Colorado's Fourteeners: From Hikes to Climbs

I own shelves of hiking guides, but this one tops the list. Not only is it informative, instructive and accurate, Gerry Roach writes well and gives the hiker all the essential information needed to make the trek. I live outside of Colorado and only visit for a few weeks each year, specifically to climb 14-ers. Being unfamiliar with the Colorado roads and most of their trailheads, I necessarily rely on this guide to get me to the trailhead with no hassle and accurate driving directions. Roach has never disappointed me. He gives exhaustive directions and includes a map for each trek. If you need a four-wheel drive vehicle to get to your destination, he will let you know. If you have a drive on a dirt road for 6 miles to reach the trailhead, that information will be included. He also describes the trail conditions, whether it's rocky, has scree, is exposed and has a ranking system for how difficult the hike is. If there is scrambling involved or permanent snow fields, he lets you know. If it's a class 3 hike but listed in other guides as class 4, Roach makes the correction and explains why he feels this way. There are separate chapters on the unique and often volatile weather in the Colorado peaks. This is imperative for out-of-state hikers who aren't familiar with the frequent, violent afternoon thunderstorms in the Rockies. When I did Pike's Peak for the first time, I photocopied Roach's chapter on this mountain and took it with me in my pack, and was glad I did. When the thunderstorms began, I descended ASAP, following his advice. This is an outstanding hiking guide. I wouldn't hike in the 14-ers in Colorado without it and neither should you. Enjoy!

I've lived in Colorado all my life and two years ago, I started my experience with Colorado 14ers. I may not be the most avid climber, but I do plan on climbing these amazing mountains for many years to come. After my second mountain, I realized that I was going to need a way to keep track and better plan my future climbs and, being that I worked at a bookstore, I had a pretty good opportunity to look through many books on the subject. I found this book to be by far the best guide of its type. It gives all the information that a climber will need to climb every last fourteener and does so in a way that is enjoyable and easy to understand without giving away any of the thrills and experiences of the climb itself. I highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to climb even just one of these amazing mountains.

When his first edition of Fourteeners From Hikes to Climbs hit the shelves in 1992, I was at the height on my fourteener madness. At the time I was extremely impressed with the detail, quantity, and quality of the information. As far as I'm concerned, it blew away the competition of the day. Well Gerry has done it again! His second edition again surpasses all the competition! He's added dozens of new and exciting routes, including lots of new technical ones! The color maps are of the highest quality (mimicking USGS quads), with color coded lines showing each of the routes. A companion map package includes full-color removable topographic maps, descriptions for climbing the standard route on all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks, photographic overlays of each peak, trailhead directions, and a climbing log. What a deal! All the topo maps you need to climb ALL the fourteeners for the price of about two USGS quads!

I own every guide book written about the Colorado 14ers and Roach's is the best. The new second edition is worth buying for it's color photographs and topo maps. The routes are now well described in both text and illustrations. Gerry Roach's works are set apart from other authors for two reasons. First, Roach gives you the personal perspective of one man. He has climbed all of the peaks in his books and gives consistent, first hand accounts. After climbing a few of the routes in one book, I know what to expect from others. Second, Roach has made a career out of climbing in Colorado. His love of the mountains is evident and he is considered my many to the be authority on mountain climbing in the Boulder area. I own all of his books.

This book ranks as the single indispensable guide to hiking and/or climbing Colorado's highest mountains. Not only does Mr. Roach supply the reader with thorough and accurate route information, but he includes occasional wry observations on both mountains and mountaineers. We can only hope that the publisher will soon see the wisdom in printing another edition of this classic. Even for the person who makes but a single ascent per year this book ranks as a "must have."The only criticism I have of the book is that the mileages listed (in the edition I have) tend to run shorter than the actual mileages of the routes. My brother and I jokingly refer to "Roach miles" and then make the necessary 10-15% addition to the miles listed for each route when planning our trips. My suspicion regarding the origin of this "discrepancy" is that the mileages given in the book may be based solely on horizontal distance and might not take the vertical dimension into account.