People die summitting 14,000-foot mountain peaks. These climbers do it anyway.

• Despite the risks, climbing peaks of 14,000 feet – known as “14ers “– has exploded in popularity in recent decades.
• This popularity, fueled in part by social media, has given false confidence to amateur climbers, experts say.
• The recent death of an experienced climber from Denver who fell from a peak has renewed the question: Why do it?

Shaking from the cold, Andreas Stabno clung to a narrow ledge on the face of a Colorado mountain ridge and cried as rescuers told him the news: six more hours until help arrives.

When the gathering dark clouds unleashed hail, Stabno called his wife and daughters. Then his sister and his mother.

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