The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Second woman, ninth person, to complete the goal
Crested Butte Community High School math teacher Brittany Walker set a goal back in 2006 and on Saturday, May 14 she reached it.
Walker grew up in Ohio but looked west from the first time she spent time in the mountains when she backpacked in Alaska at the age of 14 with her father.
“I knew then I needed to be in the mountains,” explained Walker. “I worked my butt off to get out of Ohio.”
She landed at CU in 1994. Upon finishing a degree in chemistry and another in teaching in 2002, Walker started teaching physics and chemistry in Westminster.
Then, in 2006, she caught inspiration from famous ski mountaineer Chris Davenport. After reading about him skiing Colorado “14ers,” she set her sights on the same goal.
“I was definitely inspired by him to do it,” says Walker. “My goal was to ski them in five years and ski them safely.”
In May 2006 she was invited by Fritz Sperry to ski Mt. Princeton. After skiing two or three more 14ers, Walker reached out to the online community to find someone who wanted to join her in her goal.
“I didn’t know anybody who wanted to ski the fourteeners,” says Walker.
Walker read about Frank Konsella’s accomplishments in a ski forum on the Teton Gravity Research website and asked him to ski Castle Peak with her.
They skied Castle together and proceeded to ski another series of fourteeners, finishing the spring 2006 season having completed 10 of the 54 peaks.
Following her first season in pursuit of the goal, Walker was honed to finish it.
“I didn’t think I was in over my head,” explains Walker. “I knew I had to work on my mountaineering skills. I was worried about Capitol, Crestone Needle and Pyramid.”
She had a solid 2007 season but closed it on a tough note after an experience on North Maroon left her with the pang of self-doubt.
“It was super icy and I was really scared,” admits Walker. “My ice axe was only going in maybe half an inch and the front points of my crampons were barely making marks in the ice. I turned around. I ended my season on that peak and was doubting myself.”
Walker shook off the self-doubt quickly in 2008.
“When I did return, I got back into the nitty-gritty,” says Walker.
She skied a number of other fourteeners but the true turning point for Walker came when she returned to North Maroon.
“The best thing for me was that I skied North Maroon that April,” says Walker. “I knew I had the capabilities to get the fourteeners done.”
That left nine peaks for the 2009 season. Walker had been knocking off fourteeners while holding a full-time teaching job from 2006 through the spring of 2008. In the summer of 2008 she left her job and moved to Crested Butte. With no full-time job, living in Crested Butte and nine peaks left to ski, her goal was well within reach a year ahead of schedule.
Walker remembers the day that set her back an entire season. She tore her ACL skiing on February 15, 2009.
By the time she was back on track, she had landed a full-time teaching job in Crested Butte and was back to burning the candle at both ends.
Oftentimes, Walker would walk out the door of the Crested Butte Community School Friday afternoon with her car packed and ready to go ski another fourteener.
“I would just catch up on sleep Monday night,” explains Walker. “In the spring I just wouldn’t sleep that much and catch up in the summer. I really like teaching and I really like being in the mountains. It’s kind of an escape. I feel like I’m living two different lives, teacher and skier.”
Walker returned to action from her injury with a stout ski on Crestone Peak and was poised to finish the goal in 2010. But, the weather and her full-time job limited her to skiing seven of the last nine, one of which was Capitol.
According to Walker, Capitol is known as the hardest of all 54 fourteeners to ski.
“It’s considered the hardest one due to the sheer exposure,” says Walker. “I just try not to think about it. I’m aware of it but you can’t dwell on the consequences because it’s not going to do you any good when you’re up there.”
Capitol was a big one for Walker and she was psyched once it was done.
“Capitol was definitely a crowning achievement,” says Walker. “That peak was not fun to ski, it was about getting it done. It’s a 19-hour day.”
