Archives Search

We just returned from an incredible adventure through a region of high peaks and glaciers in the Berner Oberland region of the Swiss Alps. We set out on a five day ski tour that visited four mountain huts in this mountainous region of Central Switzerland. Our trip began in Grindelwald, a classic Swiss mountain village that sits under a famous trio of Alps summits– the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau.

The days are longer, the temperatures warmer, and the snowpack, though thin, is stablizing. We love the arrival of spring because it signifies the start of our backcountry ski touring season. Christy and I had some opportunities to get out and ski some high 13ers recently. Here’s what we found–

At 10,839 ft. Hahn’s Peak isn’t a particularly high summit by Colorado standards, but it’s position among the neighboring peaks of the Mount Zirkel Wilderness give it a fairly impressive presence. And it makes for a really fun backcountry ski outing.

Our annual holiday hut trip tradition continues. This year five of us made the trek in to Tagert Hut on Christmas Eve. As is always the case with this ritual, and hut trips in general, it was a really good time.

We ventured to Barnard Hut for Thanksgiving this year, and Christy towed a cooked turkey in a sled the entire way.

We recently made a trip to Fish and Owl Canyons down in Cedar Mesa. It’s a region of Southeastern Utah that’s home to canyons, mountains, forested mesas, impressive sandstone formations and considerable Native American history.

At the far southern end of the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park is a valley called Salt Creek. The Salt Creek region is full of ancient ruins and petroglyphs unlike other areas of this National Park.

A few years back our good friend Rickey Gates organized a guided, multi-day trail running adventure through the 10th Mountain Hut System. He called it the Hut Run Hut. The idea was to lead a group of adventurous trail runners along a roughly 100 mile route between Aspen and Vail. The trip was spread out over 6 days, and visited five different huts along the way.

A trip to the Weminuche Wilderness to climb the 13ers Mount Oso and Mount Nebo via Hunchback Pass, Vallecito Creek, Nebo Creek and Rock Lake.

A couple of alternate routes to travel or trailrun from Aspen or Marble to Crested Butte.