Fourteeners
are like babies

by T.J. Rapoport

As the Executive Director of the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, I am often asked whether I think people should stop climbing Fourteeners. Tough question.

On the one hand, the land above timberline in Colorado is extremely fragile. Five footsteps on a piece of tundra in one day are enough to trample that piece of tundra to death. Given that most Fourteeners do not have sustainable trails to the summit—and the fact that one million boots make their way up and down Fourteeners each summer—it seems likely that the current number of climbers on Colorado Fourteeners already exceeds the carrying capacity of the land.

On the other hand, the experience of climbing a Fourteener is so extraordinary that for many people it can be a life-changing event. So who am I to tell people not to experience it for themselves?

In an attempt to answer the question about whether people should climb Fourteeners or not, I've developed a metaphor, albeit a clumsy one: Fourteeners are like babies. Like babies, Fourteeners are fragile and beautiful, wonderful and delicate. Please forgive me if my metaphor seems like a stretch, but since I'm about to become a father for the first time, I admit that I've got babies on the brain.

When you hold a small baby, you take certain precautions in order to keep from inadvertently causing harm. You wash your hands first. You make sure to support the baby's head when you're holding it. When you hand the baby to someone else, you're extra careful to make sure that they've got the baby securely before you let go. We do all of these things because babies are particularly fragile.

Now, I would never tell you to avoid holding a baby just because it is fragile. I wouldn't dare. Holding a newborn baby is a profound, extraordinary, often life-changing experience. It would be reasonable, however, to suggest that if you do plan to hold a newborn baby, you ought not take the matter lightly. You should be careful and take precautions.

So, too, with Fourteeners. The fact is that it is not up to me whether or not you should climb Fourteeners. For many of us, there are good tidings to be found up there. But if you do climb, you ought not take the matter lightly. The Fourteeners are precious and unique and fragile. Be gentle.

—Readers interested in learning more about how to be gentle with the land can review Leave No Trace principles on the Colorado Fourteeners website (ed.).