Ellingwood’s solo effort in late August day in 1921, the first reported ascent of the ridge that now bears his name, was way ahead of its time. Last weekend, Christy, Dirk and I followed in his footsteps, and despite the passing of ninety years, it seemed as though not much has changed.
Saturday’s Bear 100 was about as good as it gets for me. After three consecutive years at Hardrock, and running no other races at the 100 mile distance, I mistakenly came to believe all 100’s are like that massive San Juan suffer-fest. They’re not. And the early July date of Hardrock, being so close to the spring skiing season which has always taken priority, usually means I’m just barely feeling...
Christy’s finally a cover girl! I’ve got to say, it looks pretty good to me. (more…)
The 100 mile course across the Bear Range comes in at about 22,000 feet of gain. Click to enlarge. Time for another long one. The Bear 100 starts at six on Friday morning. (more…)
Christy descends to Copper Lake from East Maroon Pass, through flurrying snow and graupel. Forty-one miles, 9,600 feet of gain, with a high point of 12,900 feet over three passes and four valleys– that counts as a pretty long day in my book. Our friend Tim always tells Christy and I we’re “masters of the long day.” I guess in a relative sense experience does lend itself to smooth adventures,...
The inaugural Aspen Backcountry Marathon was this past Saturday. Christy and I both took part in the fledgling event that saw 240 starters, a majority of which seemed to be from out of town, an impressive number considering it’s first year status. Kudos to Aspen’s Special Events Department for getting this one off the ground. Permit issues and liability concerns can make it nearly impossible to start new events these...
And here they come with less than 1km to go. The leaders– Tee Jay Van Garderen, Tom Danielson, Javier Acevedo, George Hincapie and Eduard Beltran, pictured here from right to left, finished in front. In what was one of the coolest new events to come to Aspen, the second stage of the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge finished in town Wednesday. The 130+ mile course started in Gunnison and climbed...
Approaching the cairn atop Organ. It’s not always about the challenge of the peak. We climbed Organ Mountain this past weekend, which at 13,801 feet, is the 106th tallest peak in Colorado. We chose Organ not because Christy and I are now setting out to climb all the top 200 Colorado summits (or Bicentennials), we were just looking for a new place to go, and to come up with ideas...
The massive ridge. With the start labeled, we first climbed south to Len Shoemaker Peak and then followed the ridge as it swung north, all the way to Pyramid. Click to enlarge. Totally psyched and somewhat surprised to have actually pulled it off, Neal Beidleman and I sat on Pyramid’s narrow summit in the afternoon sun and processed it all. It wasn’t that we thought it couldn’t be done. Through...
Christy, on the final descent from Buckskin Pass. On Saturday, Christy and I got out on our favorite local linkup of trails and passes, the Four Pass Loop. According to some friends who had been out there earlier in the summer, the lingering snow and high water levels, the theme of summer thus far, had made the trip pretty challenging. But it seems that summer’s persistence has finally won over...
We met in Aspen in 2000 and have been happily stuck in the rockies ever since, getting out in the mountains every day we can, in every season and by all means possible. Read More
