This winter has not been like those of the past few years. We're happy the huge early-season dry spell that settled in across much of the west has passed, and that the conditions in the ski areas are finally good. Unfortunately, the instability in the thin snow pack that resulted from our arid December may last through the entire season. As a result, there's been very little backcountry terrain that's...
[Christy here, again] It’s not a good sign when things look like this in January. Sure, we need more snow, but it could always be worse. Even with a not-so-great start to the season, we're still pretty lucky that we can get out on a nice, long tour and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. With a random Monday off, and a need to unwind from the holidays, I took my cross-country...
The last ski days of the 2011 spring season in Aspen, including the southwest face of South Maroon and Independence Pass.
(Note: I originally wrote this piece for powdermag.com, published on May 13, 2011.) Scrawled on the wall of British Columbia’s Glacier Circle Hut, we could read the names Bill Briggs, Barry Corbet, Sterling Neale, and Bob French, along with this: “10 June 1958—Ski Traverse from Bugaboo Creek to Glacier. Started June 2. -Alpine Ski Club of America”. It was their ninth and final night on the route and the following...
(Christy here) The new Power of Four Ski Mountaineering Race is right around the corner, so in an attempt to scout out the complex course and get some time in our new Dynafit ski mountaineering race setups, Anda Smalls and I went out this weekend for a little familiarization. (more…)
Well maybe it's not a true "Dawn Patrol," by its strict definition at least. But it is Friday and with the approaching summer solstice only 10 days away it's not really necessary to get moving in the dark, and because it was completed before Christy went into work, we're filing it under the title above. The weather lately has been unusual to say the least, with unseasonably cold temperatures and...
You Win Some, You Lose Some The weather forecast worsened each day as the weekend approached and we weren't sure what to do. Christy, Lissa, Dirk, and I hoped to ski Mount Yale on Saturday and then try for Kit Carson on Sunday. If the forecast was right, the huge spring storm could shut us out and we might be sent home with nothing. But us if the forecast missed,...
Much to some locals' dismay, the regular season in Aspen wrapped up last Sunday. If you ask me, it's a blessing in disguise because like most sports, it's the post season where things get exciting. For many, work stops until the tourists return for summer, the area snowpack is usually at it's annual peak and the beautiful spring weather morphs the snow into its safer, predictable, spring variety. If the...
With the big snow that fell Monday and Tuesday came the text from Chris Davenport-- Sievers Mountain on Wednesday, who's in? As testimony to both the classic status of the Sievers tour and Chris's ability to rally the troops, nine of us assembled at Snowmass under bluebird skies and began. Nine is definitely on the large side for a backcountry ski group and with three climbs and ski descents that...
[Christy here]With four ski mountains in the area, locals have an unique opportunity to ski them all in one day. The "four mountain challenge" as it has been called, isn't something that's done or talked about very much and there seems to be several different ways it can be executed. Most of the time it's an Aspen old timer that has gone out for the challenge. Tom Hines and Dick...
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
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