14ers.com is the premier source of information on Colorado peaks exceeding 14,000 feet in height (14ers or Fourteeners). It's a comprehensive collection of information, with massive amounts of content provided by it's members so we have everything you need to plan climbs and track your progress as you work your way through the 14ers.
The mission of 14ers.com is to provide detailed Colorado peak information without advertisements or membership fees. Open and free. During summer, 14ers.com gets thousands of visitors each day but with the combination of large, dedicated servers and high-bandwidth data communication lines, you shouldn't have trouble getting information from the site. I created 14ers.com in 2000 and over the years the content and user community have grown as I've dedicated my time to adding tools for both new and veteran hikers, providing climbing information you can trust and making it the best 14er site on the web. I hope 14ers.com will help you safely gain your next summit and make some friends along the way.
14ers.com is not a personal blog like you've probably seen when searching on Google — clogged with annoying advertisements, trying to profit from the popularity of the 14ers. Even worse, there are 14er poser sites by individuals who lack climbing experience and harvest information from 14ers.com and other valuable sites just to monetize 14er search traffic.
14ers.com is not about me; however, I understand a bit of background may be of interest to some.
I'm a software engineer and avid skier from The Berkshires in western Massachusetts. In 1989 (I know), I took a ski trip with friends where I discovered Colorado was the center of the earth. Thereafter annual Colorado ski trips became tradition and I would look forward to seeing big mountains and skiing and resorts across the state. I fell in love with Colorado and knew I wanted to live there as soon as possible. In 1992, back east, I started an E-commerce software & consulting firm with three like-minded business partners and grew the company throughout the mid-90s. It was a stressful yet exciting time as the business world was booming and our company grew dramatically. In 1996, I opened a branch office in Denver West and my wife Lisa, daughter and I moved to Evergreen. Finally, we made it to Colorado. I immediately started exploring the state, hiking and skiing as much as possible, captivated by Colorado's high peaks. We grew our company for a couple more years before selling it prior to the dot-com bubble burst. Liberated from the corporate world with my sanity spared, we moved to Breckenridge. We really made it. Living at 10,000 feet and 20 years of exploration in the mountains ensued.
In 2021, our son went off to college so we decided to downsize our house and move closer to the kids, in the Front Range. Now, no longer can we simply cross the road to reach the ski slopes but at the new place I don't have to shovel snow 50 days each winter. Living in a ski town for 20 years and 1,500+ summit days was a pretty good run; I will never forget Breckenridge. I still get to the mountains often, it's just a bit more driving. What hasn't changed is that I spend my morning coffee time tinkering with 14ers.com and looking for ways to expand site content and improve the mobile apps. Occassionally, a hike partner will ask me how long I'll keep 14ers.com going. To be honest, I'm not sure. 14ers.com has been like a side job for the past 23 years and I enjoy working on it because it helps the hiking community while providing a bit of brain exercise. Sometimes it's a PITA and then there are those mornings I'm eager to implement a new content idea I thought up in the shower. At this point, I plan on continuing the site for at least the next few years. -October, 2022
Happy trails,
Bill Middlebrook
Pine, Colorado