Andrew has contributed his photography to the site. He is one of the new generation of climbers and you will no doubt see more of his photographs and hear more about his climbing exploits in the future.

Dan is a Treasure Valley native who has lived in various places around the Pacific Northwest and now calls Boise home. He spent a lot of his younger days camping, skiing and fishing in the Idaho and Oregon Wilderness, but a busy work schedule and other obligations got in the way. A spontaneous hike in 2015 renewed his love of the outdoors and he has become hooked. Dan has plans to climb many of the higher peaks and visit the amazing outdoor places of Idaho, the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Dan, among his other contributions, provided helpful route clarification for the Standard Route on Stack Rock and Castle Rock found on the Boise Ridge.

Ken Jones lives in Washington State but always seems to visit Idaho each year. You can find his name in summit registers all over the state. Ken was the first person to climb every Idaho Peak with 2,000 feet of prominence.

Ken has been bagging peaks of various sorts since he was 16. He started with the peak lists formulated by the Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks, Sierra Peaks and Desert Peaks Sections (completing the first of those impressive lists in 1997). Ken states, “I’ll probably never finish the other 2 lists although I still hit a new DPS peak every once in a while.” Ken moved on to Mazamas lists when he moved to Oregon. Next up, he tackled the state high points next, completing the list in 1994. County high points were next. Ken independently started drawing up lists of county high points but he relates, “Thank goodness I found out that others were already doing much of that map work!”

Ken is now based in the Seattle area and his current interests include: “Prominent peaks (especially those with 2,000 feet or more of prominence in the U.S. and Ultra prominences around the world), some county high points and some of The Mountaineers’ peak lists. I’m more of a scrambler than a climber, though I’ve gotten myself up a few of the more difficult peaks when I needed to.”

Sadly, Kevin Hansen died as the result of a climbing accident on Labor Day Weekend 2020. He was descending Granite Peak in Montana after summiting with his father and two brothers. During the descent, a boulder they were using as an anchor dislodged, killing Kevin and injuring his brother.

Kevin was one of Idaho’s best and most active climbers. He made many difficult climbs in the Lost River Range including four impressive firsts as well as follow-ups on four of the range’s most difficult routes.

The East Face Direct – Mt Borah (FA)
The North Face Direct – Sacajawea (FA)
The Mountaineer’s Route – East Face of Mt Idaho (FA)
The East Face Direct – Mt Idaho (FA)

Psycho Therapy – North Face of Mt Borah
White Line Couloir – Mt Morrison
Northwest Ridge – Mt Borah
Borah, Borah, Borah – North Face of Mt Borah

Kevin Hansen grew up in Idaho Falls and competed in Gymnastics from 1983 until he started gym climbing in 1994. Sport rappelling led to sport climbing which led to trad climbing in 1997. As part of his Minor Degree in Outdoor Education, the ISU Outdoor Program introduced him to ice climbing and aid climbing in 2000. By 2001, he had climbed many pitches in Yosemite, Devils Tower and the City of Rocks.

Mount Borah was his first mountaineering experience in 2004 with his older brother. Car -to- car took over 11 hours that first trip. Since then, he has climbed the mountain 10 times (1X North Face, 2X East Face Direct, 1X Northwest Ridge and 6X COR trail including a Winter ascent.) For now, Kevin is happy to follow in the footsteps of Dean Lords and open new ice and rock routes in the Lost River Range. He was married in 2002 and was raising 4 children.

Bob Boyles, one of Kevin’s climbing partners remembers “First and foremost, Kevin was a family man. On several of our adventures after finishing a long, hard day of climbing Kevin would suddenly decide that he was not going to spend the night but instead would leave so he could get some extra time with his family and make it to church on Sunday even if it meant walking out in the dark and driving all night. The first time he did this I was amazed but later on I came to expect it.”

Daniel Todd notes: “Kevin really was an inspirational person to me. He was a great and visionary climber and I never met anyone more stoked about climbing than him. He would always encourage me when I had ideas or act so excited whenever I would accomplish anything. I guess it would only be fair to say I hope I can be half the person and climber Kevin was. RIP, I wish I had known you longer.”

Dave Bingham: “I didn’t know Kevin well, but enough to know he had the life force of an army. May we carry on in his tradition!“

Dan Robbins: “Two things stand out on every post I’ve seen tributing Kevin. One, he is always smiling in photos. Not some small fake grin, but a genuine big smile! Two, he offered help, advice and encouragement to a lot of people. Quite a few that kept with climbing.”

Check out Kevin’s adventure: the Borah North Face – Junk Rock Direct, a new route variation put up in June 2017.