So it was a record breaking ski season and snow year in most of Colorado. That’s good, right? Well it was way back in January that Christy, Richard Betts and I made plans to run this race. The mountainous course touches 13,300 ft., has more than 12,000 feet of elevation gain and spends the majority of miles well above 10K(with a huge stretch above 12K). Last June Christy had ideal conditions and a...
Memorial Day Weekend – The Official Summer Kickoff Someone needs to let Snowmass Lake know it’s Memorial Day weekend and not midwinter. It’s still totally frozen up there. Christy, Josh Hirshberg and I headed that way last Saturday for a few days. Getting up the 8 mile trail is adventure enough for most. We had two peaks to ski– Snowmass Mountain and Hagerman Peak. Christy was happy that what in...
San Juan Ski Weekend – Day 2 We were up early. The forecast called for a beautiful spring day and with a goal to ski Handies Peak(14,048 ft.) from the east we knew we had to stay ahead of the sun. In 1999 I skied here from the American Basin/west side of the mountain and was eager to return, trying for the more exciting east side. There’s a great couloir(NE)...
The sun crests the saddle between Blanca and Ellingwood and warms the chill. Route: South Face Team: Christy, Ted After coming off our big push in the Sawatch the weekend prior, we wanted to check out the Sangres. There was enough snow down there still to ski, but it was going fast. We made the drive to towards Alamosa and then up the horrendous Como Lake Road to a reasonable...
Jeremy on the summit, shot with a disposable camera. Route: East Face Team: Ted, Jeremy Barbin Snowmass Mountain has always been a favorite. Part of its allure lies in its remoteness, the fact that you can only really see it from other exciting locales. Backpacks, peak climbs and backcountry ski tours bring the mountain into sight, when I see it I must be doing something fun, like a reward for...