" CC does have a long history of climbers, which attracts people," says Jake Norton '96. "I couldn¹t believe some of the names I was hearing when I was applying."

Ziegler attended CC in the early '60s, when its mountaineering subculture was already thriving in Ellingwood's wake. Back then, English Professor Bob Ormes advised the Mountain Club, a group of students, friendly faculty, and a few local climbers who met weekly to give reports, show slides, train, and plan activities.

The late Bob Ormes taught at CC 1938-1973, sponsored the CC Mountain Club, and wrote the definitive "Guide to the Colorado Mountains." Photo courtesy of Tutt Library Special Collections.

"It was like a mountaineering fraternity" says Ziegler, who with Ormes help landed a grant to climb in Peru. Forty years later, Ziegler still guides tours to the mountainous South American country.

Ziegler has spent many of his post-CC years combining his love of climbing with archaeology, especially in isolated stretches of the Andes mountains ­ a combination he describes as "the ultimate game of intellectual chess." Most recently, he was part of a team that discovered an abandoned Inca village high on a ridge near Machu Picchu. (A complete article on Ziegler's Cota Coca expeditions appeared in the November 2002 issue of the Bulletin.)

In 1959, the CC Mountain Climbing Club made the first winter ascent of Zoroaster¹s Temple in the Grand Canyon. From left, the group included physics Professor Joe Ball, Gary Ziegler '64, Bill Wentworth '62, Sky Stevenson '61, and Steve Peacock '62. Photo: Rick Tidrick 60.

Block Breaks Create Opportunities

Since 1970, when the Block Plan was implemented, CC students have had still
another reason to go climbing ­ four days off between blocks.

"Block breaks might be the clincher as to why it's such an outdoor community," says Katy Garton '01, now a grad student in film-making at Montana State who took full advantage of her time off at CC. "We would plan to go as early as we could, get out there, and come back as late as we could. I was never there on campus on the weekend."

Time at CC has meant unforgettable mountaineering experiences for many. For Conlin and his friends, some of the most memorable treks happened at the very last minute. One lonely weekend evening in 1998, he and his friends were wondering what they should do for relaxation and fun. After some deliberation, they decided to climb Pikes Peak ­ that very evening.

"We tried to go to bed at 8 p.m. because we were planning on meeting up at midnight to climb the peak," says Conlin. The sleeping idea failed, but the climb commenced at midnight as planned. They took 12 hours for the round trip, finishing by midday, and thence developed a habit of last-minute climbs.

Katy Garton '01 almost always climbs with her sister Rachel ¹00, as in this photo nearly 16,000 feet up Denali (Mount McKinley). Garton says the intensity of climbing can strengthen personal relationships: "We've fought at very high elevations. It's allowed us to grow in ways that we never would have otherwise." Photo: Katy Garton '01.

Other trips involve more serious preparation. In the summer of 2000, Katy Garton, her sister Rachel '00, and friends Anna Jansen '02 and Molly Loomis '00 donned skis, strapped sleds to their backs, and spent 28 days traversing the large glaciers surrounding Juneau, Alaska, and the majestic Taku Towers. That trip featured a major white-out toward the end of the journey. "One day, I could barely see the tips of my skis. I felt like I was on another planet, with no idea where the next step would lead," says Garton. The group, strapped together with ropes, used a compass to stay on track and managed to avoid "skiing over cliffs or into crevasses."

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