Thermal Sensors Show Colorado 14ers Are Busier Than Ever
GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - When it comes to 14,000-feet mountain peaks there is no dispute, Colorado is the state with the highest number of mountain peaks and a new analysis by a group called the Colorado 14ers Initiative confirms hiking is up.
The non-profit has been around protecting alpine wildlife for about 25 years, however four years ago it upgraded its traffic counters, and the group believes it's now getting the most accurate gauge of since it started keeping track of hikers.
"So you see the green flash when I put the sensor past my body? That is the way it counts, the red is just showing it's in an active mode," Lloyd Athearn said.
Athearn is the executive director for the Colorado 14ers Initiative. He showed CBS4 how thermal sensors were used along hiking trails to count people for the group's latest report. They counters are laid out May through October, the hiking season.
"Generally what we're finding is on really popular Front Range peaks we're seeing more people every year."
According to the group's findings, 353,000 people climbed 14ers in 2018. That's about a 6% increase form 2017, and about 100,000 more people than just four years ago.
"You know on a peak day on Quandary you might have 600-850 and on Bierstadt you might have one day over a thousand, that's a lot of people."
Quandary Peak, near Breckenridge is the busiest 14er, and most climbers made their way up on the weekends, according to the data.
What's driving the increase of hikers are new people moving to Colorado.
"The largest group of people migrating into the state are in kind of a late 20s to mid 30s period," Athearn said
Tourism is also a big driver The report also showed that busier mountains helped to generate an estimated $95 million in statewide economic impact. The average hiker spends about $271 a day.
And as the counters continue to be used to count what seems like a growing number of hikers each year atop 14ers, Athearn stresses the need to protect fragile alpine environment more than ever.
"You can't throw trash, pack in pack out."
