Gerry Roach | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 8, 1943 |
| Occupation | Mountaineer |
| Spouse | Jennifer Roach |
Gerry Roach is an American mountaineer and author based out of Colorado.
Gerry moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1954, where he picked up the sport of climbing. In 1959, he traveled with 3 friends to Mexico, where they climbed three Mexican volcanoes: Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl, and Iztaccihuatl. [1] [2]
In 1963, he climbed Denali, the highest peak in North America.
In 1973, he climbed Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, Kilimanjaro, and Mount Logan.
In 1975, he completed climbing all of the fourteeners in Colorado. [3] This year, he also summitted Aconcagua in Argentina.
In 1976, he made his first attempt on Mount Everest, but had to turn around after reaching the South Col.
In 1978, Gerry finished climbing every named peak in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks Wilderness.
In 1983, he climbed Mount Everest, becoming the 12th American to summit the peak. [4]
In 1985, he climbed Mount Elbrus in Russia and Mount Vinson in Antarctica, which made him the second person to climb the seven summits. [5]
In 1994, he climbed Carstenz Pyramid in New Guinea.
In 1997, he climbed Gasherbrum II in the Karakoram range, without using supplemental oxygen.
In August of 2023, Gerry was climbing an unnamed 13,200 foot peak near Silverton, Colorado when he fell 100 feet down a steep slope before coming to a stop. He was climbing with his wife, Jennifer, who witnessed the incident. He suffered a concussion, five broken ribs, a broken nose, collapsed right lung, and various bruising and lacerations. In the middle of the night, the Silverton Medical Rescue Group worked to locate Gerry and a Flight for Life helicopter attempted to land, but was unable to identify a safe landing location.
After spending the night on the mountain with the search and rescue team, Gerry was then hoisted into a Black Hawk helicopter operated by the Colorado National Guard and taken to a lower elevation. From there, a Flight for Life helicopter transferred him to a hospital in Durango, Colorado. [6] [7]
Gerry graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in math in 1964. [8]
Gerry was featured in an article published in the August 2000 edition of Rock & Ice magazine.
On September 9, 2005, Gerry was presented with the Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award by the Sierra Club.
In 2006, Gerry received the Colorado Mountain Club's Ellingwood Golden Ice Axe Award.
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