Colorado College Mountain Club

Publication Year: 1968.

Colorado College Mountain Club. The CCMC continued to hold its local rock schools and climbing trips to introduce new members to the sport of mountaineering. The participation of a large number of active members added to the success of our activities. Our rock schools covered the basics of climbing, including belaying, rappelling, and piton work.

Club members climbed many of Colorado’s “fourteeners.” One of the toughest climbs was an attempt on the north face of Blanca Peak, where an unusual amount of snow for September halted the climbers below the summit. One notable success put 12 people on the summit of Mount Sneffels. John Auld and several other members are developing a new rock-climbing area at Cathedral Park south of Pikes Peak. Numerous difficult, extended routes have been completed, but many granite faces ranging up to 800 feet in height remain to be climbed.

Ron Bierstedt and Gary Ziegler will lead a summer of climbing in the ‘Cordillera Blanca of Peru in 1968. The intent will be to climb several of the few remaining unclimbed peaks as well as some of the larger conquered summits. In preparation for the Andean expedition, the Club is planning several difficult winter ascents for early 1968, including the lengthy Ellingwood Ridge of La Plata Peak in central Colorado.

The CCMC has also been interested in other phases of mountaineering. Because safety is a main concern of the Club, we have instituted a requirement for wearing hard hats and are in the planning stages of setting up a mountain search and rescue team. Through letters and petitions we have actively opposed the construction of a state highway which may be built through the Gorge Range Wilderness area. We are also compiling, expanding, and revising the CCMC Great Book, a climbing guide.

Jim McChristal and Steve Specht, President