Spotlight on Angie Kray!

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Q: What was your first fourteener, and when did you climb it?
Two years after moving to Crested Butte in 1994, my husband and I (age 44 at the time) accompanied a group of long-time CB residents to hike Handies via Grizzly Gulch (they'd done the easier way and wanted a change of scenery!).

We were pathetic flatlanders after living in Fla. 25 years, working in sedentary jobs and raising our 2 children.  Needless to say we had a tough time keeping up---luckily we had phenomenal weather, because the group kindly waited 2 hrs. on the summit for us! I discovered my husband was not fond of heights on this trip--he opted to stay seated on a saddle while I continued to the top. 

Q: At what point did you commit to finishing them all?
By 2002 I had climbed 32 of them. But they were all Class 1-2+, and I doubted I would ever climb the more daunting ones like the Bells and the Crestones. I needed to get more "comfortable" with exposure and learn to rock-climb if I were to finish. One of my main climbing partners (who finished the 14ers last year by age 60) had taught rockclimbing in New Mex. and is an ice-climber also----she encouraged me to take a rockclimbing class and then took me climbing a few times. This bolstered my confidence----  I began to enjoy the challenge of more difficult climbs and realized I possibly could at least attempt the remaining scarier ones!

Q: What is your favorite fourteener route?
I'm a wildflower geek, so the approaches to almost all of the 14ers are a delight. But I would have to say it's pretty hard to top American Basin heading up to Handies for stunning arrays of wildflowers.

Q: What was your most delightful moment on a 14er?
In '99 I summited 3 (technically 4?? Lincoln/Bross/Democrat/Cameron) 14ers on my birthday, Aug. 19.
Not too shabby a way to celebrate a birthday, eh? So this Sat. I celebrate the completion of the 14ers by my 54th birthday.

Q: What was your most terrifying moment on a 14er?
Usually this would involve either electricity or a near-fall. My most electric moment actually took place on a local 12er. But on Mount Wilson on the descent I stepped on a rather large rock that decided to keep on going, taking me with it. I thought my friends would be scraping me off the valley floor, but miraculously I stopped in a few feet, totally freaked out with a few scrapes and bruises.

Q: Do you have any plans for future mountain lists?
I don't think I will finish the highest 100, but who knows. I really want to concentrate on more of the local peaks. I've climbed quite a few of the 12ers and a few 13ers around the CB area, but there are so many more that await. There's always 'too much to do, too little time' in  Colorado!

Q: What 14er did you climb last? Did you intentionally save it for last or is it a 14er that previously eluded you?
My last was one of the hardest, Pyramid. I didn't intentionally save it for last---but I needed to wait till a friend or two would be willing to go with me (I'm not into solo ascents! Part of the joy of climbing is sharing the experience with my climbing partners). Though it took 10+ hrs. roundtrip, I was pleasantly surprised with the beautiful CFI trail and the cairns guiding the upper route. However, it's a serious climb up AND down , so I politely asked that we wait to pop the champagne back down at the trailhead!

Q: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone just starting out?
Taking a beginner rockclimbing class was probably the most influential for me in overcoming my exposure fears and learning how to move up and down rock confidently. A helmet is an absolute necessity as one moves  up in climbing difficulty.

PS - This is not one of the questions, but I do want to mention the value of having good information on climbing routes, which your site (and others) have provided for me. Reading a few trip reports before each climb helped tremendously to fill in the gaps in Roach's guidebook. It does seem at times that most trip reports are written by 20- and 30-somethings with superhuman abilities, so we oldsters usually added a couple hours to each roundtrip estimate---but the attention to landform details and photos have been indispensable aids.