Jim Detterline

James Lee Detterline (February 28, 1956 – October 2016) was an American mountaineer, rescuer, and park ranger. He was known for having around 428 ascents of Longs Peak (the most of any person);[1] a feat for which Tom Hornbein dubbed him "Mr. Longs Peak".[2]

Dr.

James "Jim" Detterline
Born
James Lee Detterline

(1956-02-28)February 28, 1956
Pottsville, Pennsylvania
DiedOctober 2016(2016-10-00) (aged 60)
Boulder County, Colorado near Allenspark
Cause of deathClimbing accident
Other names"Mr. Longs Peak"
Education

Personal life

Detterline was born in Pottsville, Northeastern Pennsylvania, in the state's Coal Region.[3] He credited his dad with piquing his interest into the outdoors.[4] Detterline's parents were Rev. Milton E. Detterline and Nancy Day Detterline.[5] Jim's mother later remarried and changed her last name to Weeber.[6]

When he was eight years old, his parents went on a family vacation to Kentucky, including Natural Bridge State Park. While there, he decided to test for the Kentucky Junior Naturalist Award, and upon receiving it, became the youngest person to have earned the honor.[7]

Education

Detterline was a graduate of Boyertown Area Senior High School, and went on to Moravian College, where he earned a B.S. in biology (1978).[8][9] He later attended what was then Memphis State University, and received an M.S. in vertebrate zoology (1982) and a Ph.D. in invertebrate zoology (1989).[8][10] He served as president of the Memphis Mountaineers in 1986 and 87,[11][12] and later as an expedition leader to Ecuador in 1988 and Argentina in 1989.[13][14]

Relationships

For some time while he was at Memphis, he was married to a woman named Jennifer.[15] He married his widowed wife, Rebecca, in 2012.[16]

Career

Detterline first began climbing while at Moravian.[3] He climbed actively until he became discouraged in 1980 following a near-death experience. Detterline and a friend were climbing at Grand Teton, and were trapped by a storm for five days before being rescued by rangers.[17] Detterline said after the incident: "I'm discouraged from alpine climbing. That's it for a while."[18]

Detterline began his National Park Service career in 1982 at Dinosaur National Monument, though moved to Rocky Mountain National Park in 1984, and was assigned to Longs Peak specifically in 1986.[19] From 1987 to 2009 he served as a park ranger of the Longs Peak area.[20] Detterline was awarded the Valor Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1996,[21] citing his bravery in rescuing two people from a river the previous year.[22][23] He had waded into a river while others were setting up equipment and stopped a couple from flowing over a 75-foot waterfall.[24][25] The couple was in the Roaring River within Rocky Mountain park boundaries and lunged to grab on to Detterline, and he held on to them until they were pulled to safety.[26] In total, Detterline had preformed over 1,200 rescues during his career.[27]

Detterline's career as a ranger had a stint as Longs Peak supervisory ranger starting in 1987, but he was reassigned in November 1996, an act he felt was discriminatory against his hearing loss, especially when it had been less than a year since he had received the Valor Award.[28] Other park employees and the public became concerned that the mountain would become more dangerous without his expert supervision.[29][30] He was able to remain supervisory ranger until 2008,[31] though in 2001 he was put on light duty, reducing his options for career progression.[32] He retired in 2009.[33] Following his retirement, he still worked at multiple jobs, including a wrangler at a lodge, an operator for a scientific contractor, and as an adjunct professor for Front Range Community College's campus in Larimer County.[8] He was also a volunteer firefighter for the Allenspark Fire Department.[8][34]

During his lifetime, he held the record for most consecutive months summiting Longs Peak, with a streak of 2 years, 7 months ending in October 2001.[35] The record was beaten by Lisa Foster, who set a three-year streak in 2022.[36] Detterline's record of over 420 summits of Longs Peak at the time of his death beat Shep Husted's record of 350, which Detterline broke in 2010.[37]

Detterline played the trumpet in a band.[38] He was also an advocate for the hard of hearing;[39] for which he received a Focus on People Award from Oticon in 2010;[40][41] he was the first place winner in the adult category.[42] Also as part of his hearing loss advocacy, he often too hard of hearing youth on hikes to the summit of Longs.[43]

Death

Detterline was last seen alive on October 23, 2016;[16] his wife saw him then before she embarked on a trip.[8] His body was found in the afternoon of October 25th, and it is presumed he had died earlier that day.[44][45] He died from an accidental fall climbing the "Ironclads" formation less than a mile from his Allenspark, Colorado home.[46] His Border Collie Annie was waiting near him when the body was discovered.[7] He was 60 years old. The Allenspark Fire Protection District posted a picture of Detterline to their Facebook page following his death.[47]

References
  1. "Fatal Ground Fall – Climbing Alone". Accidents in North American Mountaineering. 11 (70): 55. 2017.
  2. "Former Rocky Mountain Park Ranger And Noted Rescuer Dies". Colorado Public Radio. Associated Press. October 28, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  3. Detterline, Jim (November 12, 2013). "Jim Detterline Oral History" (Interview). Interviewed by Bryon Hoerner.
  4. "Dr. James Lee 'Jim' Detterline". Estes Park News. October 31, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  5. "James Detterline Obituary - Greeley, CO". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  6. "Weeber, Nancy (Day) Detterline". The Mercury. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via PA-Roots.
  7. "James Detterline". Estes Park Trail-Gazette. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
  8. Foster, Lisa (2017). "Jim Detterline, 1956 – 2016". American Alpine Journal. 59 (91).
  9. "Jim Had to Climb". StarWatch: Moravian College Astronomy. November 13, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  10. "Cliff Hanger". University of Memphis Magazine. 17 (1): 6–10. Spring 1998.
  11. Detterline, Jim (1987). "Memphis Mountaineers". American Alpine Journal. 29 (61): 365–366.
  12. Detterline, Jim (1988). "Memphis Mountaineers". American Alpine Journal. 30 (62): 344–345.
  13. Hall, Scott (1989). "Memphis Mountaineers". American Alpine Journal. 31 (63): 337–338.
  14. Hall, Scott (1990). "Memphis Mountaineers, Inc". American Alpine Journal. 32 (64): 365–366.
  15. Stukenborg, Phil (January 15, 1984). "Summit meeting". The Commercial Appeal. p. D1. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  16. Franz, Derek (November 30, 2016). "Jim Detterline touched many lives as a climbing ranger in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park". Alpinist.com. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  17. Unruh, Robert (August 31, 1980). "Area climber saved; trapped 5 days by Grand Teton storms". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Cheyenne. Associated Press. p. 3-A. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  18. "'Too close to death,' say rescued climbers". York Daily Record. Pottstown. Associated Press. August 30, 1980. p. 3A. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  19. "Proclamation: [Jim Detterline; Longs Peak Ranger Day]" (PDF). Office of the Mayor: Estes Park, Colorado.
  20. Elliott, Dan (October 29, 2016). "Fall kills former Rocky Mountain Park ranger, rescuer". Albuquerque Journal. Associated Press. p. A4. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "Appendix Four: Valor Award Recipients" (PDF). Orders and Medals Society of America.
  22. Elliott, Dan (October 28, 2016). "'Mr. Longs Peak' Found Dead With Climbing Gear On". CBS Colorado. Allenspark. Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  23. Elliott, Dan (October 28, 2016). "Ex-Rocky Mountain Park ranger, rescuer dies while climbing". The Washington Times. Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  24. Thompson, Suzanne (January 3, 1997). "Rescuing ranger James Detterline wins valor award for courageous rescue in Rocky Mountain State Park". Memphis Daily News. Vol. 111, no. 2. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  25. "Incident Reports: Rocky Mountain National Park". Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via NPSHistory.com.
  26. "Valor Awards" (PDF). People, Land & Water. 4 (2): 4–5.
  27. "Museum Program: Estes Speaks". Estes Park News. November 17, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  28. "Park's hero sees transfer as punishment for speaking out". Redding Record Searchlight. Estes Park. Associated Press. January 16, 1997. p. D-6. Retrieved June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. Yates, Scott C. (May 29, 1997). "A Rocky Road". Westword. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  30. Yates, Scott C. (September 18, 1997). "The Height of Insult". Westword. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  31. "Famed mountaineers to speak to Loveland Mountain Club". Loveland Reporter-Herald. September 23, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  32. Blank, Michelle (December 10, 2007). "Jim Detterline to the rescue". High Country News. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  33. "Climbers We Lost in 2016". Rock and Ice Magazine. November 7, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  34. "James Lee Detterline". The Mercury. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
  35. "A peek at Longs Peak". Fort Collins Coloradoan. August 10, 2003. p. G2. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  36. "Estes Park Woman Smashes Multiple Longs Peak Records". Estes Park News. December 23, 2022. pp. 20–21 – via Issuu.
  37. "Celebrate Jim Detterline`s new Longs Peak record". Estes Park Trail-Gazette. August 25, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  38. "Jim Detterline awarded surprise Medal of Valor at July 4th concert". Estes Park Trail-Gazette. July 16, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  39. "Jim Detterline: The passing of a hero". FOX31 Denver. October 27, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  40. "2010 Oticon Focus on People Awards Honor Twelve Outstanding People Who Defy Stigma of Hearing Loss" (Press release). Stevenson, WA: Oticon. October 26, 2010 [October 20].
  41. "Oticon Honors 12 Who Defy Stigma of Hearing Loss". The Hearing Review. October 21, 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  42. "Detterline Receives 2010 Oticon Award". Moravian College Magazine. Fall 2010. p. 20 – via Issuu.
  43. Lynn, Alana (October 28, 2016). "Local Climber 'Mr. Longs Peak' has Died". New Country 99.1. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  44. Wenger, Daniel Lee (ed.). "Jim Detterline". Shep Husted. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  45. "James Lee Detterline". The Mercury. Retrieved June 20, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
  46. Arvesen, Amelia (November 14, 2016). "Boulder coroner: Ex-RMNP ranger known as 'Mr. Longs Peak' died from accidental fall". Longmont Times-Call. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  47. "[Allenspark Fire Protection District]". Allenspark Fire Protection District. October 27, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Facebook.
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