Sean, up at Ashcroft. Spring has arrived. The ski areas are calling it a season, the snow has been melting around town, and the backcountry conditions are shaping up at the higher elevations. Aspen had an above average year in terms of snowfall but we saw three dust events, one of which was pretty significant. How that will affect our spring ski season remains to be seen, but it won’t...
Another Elk Mountain Grand Traverse has come and gone. The annual 40 mile ski race from Crested Butte to Aspen has become a rite of spring for Christy and me, we’ve done it 13 of the 17 years it’s been held, the last seven as a couple. We’ve always loved the event and we’ve encouraged anyone who’s curious to check it out. Unfortunately, for the 3rd time in the history...
We began our spring 2014 Centennial Skiers season with Red Mountain.
Along Spruce Creek, on the way to Margy’s Hut. With one week to go before the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse, Christy and I wanted to get in one final long training day. We had a lot of ideas for fun new ways to log some miles, most involving high ridges and/or summits, but as the day approached, the weather once again made the decision for us. We would have to...
Hayden beckons. A real backcountry ski day was long overdue. That’s not to say that training days and races on the rando gear don’t count. It’s just that we really missed being out on a regular backcountry ski day, with the heavy packs, a normal lunch instead of race food, and a real ski objective. (more…)
The weather challenged everyone from the start, pictured here, all the way to the finish. What a day…. As we drove to the start of the race in Snowmass, the storm’s intensity increased. Despite the March 1st date, it was actually raining, so heavily that our windshield wipers were on high as if we were driving through a summer thunder storm. (more…)
It was a beautiful day for a race. Another year, another bout of punishing weather at the Breck Five Peaks. We haven’t had much luck timing the conditions at this event. Last year’s race course had to be modified due to cold and wind, which was so punishing we were just happy to reach the finish. It was kind of a bummer because we were looking forward to the cool...
The new, must-have guidebook to Colorado backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. As a Colorado backcountry skier, the mere prospect of spring brings excitement. But I found myself particularly psyched for the upcoming season after poring over a copy of the new guidebook, Climbing and Skiing Colorado’s Mountains – 50 Select Ski Descents. This book is long overdue. It’s co-authored by Ben Conners and Brian Miller, two Colorado ski mountaineers who...
A awesome perspective from Bald Knob. Tim phoned to say that he and some friends were heading up to McNamara Hut for the night, and that I should meet them up there. I was a bit busy with things, but since every hut trip I’ve been on has been a certifiable great time, I thought I should try to join them. (more…)
The Broncos may have lost the Superbowl, but countless champions were crowned up in Highland Bowl this weekend. Tim scored his own title here in Filip’s Leap. The snow arrived Thursday and began to fall at a rate we don’t often see (or at least for too long) through sometime Saturday morning. When it was all said and done, the words historic or even biblical were being thrown around to...
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
