he just released the 3rd edition of his famous book and I wanted to ask him about it. In total, s he has authored 15 books. But who is this guy and what is he up to these days? First a bit of background. Gerry’s early years were flavored with international experiences starting with a year in France at age 7 with his family. Soon they moved to Boulder, Colorado – a rock climbing mecca even in the 1950’s. He started climbing rocks and mountains and flew a plane before he drove a car. His love affair with the international life continued after graduating from the University of Washington in 1964 with a degree in math when Gerry served as a teacher in the Peace Corps in Bhubaneshwar, India not long after the Peace Corps was formed. Today, more than 60 years of travel and mountaineering, Gerry has explored and lived in dozens of countries and been on more than 30 major expeditions. In addition to pursuing a career as a computer scientist, he found time to run a university outdoor program and teach Outward Bound in Colorado and Alaska. After climbing Mount Everest in 1983, Gerry went on to become the second person to climb the highest peak on each of the 7 continents in 1985. In 2003, Gerry became the first person to climb every major peak over 16,000 feet in North America. Gerry received the Sierra Club’s coveted Farquhar lifetime achievement award for mountaineering in 2005 and the Colorado Mountain Club’s rare Ellingwood Golden Ice Ax Award in 2006. Gerry is not alone in his ventures. His wife, Jennifer, has climbed over 1000 Colorado peaks including all the 14ers and all 637 13ers. She is the co-author on several of the guide books. The 3rd edition of Colorado Fourteeners has 400 pages, 256 Routes, 49 of which are rated *Classic*, 79 Extra Credits, and 79 Variations on Colorado’s 56 Fourteeners, 60 fine annotated color photographs, and 31 fully-revised, color, annotated topographic maps. So what was behind this version? I recently asked Gerry. Q: What are the major changes from the 2nd edition? I fixed all known errors of course. I removed some routes that were on private property, notably on the north side of Sherman.I added a few additional routes that have become popular in recent years, such as the east ridge of Humboldt. I tightened the language to a better standard that I evolved in my 13ers guide. I added an essentials table to each peak group. I added Roach Points to every route – RPs give you a one number measure of efferculty that you can use to compare any two routes, and to compute your projected hike time. I expanded the route mileage into net and total, to account for going over false summits en route. I added coordinates for summits and major waypoints on routes. I added the new Rock of Ages Trailhead and approach to the Rock of Ages Saddle near Wilson Peak. Q: How long did it take to write 3rd edition? I was actively working on the 3rd edition for a year. Q: Did you re-climb or climb any new routes for this guide? I’m out there all the time… Q: How do position guide books compared to internet sites for climbers? There are two different markets, and both the paper product and e-book have advantages. You can toss my paper guide into your trunk, and you’ve got the whole show. You do not need internet connectivity or a printer to use my paper guide. The e-book is obviously more updatable, and the e-book can also have more color photos. I like to use both mediums. I also caution about sites where multiple people are reporting. Opinions vary greatly, and a report by a stranger may be strange. At least with my book, there is only one reporter. Q: How has it been received? Initial reports are good. This was a winter printing, and by spring, it should be well discovered. It takes time for any new tome find the light. Q: Where can we it? It’s available at the usual sources like REI and Amazon.You can always a signed copy from me at http://www.climb.mountains.com/Book_Land_files/14ers.shtml#Fourteeners_3rd_Edition. I will mail it via priority mail, and you can have it in a few days. Q: What else are you up to these days? There’s an app for that! I also have a 14ers app for the Android OS. Go to the android market and search for “14ers”. It’s a subset of the same 3rd edition content – $3.99. I also have another new book called Orthogonal Adventures. It’s a fun word romp through 15 short stories, each with a twist. You can the paper version from me at http://www.climb.mountains.com/Book_Land_files/OA.shtml Orthogonal Adventures is also available as an e-book. If you have a Kindle, just search for it, or download the free Kindle app on any smart phone, login to your amazon account, and search for it. For me, I’ve just returned from Uganda, where I climbed 16,762-foot Mount Stanley, the highest peak in the Rwenzori or fabled Mountains of the Moon. It was a lifelong dream to climb this mountain, and it was my 29th summit on the list of the world’s 50 most prominent peaks, my new challenge. See http://www.climb.mountains.com/Project_Island_files/Earth_Prominent.shtml This was an Earth View Adventures trip. EVA is a travel business I’ve started with Stan Havlick. See http://www.earthviewadventures.com/ for details. I’ve posted photos of the Stanley climb in two albums at http://gallery.me.com/gjhigh#100402&bgcolor=dkgrey&view=grid and http://gallery.me.com/gjhigh#100415&bgcolor=dkgrey&view=grid Thanks Gerry. By the way, if you are finished with he 14ers or think they are a bit too much, take a look at Gerry’s Colorado’s Thirteeners: 13,800 to 13,999
Interview with Gerry Roach – Mr. 14er (and more)
In the climbing world there are a few people who uniquely stand out: Messner, Viesturs, Moro, House, and many more – you know the names. And then there are those climbers who have forgotten more climbs than most people have attempted. They may not have been the most difficult or garnered the fame but they were climbs nonetheless. Gerry Roach of Colorado has a lock on this category. If you live (or climb) in Colorado you know him from his famous guide book simply called Colorado’s Fourteeners: from hikes to climbs. It is the premier guide book for all things 14ers describing 250 routes in sufficient detail for most people to make the summit. In total, he has authored 15 books. But who is this guy and what is he up to these days? First a bit of background. Gerry’s early years were flavored with international experiences starting with a year in France at age 7 with his family. Soon they moved to Boulder, Colorado – a rock climbing mecca even in the 1950’s. He started climbing rocks and mountains and flew a plane before he drove a car. His love affair with the international life continued after graduating from the University of Washington in 1964 with a degree in math when Gerry served as a teacher in the Peace Corps in Bhubaneshwar, India not long after the Peace Corps was formed. Today, more than 60 years of travel and mountaineering, Gerry has explored and lived in dozens of countries and been on more than 30 major expeditions. In addition to pursuing a career as a computer scientist, he found time to run a university outdoor program and teach Outward Bound in Colorado and Alaska. After climbing Mount Everest in 1983, Gerry went on to become the second person to climb the highest peak on each of the 7 continents in 1985. In 2003, Gerry became the first person to climb every major peak over 16,000 feet in North America. Gerry received the Sierra Club’s coveted Farquhar lifetime achievement award for mountaineering in 2005 and the Colorado Mountain Club’s rare Ellingwood Golden Ice Ax Award in 2006. Gerry is not alone in his ventures. His wife, Jennifer, has climbed over 1000 Colorado peaks including all the 14ers and all 637 13ers. She is the co-author on several of the guide books. Q: How are you spending you time these days? I’m not retired, I just can’t get a job anymore. That line started out as a joke, but has turned out to be true. So, I’m writing, climbing, and organizing trips (see www.earthviewadventures.com). Q: How often do you get out and climb today? Every week Q: Will there be a print update of your famous Colorado 14ers guidebook? Yes. It’s in progress now and should be available in paper for the 2011 climbing season. I’m also working on an online version that will be available sooner. Q: People know you for the Colorado 14ers but you have a love of the 13ers as well. Can you tell us a bit about your 13ers? I’m close to finishing the famous long list of all 637 Colorado ranked peaks over 13,000 feet. I consider the list to be a bank account of great outings, and I’ll be a bit sad to actually finish the list. I’ll set the record for having taken the longest to complete the list. When people complain about the crowded 14ers, I tell them to climb obscure 13ers. We typically go all day without seeing anyone. Q: Your guidebooks have a huge number of routes in such detail, over what period did you climb all those routes? I started accumulating the route information in the 1950s. I climb every peak or rock in my guides, but there are still a few spots I haven’t touched. Q: Longs Peak is special to you. Why does it stand out? I started out as a rock climber and gravitated naturally to routes on Longs’ east face. That’s where I found my feet as an alpine climber. Back then, the Diamond had not been climbed and there was a lot of mystery on the face. Q: What do you think about climbing records these days: speed, ski, disabilities, etc. Is there a place for these in climbing? There will always be a need for speed – it’s the American way. I enjoy watching the records progress. Extreme activities in the mountains are fine as long as they don’t hurt the environment or other people. There are wilderness regulations that limit group size and organized events, and some activities aren’t appropriate. The trend seems to be for individual efforts, which are fine. Q: What are your thoughts on PLBs and cell phone in the wilderness. Any thoughts on the debate relative to the deaths on Mt. Hood and thus requiring PLBs to be carried by all climbers? PLBs (and Sat phones) are a nice bit of modern technology. You can use it or ignore it as you choose. I used a PLB to help save a life in Mexico, and was quite impressed with the system. Requiring them is another issue. Being old school, I think we should always be free to get lost. Just don’t expect to be rescued. Q: Any desire to ever return to one the the 7 Summits? Well, I have. I’ve done Denali three times, Aconcagua twice and Kilimanjaro twice. I was also high on Everest twice – South Col in 1976 and summit in 1983. I’d like to go back and do the north side of Elbrus. Q: Do you have a favorite lesson from all your climbs? The answer to the question, WHO CLIMBS UP is in my book Transcendent Summits. See www.transcendent-summits.com This is just a pointer to the long answer. For short answers I like: “Gravity never sleeps” “Physics Wins” “Geologic time includes now” Q: You summited Everest in 1983. If you were to summit today, how would the feeling compare to that first summit? Good question. It would be different for sure. In 1976, we were the only team