The Trashing of the fourteeners

Jim Gehres has stood on the summits of all 54 of Colorado's Fourteeners, not just once, but 11 times. Specifically, he has climbed every one of these peaks - called "Fourteeners" because the mountains top 14,000 feet in elevation - 11 times each. All but 12 of them, he's climbed 12 times apiece.

When Denverite Gehres began climbing Fourteeners in 1960, he wasn't looking for a place in the record books. "It just got to be a weekend habit," he says. "it was good exercise, nice scenery, and I enjoyed having a checklist." He set a pace of 20 Fourteeners a year for 38 years. Today, whether he likes it or not, the fit 65-year-old IRS attorney is the undisputed king of the Fourteeners