Who Climbs with Bob?
Chode . . .
 Chode, website author and maintainer. Climbing with Bob is the product of a perfectly good engineer thrust into the trauma of law school and taking a nightly break from the experience of taking a perfectly useable brain and twisting it into the demented form needed for the practice of law.
I've climbed the 14'ers of Colorado and started working on the Centennials. Winter climbs and death marches, too many miles on snowshoes and not enough spills on the AT gear to convince my aging body that such activity is not in my best interest. I've climbed in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and the Canadian Rockies. My Spanish is passable and my job is logistics. Get me to the base of the mountain and then G'Tard runs the show. The sun is my Prozac and until it breaks the horizon, I'm best left alone. I like good neve but I really don't like crevasses.
G'Tard . . .
 G'Tard is the able bodied partner and climbing alter ego. He's got all but 4 of the 14'ers, the same death marches, winter overnights, and same thoughts about snowshoes. When the AT gear comes out, his job is to lead the way and then stand back and laugh when I attempt to follow.
His big mountain experience includes Rainier, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru's, Canada's, and Ecuador. He alive in the morning and pushes me along until the sun kicks in. I worry about logistics and he knows that's my job, but come time for the first footfall on a glacier and the roles reverse . . . he's in his element. I may not like crevasses but I know I won't drop far with G'Tard on the other end of the rope.
Reach Around . . .
Reach Around now has 47 14'ers and went along on our second Canadian trip to get the feel of some blue ice under his crampons. He scored Assiniboine on a spitting ice August afternoon, one pitch at a time and made a nice climb up Athabasca's Silverhorn earlier in that same trip. Reach enjoys a good car camp but would prefer not to encounter any bears along the way to or from the summit.
Malbec . . .
 Malbec has recently joined our merry band and made his bones on rock right out of the gate. He's bagged a winter 13'er, a long snow climb and a summer ridge run without a whimper. He headed to Argentina in early 2010 for his first look at the Southern Cross. Malbec recently got his club card and although he manages our local supermarket the Climbing with Bob card has nothing to do with lowered costs and consumer savings. . .
Compadres . . .
Our climbing and non climbing compatriots include Mrs. Pinga, Mrs. Pucaruru, Reach Around, Cala Chupi, Senior Aeropuerto, Bob Snow-nap, Dr. Shart Strangelove, Howard Jr. and the Jude.
 Mrs. Pinga does not climb but she knows I have to make my periodic pilgrimages to the mountains, including two weeks every summer to some non Club Med destination. She is understanding and supportive and hung in there as I tramped about Colorado collecting the 14'ers over the course of many a weekend. That's a very good and understanding wife.
 Mrs. Pucaruru has 40 some odd 14'ers to her credit and climbed Gmoser's Highway (Mount Assiniboine) when she was two months pregnant. I'm still impressed to this day. She appreciates a good Donna Summer tune at 5 a.m. on a zero degree morning and is willing to open the car door to let a fellow Donna Summer fan listen along during his early morning constitutional. She appreciates fine cooking on a stainless steel grill without fear of heavy metal poisoning and knows that all the talk of Bolivian prostitutes is just that.
 Dr. Shart Strangelove joins us about every other long trip from the jungle paradise of Guam. The good Doctor provides a steady diet of humor and education, bringing us up to speed on the feminization of American society and the effect it is having on our lives. We are also lectured extensively on tribal cultures and oral hygiene. The Doctor regales us with his non climbing adventures, including his periodic cultural immersion trips of the sort the rest of us can only dream about. And to think, they closed Subic Bay!
  I have to mention our Peruvian staff, Senor Cala Chupi and Senior Aeropuerto. We've climbed with these guys during the course of both of our trips to Peru and I cannot imagine finding better company for a trip. The knowledge they bring far surpasses their job titles and they don't just contribute to a trip but they are integral to the enjoyment and success of our Peru trips.
 I also have to mention my folks, Howard Jr. and Jude, who often provide one of the most important items of logistical support, a ride to and from the airport. Sounds easy, but you gotta get there and it is really nice of them to do so.
. . . and what about Bob?
Well, sorry folks, but Bob is actually the moniker of the turtle who sticks his head out at the worst of times . . . now admit it . . . you've climbed with Bob.
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