Non-Fiction  

with text by Perry Eberhart and photos by Philip Schmuck

A “Fourteener” is a mountain rising above 14,000 feet or more above sea level. Of some 80 Fourteeners in the United States, 53 of them are in Colorado, and this book is about all of their towering personalities.

Colorado is called “the Switzerland of America.” Many think of it as the ski capital of the world. The mountain slopes are wide and long, the snow is excellent for skiing, the season is among the longest in the world and the scenery is unsurpassed.

Today, the Colorado Rockies are a major attraction for all America. We are still awed by them, that they have become our friends.  We have given them names, and sometimes they have helped us find our own identity.  We have learned that mountains are dynamic, that each has a history, a legend, a beauty, a life of its own.

Because it is there,” the beckoning challenge of the mountain works for the non-climber as well. The ever changing faces of nature’s magnificent giants are there for the looking, the marveling at, the wondering about, the worshipping beneath, as well as the climbing.

This book is dedicated to all, the mountain climber, the would-be poet, the casual traveler. Perhaps, in some small way, the book will bring you into closer communion with Colorado’s mountain miracles through a better understanding and deeper appreciation of them.

Sage/Swallow Books (1970), last published by Ohio University Press

The book is now out of print but can be found at most online booksellers.