Patrick Lapera

1. The motivation. I’m not sorry about peak bagging because it helps motivate me to go out and climb things. I live in Colorado and I’m pretty shameless in my quest to climb all 14,000-foot peaks. There are weekends where I would have simply stayed home and played video games had I not wanted to add to my count. Everybody likes having notches in their belt. Peak bagging is like collecting Pokémon for people with ski racks on their car.

2. The view. There is no substitute for the view from a high mountain. Sitting on a mountaintop drinking my customary summit beer and looking out at the world around me is what I live for. In the mountains, only a summit can provide a panorama view, so why not go for a summit? If the view from the top of a high mountain fails to move you, there’s a chance you are dead inside or at least one of those people who hates camping (which is arguably worse).

3. The adventure. While you can have an adventure anywhere outdoors, summiting multiple peaks in a day or even a weekend evolves into an adventure pretty quickly. One time in Breckenridge I decided I wanted to climb Mt. Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross. I didn’t have a car so I biked and hiked 30 miles to the trailhead with all my supplies on my back. The next day the weather was so bad I summited two peak and partied with new friends at the trailhead. I woke up above the clouds and did the rest, mountain biking down to the town of Alma.

4. Because they’re there. Why not?