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Action County

RICHARD CHITTICK

Breckenridge’s Teague Holmes has climbed all over the country. From Yosemite to Joshua Tree to the various climbing crags of Summit County, he’s done it all.Surprisingly, as broad as his climbing resume is, Holmes scariest moment on the rock happened right here in Summit County. On a winter training climb on Mount Royal’s steep northwest face, Holmes found himself desperately searching for handholds on loose, ice-covered stone, hundreds of feet above Interstate 70 near Frisco. To make it up the climb, he had to do what is known in climbing circles as a run-out – climbing high above the last point of protection that your ropes can offer. When he finally reached the top, he realized he had learned one of his most valuable lessons as a climber.”You can’t let your guard down,” he said. “You have to respect yourself and know where you are climbing.” When Holmes isn’t at the local crag or on the Breckenridge Recreation Center climbing wall, he can be found pounding nails as a carpenter in the summer and teaching skiing and snowboarding at Breckenridge Ski Resort in the winter. How did you get into rock climbing?”As a kid, I would run around in the woods and climb trees. Then I went to a camp in the Adirondacks (in upstate New York) and they took us climbing. I immediately liked it – it was such a vivid and beautiful experience.” Where’s your favorite place to climb?”Longs Peak (in Rocky Mountain National Park) is my favorite mountain in the world. It holds a place in my soul I just can’t describe. I also go to Yosemite once a year, sometimes more.”How do you rate the climbing in Summit County?”It’s limited with some gems. It’s a good place for training and staying in shape. The Montezuma area is the only area I climb at (locally). Haus Rock is the best, just because it has such good variety.”


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