Highpointers: Peak Baggers of a Different Sort

Logo used by permission of the Highpointers Club

Everyone, it seems, has his or her “list.”  Whether the PCS, SPS, DPS, Colorado Fourteeners, or the Seven Summits, there are lists for every climber.  Highpointers have their own, the geographic high points of the fifty states.  The state summits range from Britton Hill’s 345’ (Florida) to the summit of McKinley/Denali at 20,320’, the high point of Alaska and of the North American continent.  Of the fifty state summits, only four are taller than 14,000’ (Alaska, California, Colorado and Washington) and thirteen are higher than 10,000’.  At least half are “drive ups,” involving less than a quarter mile of walking, generally on paved or graveled paths.

The Highpointers Club (http://www.highpointers.org) was founded by Jack Longacre and now boasts 2,372 members.  The current club chairman, Roger Rowlett, maintains an excellent reference site (http://www.americasroof.com) for looking up highpoints, trip reports and various related trivia, like the lowest points of the states.  According to club records, a handful over 100 climbers have completed the list of the fifty state highpoints.  The club holds an annual meeting at one of the state highpoints, rotating among the four geographic regions.

What is the appeal of a list of mostly “easy” (one might arguably say “trivial”) hummocks, hilltops and only a handful of true mountains?  A certain wanderlust, combined with curiosity about the odd corners of the United States, is a big part of it.  You definitely see areas of the country you would never otherwise think of visiting when you embark on a highpointing expedition.  Fortunately, the eastern 2/3 of the highpoints cluster well enough that combining anywhere from four to a dozen in a week long car trip is feasible.  Quite a few involve pleasant day hikes through some picturesque terrain.  There is always the element of risk to add some adrenaline to the mix.  The highpoint of Delaware, although the second lowest at 448’, is frequently referred to as the second most dangerous (after Denali, of course).  Why?  It lies within an intersection in suburban Wilmington, so taking your summit photos requires dodging traffic as well as facing the rigors of extreme elevation.

There are three “definitive” guidebooks to the 50 state highpoints:  Fifty State Summits, by Paul L. Zumwalt, Highpoint Adventures: A Pocket Guide to the 50 State Highpoints by Charlie and Diane Winger and Highpoints of the United States, by Don W. Holmes.  The Winger and Holmes books are more current and are available through amazon.com.  All three are available through the club’s website.  Paul Zumwalt also distributes his own book and at age 90 is still active in the club.  An earlier book, Highpoints of the States, by Frank Ashley, was published in 1970 and is long out of print.

Who were the first to climb all of the state summits?  According to Zumwalt, Arthur H. Marshall completed all 48 summits in July 1936, long before there were 50 States in the Union.  The first 50 state completer was John V. “Vin” Hoeman.  Hoeman perished in an avalanche on Dhaulagiri in 1969, and the Vin Hoeman Award is a club service award used by the Highpointers Club honor members’ activities for the club.

Of course, if a short list of 50 summits seems too easy, you can always start checking off the county highpoints of each state!  (Trivia question:  What is the county highpoint of Madera County, CA?  Hint:  There is a certain connection between it and the author of this article…)

Alan Ritter (29 state highpoints and counting)
http://www.mtritter.org