It’s all downhill from here, or at least from a little farther up. Neal climbs up from Talyor 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. At the time, I didn’t think it to...
A couple of climbers deep in the park. To get right to the point– it hasn’t snowed in a while so we went ice climbing. (more…)
On the summit of Tofana di Rozes, in Eurpoean terms- 3244m, 2 deg. C and 15 cm of new snow. You do the conversion. And the honeymoon continues. A day after the warmup on Punta Fiames we decided to hit something bigger. Highly recommended by friends and guidebooks alike, the Via Ferrata Giovanni Lippelli on the Tofana di Rozes was said to be a must-do. The Tofana group is comprised...
Say ‘cheese’– no, better yet, say ‘honeymoon.’ Christy smiles big nearing the top of the 5th class VF Tomaselli. Some Euros are following down below. If they didn’t smoke so many cigarettes they may have caught us. Click all photos to enlarge. The wedding was awesome. Afterwards, in need of some serious rest and unwinding, Christy and I headed to Europe, Italy to be exact. I know what you’re thinking,...
(L to R) Nema Sherpa, Dorjee Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa, October 31, 2008 atop Ama Dablam. Six months later these three were also among the first to reach Everest’s summit. Just passing along some recent good news. On May 5th Phurba Tashi, Dorje, and Nema, along with two sherpa from IMG and British climber David Tait, summited Mount Everest. Their efforts fixing the route to the 29,035 foot summit...
We love the Ouray Ice Park. Once a season, in an effort to change things up, we make a trip down to the San Juans, to the town of Ouray, Colorado and its one-of-a-kind playground for big kids. This trip was a reunion of sorts, Christy and I were meeting Adrian, Lissa, Joe and Larry from our Ama Dablam trip. Saturday we spent playing around in the South Park area,...
Gettin’ Ready With our depature for Nepal on Wednesday, we had time for a little last minute trip prep. Our planned route on Ama Dablam is the SW Ridge. As a true hand and foot climbing route, it won’t have any significant “jug hauling”, that is, pulling ourselves up a fixed rope with mechanical ascenders, or jumars. For safety reasons though, we will be clipped in and using an ascender, while...
A writeup from a 2008 climb of the Kiener’s Route on Longs Peak.
One of the best things about having some big goals on the horizon is getting prepared. Friday evening we went up to Turkey Rock for an easy two pitches of rock climbing. The next morning, we headed over the pass towards Twin Lakes to Monitor Rock where we had a climb of the ‘Trooper Traverse’ planned. At 5 pitches in length and with a crux difficulty rating of 5.8 it was...
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
