The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum, housed in the American Mountaineering Center just north of downtown Golden, Colorado, is a brand new museum dedicated to mountain sports, including rock climbing, mountaineering, and ice climbing. The museum offers lots of diverse educational exhibits, including the history of American free climbing, the famed 10th Mountain Division from World War II, a Roof of the Rockies display on Colorado climbing, a 135-square-foot scale model of the Mount Everest region, avalanches, types of rocks, mountain cultures, and the effect of global warming on mountain environments.
The museum, named for the late Bradford Washburn, a great American mountaineer, explorer, photographer, and cartographer, honors not only his memory and accomplishments, but also those of many other great American climbers like Albert Ellingwood, a Rhodes Scholar and Colorado College professor who made many pioneering ascents in the American West.
Interesting artifacts on display are Pete Schoening’s famed ice axe with which he saved five falling climbers during an American attempt on K2, the world’s second highest mountain in 1953; Albert Ellingwood’s folding box camera and journal notes; equipment used by the U.S. Army’s elite 10th Mountain Division soldiers in battles in the Italian Alps; and cultural objects like a handmade Dorje Thorlo mask used in rituals at Tengboche Buddhist Monastery in Nepal.
Also check out Base Camp, the museum store run by the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC), with lots of cool gifts like climbing magnets, t-shirts, calendars, maps, books, stuffed mountain animal toys, jewelry, and souvenirs.
The Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum is located at 710 10th Street, Golden, Colorado. It’s easily accessed from Denver via I-70, C-470, US 6 and CO 58 or from Boulder via CO 93. Admission for Adults is $6.50 and for children is $4.50. Members of the American Alpine Club, Colorado Mountain Club, and National Geographic Society pay $3.25. Group rates are available. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursdays are open until 7 p.m. For more info call (303) 996-2755 or visit their website.
