Hi there, my name is Mike Kosel. As of the latest version here (updated December '10) I am a 40-year-old Colorado native currently residing in Littleton, a sprawling suburb on Denver's southwest side. I live with my two insanely happy Labrador retrievers (Ben and Dex), and some wierd-looking thing (called Hoshi) that came about from the result of golden retriever's tryst with a basset hound. From a professional point of view, I lead a team of software test engineers for a major health care provider. Basically, I make sure that our software works the way it's supposed to before our doctors use it. I am also a closet photographer, graphic artist and web developer, mostly puttering around for my own benefit. This site you're surfing now has created wholly by me, from the graphics to the layout and everything else. I realize it ain't exactly cutting edge, but it relays the information I want to get across, which is the important thing.

I attended the University of Colorado in Boulder back in the late 80's/early 90's where I discovered hiking, mountain biking, downhill skiing, and the general enjoyment of all things high country. Living in Boulder, the exposure to the outdoor life is pretty overwhelming, and it felt like I was opening my eyes for the first time. There really was more to life than school and stuff like that! During my 5 year tenure at Boulder, I became a ravenous outdoorsperson, evolving into an accomplished skier, competing mountain biker, long-distance and touring cyclist, and on and on. I was having the time of my life until I graduated and took a job, reluctantly, in the very non-mountainous area of Detroit. Me and my two engineering degrees went to work for one of the big 3 automakers doing design work. The job was great, but I was miserable. For the first time in my life, I couldn't look west and see the foothills or Pikes Peak. I couldn't drive into the mountains on a Saturday morning for a day of mountain biking. And alpine skiing? Forget it! It didn't take long for me to realize that this just wasn't the place for me, and I soon moved back to Colorado, having secured a job with a local aerospace subcontractor.

It was in this job that I actually climbed my first official fourteener - Longs Peak. The folks I worked with were all recreational climbers, and I went along on a trip through the Keyhole. Having never faced that kind of climb or exposure, it scared the crap out of me! Soon thereafter (and with a lot of cajoling to get me to go), the same group made an ascent of Humboldt Peak. Sitting on the top of Humboldt, with the valleys and Westcliffe stretching to the east and the Crestones looming close to the south, I realized that this was just about the coolest thing that I had ever done, and I was hooked.

I started buying guidebooks, maps, better boots, backpacks...sometimes I think I keep REI in business! I started climbing 14ers pretty much at random, picking the ones that were close to Denver and fairly easy. Remembering Longs Peak, I knew I needed to get a little more experience before trying a climb like that again. Before long, I had Elbert, Lincoln, Democrat, Bross, Sherman, Bierstadt, Grays & Torreys...all the usual "first 'teeners" for folks along the Front Range. It was somewhere in there that I began to experience this thing called the Web, and I thought to myself, "Hey! How about putting together an online guide book, based on my climbs?". Back in 1997 it was quite an undertaking...mine was one of the first sites with any type of 14er info out there. Sure, there were only a handful of peaks with data, but I was getting there!

Nowadays there are dozens of sitess with 14er-related information, which I think is great, and why I include links to get you to a lot of them. As of late 2010, I've got the Grand Slam (successful climbs of all 54 14ers) under my belt, and I'm frankly rather proud of this site - one of the very, very few that details one person's opinions and thoughts from climbing Colorado's 54 14ers. I'm still climbing 14ers whenever I get the chance, and I am also working towards the so-called Seven Summits - the highest points on each continent around the world! Three down, four to go!

Many people wonder why I (and other people in general) climb mountains. We all have our reasons, many very different from others. Aside from the obvious and tired answer "because it's there", there are lots of reasons I climb...the beauty of the mountains, the solitude, the escape from the fast-paced modern life, the sense of accomplishment, being an adrenaline junkie, etc., etc. For me, these are all part of it, but frankly, to me climbing in the mountains is just one of those things that feels fundamentally right and good. Like this is the place I belong, and where I feel like I'm one with the world. And really, isn't that what we're all looking for? I feel lucky to have found my personal nirvana in the mountains of Colorado.