From the summit of Storm King Peak. It’s wild back here. Last weekend, Christy and I went down to the Weminuche, in the heart of the San Juans. It’s an incredible place, one of our favorite spots in the state. The Weminuche Wilderness handily takes the award as Colorado’s largest wilderness area. At nearly 500,000 acres in size (Maroon Bells/Snowmass is 181,000 acres by comparison) it is so vast, with...
Camp Wapiyapi, a Colorado based non-profit “offering hope and support to families with childhood cancer” needs our help. On Sunday September 26th, in what will hopefully become an annual event, the Wapiyapi Classic charity bike ride will take place here in Aspen to do just that. There are two ways you can help. For the more active supporter, you can register to ride in the event, on either the 25...
Just the three of us on top of #100– Ted, Christy and our good friend Nicholas Feuillatte. Christy and I climbed Gladstone Peak on Saturday, a 13,913 ft. scree covered mountain in the San Juans, and with that summit, Christy has stood atop the 100 tallest mountains in Colorado. So I will say once again (and for the umpteenth time this year), congratulations Christy. For some background on the 100...
Soon-to-be hot off the press, and just in time for the holidays. Earlier today I was given the opportunity to pore over a proof of the much anticipated new book, Fifty Classic Ski Descents in North America, and it looks awesome. The 200+ page, large format book, a collaboration by Chris Davenport, Art Burrows and Penn Newhard, just gets better and better with every passing page. According to the press...
The group trudges up to Camp Muir, at about 10,000 feet,with the Nisqually Glacier, Cleaver and Ice Cliff in the background. Because it was such a great climb and since we came home with so many pics, I thought I’d share some more. (more…)
Lindsay, Angie, Craig and Nick descend the Emmons Glacier. Last April, when warm weather and dusty snow seemed to call an end to the Colorado spring ski season, we booked tickets to the Pacific Northwest and set our sights on some peaks in the Cascades. But when winter made a surprise comeback here at home, we were faced with a decision. We could head up to Rainier and Hood as...
Spearhead. The North Ridge follows near the sun/shadow line in the photo. Click all pics to enlarge. Feeling as though we had done a good job taking advantage of what the Aspen area has to offer lately, and with plans forming for a climbing trip to Joshua Tree and Red Rocks this fall, we thought we’d change gears and hit the road for a little alpine climbing. So on Dirk’s...
The overview, click to enlarge. It was another good one, and not just due to the fact that we had perfect weather, but that we put together a loop of trails and passes we had all seen individually many times before, but had never linked up in this fashion. It came together after Christy, Neal and I were planning a long run together, but being a Saturday in August with...
It’s all downhill from here, or at least from a little farther up. Neal climbs up from Taylor Pass. “Thirty-seven.” That was his answer to my question as to when he thought he had reached his top form, and after which he first noticed his speed, stamina and general physical condition begin to deteriorate– in other words, when things started going downhill. I didn’t think it to be an inconsiderate...
North Apostle, Ice Mountain and West Apostle, left to right, frame the valley on the hike in, under cloudy but dry skies. Lake Ann and the west peak were our destination. The wilderness rehabilitation continues and for the second week in a row, we managed to escape the summer crowds and find a little peace and quiet. Well, it was quiet at least with regards to the lack of people,...