On January 6th, 2023, I embarked on a journey to become the second person to complete all of Colorado's 14ers during a single calendar winter season. Starting with Pikes Peak, I climbed day in and day out.

Finally, on March 18th, 2023, I stood on top of Pyramid Peak with Andrew Hamilton, the only other single winter finisher, to complete the project. This has been the most significant accomplishment of my life so far, and the experiences, skills, and friendships I gained along the way will never be forgotten. Although I broke the record and set a new FKT of 72 days, 12 hours, and 10 minutes, this endeavor was more about the journey than the outcome.

As one can imagine, this was no easy task. Colorado has a notoriously dangerous snowpack, making it challenging to navigate and mitigate avalanche terrain, especially in a bigger than average snow season. I spent a considerable amount of time chasing weather windows and decently safe avalanche forecasts to stay as safe as possible.

Along with the spooky snowpack, I had to learn and sharpen my technical alpine climbing skills. There are several technical summits on the 14er list, and doing them in winter conditions is more challenging than in the summer. I had the joy of using a full bag of alpine skills on many of these climbs, as well as just skinning in and skiing off some of the less technical ones.

There were no shortages of long days out there. I pushed through two 21-hour days, with most days consisting of 12-18 hours of non-stop movement. Because of winter conditions, the approaches to many of these peaks are much longer than they are in the summer. The longest day out there was the Chicago Basin 4-pack, a 41-mile, 12k day out in the Weminuche Wilderness, where I was alone for the most part. After 21 hours and some change, I crawled out of the Purgatory Flats with four more summits under my belt and four of the more difficult ones at that.

There are 12 peaks that are considered the Dirty Dozen. These 12 are the most difficult as they fall under all three categories in winter: severe avalanche danger, technical climbing, and a major slog for the approaches and exits. These peaks are Windom, Sunlight, N. Eolus, Eolus, Wilson, Mt. Wilson, El Diente, Capitol, Snowmass, N Maroon, Maroon, and Pyramid.

Each climb taught me different lessons that I carried on to the next. Capitol was the first technical climb of the project, and I learned a lot about high alpine rope management and skills while climbing with my friend, Matt Randall. We summited together in a whiteout and rappelled off the cruxes while making our way to our skis for the exit. This was the first of many climbs that involved 5th class climbing and rappelling cruxes.

The next big one was the Great Traverse from Mt. Wilson to El Diente. I did this solo, and after five hours, I finally made it across the ridge in one piece before skiing off of the North face on El Diente. After that was the Bells traverse. I had the pleasure of doing this with Andrew Hamilton, and we actually out-and-backed the traverse, using our rope skills and embracing the 40-50 mph winds along the ridge. Eventually, we made it out of there after 21 hours of suffering together.

The Winter 14er project was an incredible journey that culminated in the final climb of Pyramid Peak, which I summited with Andrew. The ascent was intense, with a spooky snowpack that required a lot of effort and time to mitigate the risks and traverse the slopes safely. But the reward of standing on the summit made it all worth it.

This blog provides a brief recap of the project's highlights, and I will be sharing more detailed write-ups about each climb on my Instagram page.

In addition to my alpine achievements, I'm mainly a trail and mountain runner who has accomplished some significant feats in that arena. In October 2021, I climbed 400,000ft of vert for a World Record, which put my name on the map and opened doors for me. Since then, I've been focusing on pursuing big routes in the FKT (Fastest Known Time) scene. For instance, I became the first person to out-and-back the WURL (Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup) in a 66-hour push, and I set a new record on the Mosquito-Tenmile traverse in Colorado.

The Mosquito-Tenmile is a unique ridgeline that is the highest and longest continuous one in the US, except for Alaska. The first 31 miles never dip below 13,000ft, and this traverse taught me a lot about my endurance capabilities at high altitude for such a sustained period. Along with these significant accomplishments, I hold ten other FKTs on routes ranging from one to twenty-four hours.

Looking ahead, I have ambitious goals for 2023 and am thrilled to kick off the year with the Winter 14er project. Additionally, I'm excited to represent the Scarpa Trail running team, and I look forward to accomplishing more of my goals while promoting such an incredible brand.

Cheers!