Rocky Mountains Slam

Rocky Mountains Slam – Colorado 14ers + Wyoming 13ers + Montana 12ers

June 16 – Aug 15, 2020

Completion time: 60 days, 9 hours, 20 minutes (new FKT for this route).

1,030 miles, 432,500ft gain, 205 peaks (all over 12,000ft)

Awarded #3 Fastest Known Time of the Year (FKTOY) award 2020 (Link to writeup and podcast for FKTOY)

Listen to the Fastest Known Time Podcast episode where I talk about this trip

See this route listed on the Fastest Known Time website

The Rocky Mountain Slam is a challenge I made up to climb all the major peaks of the American Rockies – the Colorado 14ers, Wyoming 13ers, and Montana 12ers – in one push. This includes the generally accepted lists of 58 14ers in Colorado, 35 13ers in Wyoming, and 27 12ers in Montana, for a total of 120 peaks. These peaks all meet the same standard criteria of 300ft prominence cutoff, except for the five extra Colorado peaks (El Diente, North Maroon, North Eolus, Cameron, Conundrum) that are generally included in 14er lists for historical reasons.

The peaks range from standard hikes on well-maintained trails in Colorado, to talus scrambles in Montana, to very remote peaks involving glacier travel and alpine rock climbing in Wyoming. Of the 120 peaks, four are technical via their easiest routes (Spearhead, Wilson, Koven, Grand Teton), all in Wyoming, with climbing up to 5.4.

On August 15, 2020, I was the first person to finish the slam in a total of a bit over 60 days, measured from the summit of my first peak (Pikes Peak in Colorado) to the summit of my final peak (Mount Peal in Montana). As part of this effort I actually also climbed the Colorado Centennials – the hundred highest peaks in Colorado – plus many other bonus peaks along the way in CO, WY, and MT, so my total peak count was 205 peaks. My total mileage was 1,030 miles with 432,500ft elevation gain. I took a total of three rest days, one for blistered feet, one to drive all day from Colorado to Wyoming, and one for an all-day rain event in Wyoming.

This summer I had originally planned on a 2-month international mountaineering expedition, but had to cancel at the last minute due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions in early June. I scrambled to make alternative plans, and settled on climbing the Colorado 14ers, Wyoming 13ers, and Montana 12ers, which I figured I might just barely be able to squeeze into my time window. The day before I left I decided to also try to squeeze in the Colorado Centennials, which would add another 50 or so peaks.

On June 14th after the SU graduation ceremony I loaded up the car and drove out of Seattle in the evening. After 23

hours of driving I reached the Pikes Peak trailhead in Colorado, and hiked up to the summit, my first peak of the slam, on 9:15am June 16th. Over the next 33 days I proceeded to climb all the Colorado Centennial peaks, which included all of the Colorado 14ers plus about 50 other peaks, setting a new fastest known time for the Centennials (self-supported). In the final week of my effort I shifted my sleep schedule to sleep on average 2 hours per day, in the late afternoon to coincide with daily thunderstorms. I would then climb peaks through the night and the next day. My biggest day was a 49-mile 18kft-gain 36-hour push. I involved my mountain bike on most approaches to trailheads – I would generally park at 2wd trailheads and mountain bike to and from the 4wd trailheads over rough roads. (Link to full CO centennials report)

I finished the Colorado peaks on July 19, then took a full rest day to drive 8 hours to Pinedale, Wyoming. The next morning I set off into the Wind River Range with my partner Matt Lemke to start climbing 13ers. We had horses pack in 3 weeks of food the first 15 miles to near Island lake, but then carried our food ourselves for the remainder of the trip.

Over the next two weeks we climbed the 30 peaks in the core Wind River range as one continuous trip starting and ending at Elkhart Park with one rest day due to an all-day rain event. We soloed all peaks except Spearhead, Wilson, and Koven, for which we used ropes and belayed each other. We ended up not needing the full 3 weeks of food, so got to eat double rations on many days.

After hiking out of the Winds in the evening of August 3 I continued the next morning and following three days to climb the remaining five 13ers. I climbed Wind River, Black Tooth, Cloud, and Francs solo, and then climbed Grand Teton with Andrew Gwozdz for my final Wyoming 13er. This set a new FKT for the Wyoming 13ers at 16 days 17 hours. (Link to full WY 13ers report)

The morning after climbing Grand Teton Andrew and I drove into Montana and climbed our first Montana 12er – Rearguard – at sunset. Over the next four days we hiked a big 80-mile off-trail loop hitting 15 12ers. We started at the Glacier Lake trailhead and hiked back to the Lake Fork trailhead, where I got on a mountain bike I’d stashed and biked back to the car. That night we drove 6 hours back to Jackson, Wyoming, where I dropped Andrew off at the airport. I then drove 7 hours back to the Mystic Lake trailhead in Montana to finish off the remaining 12ers.

That evening I climbed Pyramid, then bivied half under a boulder below Mt Wood, enduring a long rain/snow/thunderstorm that lasted through the night and left me miserable, soaked, and sleepless. Over the next two days I climbed the remaining 12ers in a big loop ending back at my car. My final day was a 24-hour push, reaching the summit of Mt Peal at 6:35pm, then hiking and bushwhacking back to my car by 4am. This gave me a finishing time of 6 days 23 hours for the MT 12ers. I managed to get a 2 hour nap in the car then drove 15 hours straight back to Seattle, barely staying within the 2-month summer window I’d given myself for the slam. (Link to full MT 12ers report)

The full list of peaks of the Rocky Mountains Slam (not including my bonus peaks), in order of decreasing elevation, are as follows:

Colorado:

Mount Elbert—14433
Mount Massive—14421
Mount Harvard—14420
Blanca Peak—14345
La Plata Peak—14366
Uncompahgre Peak—14309
Crestone Peak—14294
Mount Lincoln—14286
Grays Peak—14270
Mount Antero—14269
Torreys Peak—14267
Castle Peak—14265
Quandary Peak—14265
Mount Evans—14264
Longs Peak—14255
Mount Wilson—14246
Mount Cameron—14238
Mount Shavano—14229
Mount Princeton—14197
Mount Belford—14197
Crestone Needle—14197
Mount Yale—14196
Mount Bross—14172
Kit Carson Peak—14165
El Diente Peak—14159
Maroon Peak—14156
Tabeguache Peak—14155
Mount Oxford—14153
Mount Sneffels—14150
Mount Democrat—14148
Capitol Peak—14130
Pikes Peak—14110
Snowmass Mountain 14092
Windom Peak 14087
Mount Eolus—14083
Challenger Point—14081
Mount Columbia—14073
Missouri Mountain—14067
Humboldt Peak—14064
Mount Bierstadt—14060
Conundrum Peak—14060
Sunlight Peak—14059
Handies Peak—14048
Culebra Peak—14047
Mount Lindsey—14042
Ellingwood Point—14042
North Eolus—14039
Little Bear Peak—14037
Mount Sherman—14036
Redcloud Peak—14034
Pyramid Peak—14018
Wilson Peak—14017
Wetterhorn Peak—14015
San Luis Peak—14014
North Maroon Peak—14014
Mount of the Holy Cross—14005
Huron Peak—14003
Sunshine Peak—14001

Wyoming:

Gannett Peak —13804
Grand Teton —13770
Fremont Peak —13745
Mount Warren —13722
Mount Helen —13620
Turret Peak—13620
Mount Sacagawea—13569
Jackson Peak—13517
Mount Woodrow Wilson—13502
Bastion Peak—13494
Mount Febbas—13468
Sunbeam Peak—13460
Flagstone Peak—13450
Pinnacle Ridge—13365
Downs Mountain—13349
Mount Koven—13265
The Sphinx—13258
Spearhead Pinnacle—13220
American Legion Peak—13205
Brown Cliffs North—13198
Wind River Peak—13192
East and West Twin Peak—13185
Flagstone Southeast Peak—13180
Cloud Peak—13167
Desolation Peak—13155
Split Mountain—13155
Francs Peak—13153
Henderson Peak—13115
Klondike Peak—13114
South Downs Mountain—13062
Harrower Peak—13052
Bow Mountain—13020
Mount Whitecap—13020
Black Tooth Mountain—13005
Knife Point Mountain—13001

Montana 12ers:

Granite Peak — 12799
Granite Peak – Northwest Peak —12745
Mount Wood —12660
Castle Mountain—12612
Whitetail Peak—12551
Silver Run Peak—12542
Peak 12540 (aka Rainbow Peak)—12540
Tempest Mountain—12469
Mount Peal—12409
Castle Rock Mountain—12401
Beartooth Mountain—12351
Bowback Mountain—12351
Mount Villard—12345
Mount Hague—12323
Glacier Peak—12320
Spirit Mountain—12283
Sundance Mountain—12262
Salo Mountain—12250
Mount Rearguard—12204
Cairn Mountain—12200
Pyramid Mountain—12119
Drop Off Mountain—12115
Peak 12090 (aka Castle Rock Mountain Northeast Peak)—12090
Snowbank Mountain—12084
Mystic Mountain—12080
Sky Pilot Mountain—12047
Villard Spire—12020

© 2020 – 2023, egilbert@alum.mit.edu. All rights reserved.