During 2025, Liv Douglas established a new record of 2,212 Idaho peaks climbed, more than any other climber. From the low-elevation buttes on the Snake River Plain to the lofty summits of the Lost River Range, he has stood atop a wide diversity of Idaho’s high points. Liv’s Idaho adventures began in 2000 with a climb of Mount Borah (12,666 feet), Idaho’s highest peak. He day-hiked Borah from Jackson Hole, WY with an early-morning drive all the way to Mackay, a climb to the summit, and a return drive to a motel in Jackson Hole. This climb was just a diversion from his climbs in the Tetons of northwest Wyoming. Reaching the highest points in the western states was a focus for him. Nothing else about Idaho’s mountains appealed to him at the time.

He returned in June 2006 to spend a week in the Ketchum area doing some early-season climbs. But it was not until August 2009 that he got in any way serious about Idaho’s mountains. In August 2009, he climbed the remaining 12ers and a bunch of the 11ers. Over the next several years (2010-2017), he returned to Idaho a few times and climbed mostly 11ers and 10ers. By the end of 2017, he had climbed 204 Idaho peaks, a decent but still unimpressive total. That all changed in the back half of the 2018 climbing season. In a 6-week stretch from mid-August to early October 2018, he hammered out 105 new peaks in southeastern Idaho. And the rest is history.

Discovering the numerous scrub hills that can be climbed in Idaho in both the early season and the late season, Liv could see the potential here in Idaho for big numbers. In 2019, he focused solely on Idaho and pounded out an annual record of 309 new Idaho summits. In 2020, it was 283 new Idaho summits. He passed Tom Lopez in September 2020 and moved into the #2 position for Idaho peaks climbed. In 2021, he reached 242 new Idaho summits. In 2022, he set a new annual record with a whopping 320 new Idaho peaks climbed. In 2023, he climbed another 235 new Idaho summits. In 2024, another 256 new Idaho peaks. And, in 2025, another 258 new Idaho peaks. No other climber has ever reached the summits of over 300 new Idaho peaks in a single calendar year. In 7 years and 20 days (mid-August 2018 through early September 2025), he recorded a stunning 2,008 new Idaho peaks climbed. Rick Baugher took about 40 years to accomplish the same feat.

Liv’s Idaho climbing journey has covered 955 days of hiking/climbing with 8,772 hiking miles and 3.09 million feet of elevation gain. These figures exclude any repeat climbs. He has reached summits in 33 of Idaho’s 44 counties. He has explored Idaho mountains from the Idaho Panhandle of northern Idaho to the Owyhee Mountains of southwest Idaho, from the Bear Lake Plateau in extreme southeast Idaho to the highest peaks near Mackay. His Idaho climbs have covered numerous mountain ranges including the Beaverheads (178 peaks), the Eastern Salmons (167 peaks), the Pioneers (200 peaks), the Lemhis (154 peaks), and the Snake River Plain (202 peaks).

Liv holds the lead for the greatest number of Snake River Plain Peaks (202), Beaverheads (178), Eastern Salmons (167), Caribous (90), White Knobs (61), Centennials (44), Bitterroots (20), South Hills (41), Albions (31), and Bennett Hills (22) climbed. He also holds the lead for the most peaks climbed on the ID/MT border (76) and the most Idaho Continental Divide peaks climbed (74). He is tied for the lead in the Big Hole Mountains (36) and Soldier Mountains (27). He has recorded nine first ascent peaks (eight in the Eastern Salmons and one in the Lemhis) as well as 179 first ascent routes and 132 first descent routes. Liv often follows the path least traveled and takes on more challenging routes than other climbers. He has climbed a diverse range of elevations in Idaho as well. Liv has climbed all of Idaho’s ranked 12ers as well as over 100 of Idaho’s 11ers and well over 200 of Idaho’s 10ers. He holds the record for the greatest number of sub-10K Idaho peaks climbed (1,870). In addition, he holds the record for the number of Idaho peaks climbed solo (2,212). Yes, he has climbed every Idaho peak solo.

It is not just climbing mountains that matters to Liv. It is his style of mountain climbing that is of equal or more importance. Liv is an eco-friendly climber. He minimizes the driving required (20-30 miles per peak round trip is typical for a climbing season) in contrast to other climbers who drive 200-400 miles round trip to climb a single peak. He hikes quietly and solo. As a result, he sees a lot of wildlife up close, particularly on Idaho’s more obscure peaks. The “Leave No Trace” principle and the adage “Take only pictures, leave only footprints” rank high on his priority list.

“I leave the mountains as pristine as I find them,” he states. He adds: “I don’t litter Idaho’s mountains with self-serving summit scraps as one Idaho climber famously does or with summit canisters/registers that promote a local map-making business as another Idaho climber does. I find this shameless self-promotion by other climbers to be truly offensive. It’s just another form of litter that degrades the beauty of the mountains.” Thankfully, most of Idaho’s climbers abstain from such activity and follow the “Leave No Trace” principle.

Liv reaches Idaho’s summits “by fair means” to quote the renowned mountaineer Reinhold Messner. He uses his legs rather than a MC, ATV, e-bike, or even a mountain bike. “It’s more work but it’s the traditional way to climb mountains. I feel as though I’ve earned the summit,” he says. He adds: “Any climber with an ounce of respect for the environment would never ride a noisy, carbon-spewing MC up mountains to pump up their peak numbers and then brag about their ‘accomplishments,’ as one Idaho climber notoriously does.” Liv has never used the assistance of a shuttle setup or food/water caches either. Climbing mountains solo requires an extra amount of effort. All of the pre-season preparation, all of the driving, all of the improvised campsites, all of the navigation/route-finding, all of the stress of being up there alone. It is the epitome of the “by fair means” principle.

Liv is a modest, private person. No personal website, no social media, no self-promoting summit scraps or registers left atop mountains, no parties for himself atop Idaho mountains, no selfies (not even a photo for the IACG website), no personal peak lists on LOJ or Peakbagger, no self-serving trip reports on LOJ or Peakbagger, and no press releases. “Let your body of work speak for itself,” he says. He has gone out of his way to selflessly help other climbers and abstains from self-promotion. His contributions to the IACG website took countless hours to create and his custom lists of 48 Idaho mountain ranges on LOJ took weeks to tabulate. All of that beta is publicly available free of charge. The thoroughness and accuracy of his work is impressive. “I’ve benefitted from the beta of other climbers over the years through books and websites like IACG. I’m just giving something back to the mountain climbing community in Idaho,” he states.

You can see his accomplishments on the IACG website for almost all of the Idaho peaks that he has climbed. To assist other climbers, Liv has posted over 1,684 peak pages (with his name in the byline) on the IACG website of peaks that he has climbed. In addition, he has contributed access/route updates (mostly new routes) for another 363 peaks that he has climbed. On top of that, he has provided photos for another 60 Idaho peaks climbed. That adds up to a total of 2,107 peaks of the 2,212 total peaks he has climbed. The remaining peaks were climbed via standard routes and were not photographed.

In addition, Liv has contributed 13 multi-peak trip reports and 11 mountain range updates (4 of which are new mountain ranges with his name on the byline). All of these posts are informational in nature and are not self-promotional. There is a big difference. The access and route descriptions are far more detailed than those of most climbers. In addition, Liv has provided recon information for another 53 Idaho peak pages. His access and route descriptions (including new photos) have added greatly to the information available to current and prospective Idaho peak climbers. He has plans to continue his pursuit of Idaho’s beautiful mountains and provide new access/route details and photos for new peaks to the IACG website in future years.