CERTIFICATION


     I, Larry D. Smith,  President and Chief  Executive  Officer of High Country
Bancorp, Inc., certify that:

1.   I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-KSB of High Country  Bancorp,
     Inc.

2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of
     a material  fact or omit to state a  material  fact  necessary  to make the
     statements made, in light of the circumstances  under which such statements
     were made,  not  misleading  with  respect  to the  period  covered by this
     report;

3.   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information  included  in  this  report,  fairly  present  in all  material
     respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of
     the small  business  issuer as of, and for,  the periods  presented in this
     report;

4.   The  small  business  issuer's  other  certifying   officer(s)  and  I  are
     responsible  for  establishing  and  maintaining  disclosure  controls  and
     procedures  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for
     the small business issuer and have:

          (a) Designed such disclosure  controls and procedures,  or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material  information  relating to the small  business  issuer,
     including  its  consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made  known to us by others
     within those entities,  particularly during the period in which this report
     is being prepared;

          (b)  Evaluated  the  effectiveness  of  the  small  business  issuer's
     disclosure  controls  and  procedures  and  presented  in this  report  our
     conclusions  about  the  effectiveness  of  the  disclosure   controls  and
     procedures,  as of the end of the period  covered by this report,  based on
     such evaluation; and

          (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the small business issuer's
     internal  control over financial  reporting that occurred  during the small
     business  issuer's most recent fiscal quarter (the small business  issuer's
     fourth fiscal  quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
     affected,  or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the small business
     issuer's internal control over financial reporting; and

5.   The  small  business  issuer's  other  certifying  officer(s)  and  I  have
     disclosed,  based on our most recent  evaluation  of internal  control over
     financial reporting,  to the small business issuer's auditors and the audit
     committee of the small  business  issuer's  board of directors  (or persons
     performing the equivalent functions):

          (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
     or  operation  of  internal  control  over  financial  reporting  which are
     reasonably  likely to adversely affect the small business  issuer's ability
     to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

          (b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves  management or
     other employees who have a significant role in the small business  issuer's
     internal control over financial reporting.

Date: January 8, 2004
                                 /s/ Larry D. Smith
                                 ------------------------------------
                                 Larry D. Smith
                                 President and Chief Executive Officer