Mountaineering Museum Opens In Golden

Golden is now home to a one-of-a-kind museum. The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum is dedicated to mountains and mountain climbing.

Director Nina Johnson stopped by CBS4 Weekend Morning News Sunday to talk about the museum. She said the idea is for the museum to have a wide appeal despite its narrow focus.

"We expect who are passionate about the sport of bouldering or rock climbing to come and have fun with us," she said.

"But we layered the museum so people can people can be interested in the aesthetics, the beauty of the mountains, the science and the safety of the mountains."

"We're hoping people will come to us first and learn a little bit about safety before they go up into the mountains."

The main floor of the museum includes a huge, finely detailed replica of Mount Everest. There is also a climbing wall.

"It's very interactive and we have things for people of all ages," said Johnson. "Children can have a great time with computer interactives. We have things like 'dress the climber' where you can find out what historic underwear looked like for women of 1895."

Johnson comes to the museum with a goal in mind.

"This museum was planned to be something unexpected. We wanted people to walk into the museum and see something that's modern, interactive, fun and engaging. We wanted to be a space that really wowed you."

The museum is a partnership between the National Geographic Society, the Colorado Mountain Club and the American Alpine Club.

It's named after a man who was the director of the Boston Museum of Science for 30 years.

"Bradford Washburn was a very famous mountaineer and aerial photographer. He was also a surveyor and a cartographer."