lucidmountainadventures

Wind Blown Pow!

2012-01-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

Went up to Hidden Valley yesterday with Mike Schlauch and Naomi Guy..Pretty darn windy!! But it is the "Park"..I guess it should be expected..The snow conditions? Wind blown powder, actually wasn't too bad..Seemed like a busy day up there with lots of hard cor front range skiers braving the 50+ mph winds for some wind effected powder snow!! Got the GoPro out anyway and shot a little video..
Enjoy,
Jason

top secret ski run

2012-01-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

No work = More Play...
Peace,
Jason

Ouray Ice Park

2012-01-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

So its been awhile since my last blog post. I'm pretty psyched to start creating some new posts and documenting more adventures, especially now since I received the GoPro2 helmet cam for Christmas. Above is some footage I shot while ice climbing at the Ouray Ice Park in Ouray Colorado..My first visit, and I must say I was impressed with the amount of ice that forms up in that place. I'm also super impressed with the quality of the footage that this small helmet mounted camera can shoot. I was a little nervous using it for ice climbing first not wanting to see the camera get demolished by chunks of ice that generally fall while climbing, but this helmet cam seems quite durable and its also water proof. I'm looking forward to shooting some backcountry skiing and finally getting around to creating a bike messenger documentary..Above is a short video of me climbing a classic pitch of ice in the canyon called Tangled up in Blue WI5..
Enjoy,
Jason

Andrews Glacier Recon 2011

2011-10-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

Bragging Rights!!

Peace,
Jason

New found love... for Eldo...

2011-10-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Climbed in Eldorado Canyon this past weekend...yep, both days Saturday and Sunday..And yes I didn't go to Lumpy Ridge for once...With the seasons changing in Boulder I felt like it was about time to give Eldo a visit again..So I decided to climb at my favorite crag..Peanuts..In the shade all day.! On Saturday I climbed with my friend Marc, a Avid 4 instructor who I worked with this past summer..With this being his first time climbing in Eldorado Canyon I decided to take him up the super classic StarWars 5.8, and Your Basic Layback 5.6 located on the Lower Peanuts wall.. on Sunday Laurie Dallenbach and myself went to Upper Peanuts and climbed Heavy Weather 5.9.. Excellent 4 pitch crack climb! on our way out I decided to school myself on Trouble and Strife a 5.10d angling crack climb...It starts as super thin finger tips crack and widens to hands and then off width hands through a diagional crack..Really fun climbing..Enjoy the pics!!

View of Redgarden Wall and the eastern plains of Boulder from Upper Peanuts..

Leading Star Wars 5.8

Marc on the final moves of Your Basic Layback 5.6

Marc on Cornered 5.9.. A great way to finish up Your Basic Layback...

Marc, finishing strong in those perfect finger locks..

Laurie enjoying the final crack pitch of Heavy Weather 5.9

Laurie with some big exposure that makes climbing in Eldorado Canyon so awesome

Beautiful views from Upper Peanuts Wall..Looking west toward the Indian Peaks

Trouble and Strife 5.10d... Sewed up nicely but definitely hard to place gear from very balancy and strenuous stances..Hence the name of the route! Id love to go back and get it clean. After I top roped it I felt like I figured out the crux move sequence..Just need to place less gear next time and just punch it when the crack splits right..After that its maybe 5.9+ but feels harder due to pump factor...

Laurie gettin into a little Trouble and Strife...

Thanks Marc and Laurie for such a sweet weekend of climbing in Eldo...

Peace,

Jason

Winter Mojo

2011-10-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here is some previously un-released footage of Aaron Miller, Cory Fleagle and myself trying to find some early season powder up in the Indian Peaks last year at about this time..Biking Brainard Lake road of course, in like a 50 mph head wind...With the snow starting to fly up there in the mountains the beckoning of the cold winter days and long nights await us!! Oh yeah, and the wind!

Peace ,
Jason

Privacy on the Petit

2011-10-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Climbed the Petit Grepon last Tuesday with Heather and had the South Face route all to ourselves..Hard to come by figuring that the south face route is one of the 50 classic climbs of North America and down right the most popular climb in RMNP..Late season and the fact that it was a week day surely helped...

Looking up the chimney, pitch #2

Ya, I guess you could say we were taking our time..Didn't see a cloud in the sky until 2pm..

Heather, napping in the sun...

Heather climbing up to Pizza pan belay ledge..Pitch #6

Pizza Pan belay... Thought this might give a good perspective on the exposure and airiness of this belay perch..

Looking down at the "classic" pizza pan belay ledge..

Getting ready to lead pitch #7. One of my favorite of the route...You get to climb through a really cool quarts crystal band.. Awesome exposed climbing on the last two pitches of the South face route..

View down from the summit spire..

This self portrait..Just for you Aaron...

Heather, on the 6th and final rappel..

Looking back up at the route in red...

Peace, Jason

Chasm View

2011-08-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a short video of my first attempt at climbing on the Chasm View wall near the Diamond.. Although we had to bail due to weather being unstable it was still a sweet experience that kept me wanting more, to go back and finish the route is my main goal this alpine season..The route: Directissima 5.10b III. We got a " gentleman's start " 4:30am from the CMS guide shack in Estes Park..Climbing by 9am.. Storming and hailing on us by 9:30 am.. The storm actually cleared out by 10:30 am only to tease us into starting back up.. After a long discussion regarding risk when climbing at that altitude did we decided to walk back to the car...good decision after all because the clouds ended up rebuilding at around 2:30pm.. I will be back to finish!

Boulder Alley Cat Race 11'

2011-08-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

So over this past weekend I decided to finally try one of these Alley Cat races. Although I have been a professional bike messenger for the past 3 years I still have never competed in a race..The whole idea around an alley cat race is that it pretty much mimics the typical delivery loop that a bicycle courier would make in a shift of work.. There were four checkpoints that you had to reach, and at each one you were given a task, slam a PBR at one station, complete an obstacle course at another..The race started at Folsom and Colorado on the CU campus..You could ride the loop in any direction you thought would be fastest and hit different checkpoints at different times. All that matters is that you got your manifest checked off, and that you drank the whole beer before riding off to the next check point..I really like that checkpoint.!The loop I took began from leaving the start point and riding up toward Chautauqua park.. I was pretty surprised when I was the first rider to make it to that checkpoint..Started to think my old ass had a chance in this thing..Oh ya, and did I mention that it was pretty much a constant down-pour of rain for most of the race..Due to the conditions I decided to flip the hub on my bike from single speed to fixed because I wanted to be able to stop my bike quicker..(My experiences in riding in bad weather have taught me that brakes are useless when its wet or snowing.)..After leaving Chautauqua Park I decided to treat the race like a normal loop I would ride while working for DBC..North Boulder park was the next checkpoint. All we had to do was take a picture of one of the wheelchair exercise stations..Pretty easy..After that I rode out to Iris and Folsom to Elmer's Two Mile park where you had to slam a beer as the checkpoint..I asked if I could take a beer for the road but they didn't think that was a good idea..The last checkpoint was all the way back across town at the post office on Table mesa and Moorhead..My old hood!! At this point I was still trying to crush it and ride fast but the fatigue of riding your hardest for 30-40 minutes straight, kinda started to feel it..After taking a picture of the T-mesa post office it was back up to the start point of the race at Folsom and Colorado..Totally soaked from head to toe with a nice puddle of water squishing in my shoes I dug deep and rode my hardest back up to campus..For the results: I ended up finishing 6th out of 33 riders..The first fixed gear bike to finish..Ended up winning best fixie. The riders that finished before me had geared bikes and spandex..I had a blast! and I will definitely be doing more races in the future..Thanks Nan for all the motivation, and getting me out racing..

Riding to the race with Nan..Nice whistle!

Josh, DBC dispatch, showing off his track -standing abilities..

Nan giving the race promoters her generous donation of a deep dish "Nan sighting" pink rim for the first female finisher..

Everyone hanging out before the race.

Lot's of cool hipster bikes!!

The two youngest racers, Nan's daughter Avery, and her friend Emily (Ron), who rode a mountain bike to all the checkpoints...Nice work!!

Avery, Nan , and Albert hanging out at the end of the race..

Unfortunately I didn't get too much video of the race other than the start and finish..Working on editing it now and it should be up soon..

Peace,
Jason

Boulder Alley Cat race 11'

2011-08-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Some short clips I put together of the pre and post race.. Enjoy,
Jason

New Beginnings..

2011-08-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

The past 3 weeks have been quite action packed. With Aaron Millers departure for Washington state we bid him farewell properly with a slide show party and Vedauwoo trip..Ive also been wrapping up my stay with some close friends up in Coal Creek Canyon..Its been really relaxing staying with Liz and Rich these past 2 months and I totally appreciate all there hospitality..So does Butters..Ive been back down in Boulder for a couple days now and really enjoying riding my bike around again..And for the biggest news Ive had in awhile, I found a new partner to share some adventures with..After climbing together in Vedauwoo and a few power hour sessions at the Spot I knew I had found the partner I'd been looking for..So we made another date to climb up in RMNP. We climbed a cool tower called Zowie that is located a short ways up Andrews Creek in the Otis Peak Towers..Climbing with Heather was awesome and I was totally impressed that she was willing to carry a pack on the climb..I will admit that in the past 4 years I had pretty much just focused on my work, building my guiding experience , and personally climbing harder..Cracks that is..Ive kinda written off ever having a girlfriend again..Change is good..It feels good to have a climbing partner now that is more than a climbing partner...So here are some pics to recap the last few weeks..

I know its alot to take in all at once..Aaron and Rich celebrating Aaron's going away party at Carol's house..The theme of the party was you had to show up in some kind of Aaron Miller attire..

The Voo crew..Heather, Myself, Faber, Cory, Zowie, Aaron, and Butters...

Heather, looking good and ready to climb..

Heather Jamming away on the classic Capt. Nemo...

Sunrise over the Loch on our approach to Zowie...

Zowie, with its summit tower basking in the early morning sunshine...

Heather, probably at about pitch #5 with the Loch visible in the background...

The last couple moves before the summit...

Summit Pic...

Life has always been pretty unpredictable for me..As soon as I think I've got everything figured out something happens that re-grounds me, brings me back to reality..I feel that climbing has always been my outlet when this uncertainty starts to overwhelm me..When most things in my life are hectic or out of place I tend to be able to focus better on my climbing, and my climbing improves..Over the past couple weeks Ive been more open to change and uncertainty than ever before and I dig it..

Peace,
Jason

Audubon Ski

2011-06-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I headed out to do some spring skiing with a fellow Avid4 instructor Aaron Inouye. Who, as it turn's out is as psyched to get up early ( 3am ) as myself to go ski some great corn snow in the alpine..Although we didn't get a total over night freeze of the snow pack it still turned out to be a great morning and a nice ski descent..We skied the Crooked Couloir off of the South East side of Mount Audubon 13,223 about a 1,600 ft. ski descent down to Blue lake.

Crooked Couloir in red

Aaron on the approach, some interesting lighting..

The toothpick couloir, the thin line on the left side of the photo..Ive been eye-ing this line since last year when Chris, Aaron Miller, and myself attempted to ski it...If I had to guess I'd say the entrance is around 55+ degrees..This line is located to the skiers left as your approaching Mt Toll on the backside/North side of Shoshone Peak..

Good view of Mt. Toll 12,979 from Audubon.

Climbing down low in the couloir...

Aaron, nearing the top of Crooked Couloir..

Time to ski!!

Aaron carving some of that sweet corn snow..

Great shot!.. Taken by Aaron Inouye

Although the road had been opened to Brainard lake we still decided to ride in..Riding your bike back to the car after an awesome day skiing in the mountains always feels good..

Peace,
Jason

Apache Peak Via Queens way..

2011-06-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

I Had Wednesday off this week so Aaron and myself went out to ski Queens Way, a large spring ski descent off of Apache Peak 13,441 the second highest of all the Indian Peaks. Located high above the Isabelle glacier Ive always enjoyed shooting pics in this cirque..so here are a few of the best from our adventure..

Queens Way line in red...

The approach took up about 4 hours from car to summit...This is just one of the large snowfields we traversed..

Aaron climbing the lower half of QW..

Nearing the top of the route...Great views down to Shoshone peak in the background..

Hands down, my favorite pic of the morning..

Big lines off big peaks makes for lots of fun!!

This is what a corn snow addict looks like..Is this how you want to live your life?? YES!

We were able to ski all the way back down to Isabelle lake and admire our line from a distance..

Back at the trailhead by 11am for a cool refreshment..Nice green truck in the background...Watch out for those snow worms!!

Back to the car by noon thanks to the handy bicycle approach, my favorite...Ive shared many great ski descents with close friends over the past 3-4 years and I can say that I will miss skiing with ya Aaron..You've been a solid partner and I hope that in the future we can still make plans to get together and go on some more awesome adventures..Be safe up there in Washington and have fun, Ill come visit ya for sure.. Peace Dude!

Jason

Ptarmigan ski video

2011-05-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

Short slideshow of our Ptarmigan ski..
Enjoy...

Peace,
Jason

Corn!! Finally

2011-05-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Richie Morgan and myself ventured up to Rocky Mountain National Park this morning to ski the Notchtop Couloir, which has been on my list of must-do ski descents. Just last week another friend of ours Aaron Miller went back to ski the Notchtop and ended up wading through 8+ inches of fresh snow only to turn around close to the top due to deteriorating conditions and exhaustion..Awesome effort considering Aaron was going solo..
The Notchtop couloir is a pretty sweet line, averaging around 35-45degrees, it makes for a pretty fun ski descent if you can hit in the prime conditions...On a day like today that prime time was between 9-10am...Rich and I got to the base of the couloir after a 3 hour approach at around 10:20am..A little late and kinda my fault! I totally spaced a switchback lower down on the approach trail and due to the fact that most of the trail signs are still buried from all the late season snow that has been falling we lost about 30-40 min due to back tracking..."I have no idea whats going on" ( inside Joke ). Although our original plan was shot due to the fact that the snow in the couloir was getting way too soft for my liking, I still had a backup plan to keep hiking up to the Ptarmigan bowls and possibly ski one of the bowls that faces north and doesn't have a school bus sized cornice hanging from it..
Turned out to be a good plan..The snow had stayed pretty firm back in the north facing bowls that I was able to front point with just my boots and no crampons up to the top of the bowl..Probably 5-600feet of climbing, and it was good! Turned out to be an awesome day and now I must go back to ski the ever reclusive Notchtop couloir...Logistics: Departed Boulder 5:45am, at the trailhead ready to rock 7am, Skiing the Ptarmigan bowls 11am, Back to the car 1pm... Enjoy the pics..

Here are some of the skiable lines in the Ptarmigan cirque and around Notchtop Mt. Red arrow - North Face of Notchtop, pretty gnarly line...Green Line- Notchtop Couloir.. Purple Line- Ptarmigan bowl..

First sight of Notchtop and Ptarmigan cirque...

Close up view of the North face of Notchtop..

Staying hydrated..

Some school bus sized cornices guarding the North facing Ptarmigan bowls..

The only Ptarmigan bowl that wasn't threatened by a cornice..So it was the one I climbed and skied..Definitely steeper than I expected..Probably around 40-45 degrees in the entrance...

Richie cracking a cold one before our walk back to the car..Pretty good start to the spring season!

Peace,

Jason

Lost Lake Recon

2011-04-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

So I had a week off between finishing up with the Couriers and starting with Avid4, but of course the weather wasn't the greatest for climbing...The weather however in the mountains called for snow and lots of it..Almost 2 feet fell overnight between the 13th and 14th of April in the Indian Peaks. My original plan was to drive up to the Train Tunnel (East Portal) and ski a line near Radiobeacon Mountain on the Continental Divide...The only problem was I couldn't even make it to the trailhead...The road still had not been plowed as as I tried to drive back with my truck in 4WD I soon realized that my truck was pretty much floating over the snow as I plowed my way through it..Not Cool!
Then I got a little nervous. Due to an intense ground blizzard I had a hard time determining where the road ended and the sky began..Really Not Cool! At that point I made the smart decision to turn around...Very carefully, I did like an 18 point turn so that I wouldn't get stuck in the embankment and be forced to dig out by myself...Luckily I made it back out and gave a call to my friend Cory to tell him my change of plans due to the fact that I was by myself...Plan B...Hessie trailhead near the town of Eldora. I knew it had to of been plowed by now due to the fact its on a school bus route and on a paved road near other homes...Well I made it to the trailhead and put together a little footage of my adventure in hiking to lost lake...Visibility pretty much sucked all day as you can see...But its always great to get out in the mountains, alone, and do a little walking...Enjoy.
Peace,
Jason

So its been awhile...

2011-03-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

Ok so I'm slacking again with not keeping up with my blog..Ive been preparing and sending out my resume in search of guide work through the summer, and looking for a new place to move into. After a long couple weeks of searching on Craig's list everyday and doing interviews both for houses, and guide jobs, things have started turning around. I got hired at Avid4 Adventure as an Outdoor Education Instructor in both the Rock climbing and Mountain biking courses. I'll be teaching rock climbing and biking skills to elementary, middle, and high school aged kids. Seasonal employment from April through mid August. Last day at the couriers April 12th!! Although I feel I will miss riding It will be good to switch things up and work in the field at which I have applied myself toward in my AMGA training. As far as my living situation is concerned that's actually a funny story..I'm moving back into the Hamilton hood. This time though Ill be in the house to the left of the Ol' Gooney house. And this house has a bouldering cave in a shed in the backyard. Time to start training for the Diamond...Anyway Ive still been out climbing and skiing..Also made it back up to Loveland ski area with my good friends Cory, Liz, Kestrel, and El- Tedro ( Ted ), for a little in bounds skiing ... Here are some pics..

The crew on top of the divide after exiting lift 9

Cory Fleagle Gettin some wind blown pow turns...

West Side...Sucka!

Kestrel Hansen showing off some nice Tele turns.

Walking the ridge looking for the fattest corince to huck..

Ive also been getting out in the Backcountry with my boy Butters. Found these extra pics from skiing up at Caribou and the secret stash...Lots of good backcountry skiing this year..

The Anchor Mine near Caribou..

Butters seeing if anyone is home..

Caribou Backcountry runs in red..Where Ive found the best skiing over the past 6 years.

Very reactive snowpack...Glad I wasn't skiing anything over 35degrees..

Weather turning crappy..Time to head back to the truck...

On our way out we found this snowmobiler who somehow drove his sled into a tree well..I felt bad for the guy and his girlfriend as they didn't even have a shovel to dig there machine out. As the sun set I took out my avalanche shovel and helped dig this guys machine out and turn it back over..Oh yea when I arrived it was up side down..I looked at it as an opportunity to work on my strategic shoveling skills...Interesting end to a great day of skiing.

Well its finally getting spring like here and I think winter is coming to an end. Still holding out for that one last spring dump...This winter was pretty mild; at least from a couriers perspective...Hopefully some future climbing posts will emerge as the temps rise...

Peace,

Jason

Backcountry Butters

2011-02-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

I shot this short movie of Butters and I skiing the secret stash bowl last weekend...The quality of the video exposure isn't the greatest against the bright white of the snow...Trying to fix that issue with my camera....One of these days I'm going to get that GoPro helmet cam...Then it will be on!!
Hope you enjoy anyway... Its kinda funny watching Butters running next to me on the dsecent...

Peace,
Jason

The Alpinist Courier

2011-01-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

So I filmed all of this on Monday...I have to say it was quite fun...Even riding one handed into work, and the high temps in Boulder were only going to peak at 10 degrees .... I guess I decided on alpinist courier because this is some good trainning for dealing with the cold in the mountains when your having REAL fun...Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Peace,
Jason

Wind Rivers slideshow 2010

2011-01-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

Some extra footage from my Wind Rivers trip this past August...
Enjoy,
Jason

Petit Grepon Film

2011-01-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally learning how to put together movies...Just downloaded this free video editing software...Not THAT bad for my first try..Footage is a little jumpy, belaying and filming at the same time, little tricky...Much better stuff to come...
Enjoy,
Jason

Jackal Hut Trip

2010-12-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

I had so many great pic's from this past holiday hut trip that I felt a slide show was in order...
Enjoy!

Peace , Jason

Jackal Hut

2010-12-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

Just returned from a successful hut trip to one of the 10th Mountain Division Huts with my good friend Aaron .

Situated in an incredible position above treeline at 11,660 ft, Jackal Hut is one of the Highest of the 10th Mountain Huts. Able to accommodate 16 people this hut is super comfortable and has great views from almost any window..

We left South Camp Hale parking area 4 miles from the hut early Thursday morning...Arriving at the hut around 3 we were looking forward to getting in a little run before sundown....Jackie, John , and Greg, nice folks Aaron and myself met on the hike in were also down for a afternoon tour. Turns out we would get to know each other pretty good over the next day and a half of skiing and hanging out together.

Aaron leading the charge back to the hut after our first taste tree skiing the area had to offer..

Looking west from the deck of Jackal hut on a beautiful early morning sunrise..

Awesome mountain views in all directions..

Nice looking pillows on the north facing slopes...Hidden in all those" tight trees". Aaron and myself found that these slopes held some of the softest powder, so we skied the hell out of this area. Running laps on day 2 ,just the two of us, like furry e-woks flying through the forest we logged an estimated 5,500 vertical...We just couldn't get enough...

Enjoying ourselves....

View back toward the hut and the North facing slopes we tracked out...Looking back from the south west facing slopes of Pearl Peak...This area held some nice above treeline skiing but would soon get punchy due to solar radiation...Blahhh!

Inspiring terrain..

Some incredible 1/2 inch surface hoar formed overnight that made our our second full day of skiing

even more enjoyable...

Yours Truly skiing some of that sweet surface hoar..

This is probably the tightest the trees ever got...Manageable...Especially with such great snow, turning through the trees came pretty effortlessly.

This was a great Christmas hut trip...No snow hole dug above treeline in a blizzard this time.. Just splitter blue bird days, zero wind, soft powder, and good friends...Thanks Aaron, for making this trip happen, it was quite awesome.. Happy Holidays!

Peace, Jason

Climbing Slide show 2010

2010-11-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

Night Climb

2010-11-07T08:16:00.000-08:00

Just because the sun isn't up doesn't mean you still cant climb rock...especially when its 70 degrees out and its the month of November. I guess motivation to climb after work on Friday was fueling my need to pull down on some real rock ( rock gyms too expensive ) and although while I didn't get off work till 5:30 I was still determined to get a couple pitches in. So after meeting up in town Matt, Brett, and myself headed out to the Elephant Buttresses right outside of Boulder and dropped a rope on Classic finger crack 5.9 , and Tough situation 5.10. Easily top-roped from the same anchor, we were rapping in as the sun was setting in the canyon. Quite peaceful..

Brett stemming through the crux of tough situation.....stars in the sky above

Yours truly scumming my way up by headlamp...

Brett goofing around bringing out the big guns!!

Although this shot didn't turn out that well I still think it looks cool and gives a certain perspective on climbing at night..Relying on just your head lamp to read the terrain and moves above can sharpen your focus on just a move or two that you can see in front of you, while the shadows that your light casts illuminates the rocks micro textures in a way not so much noticed while climbing during the day. This effect seems to give a more intimate feel to the rock and creates an exciting feel to the energy as well because your doing something that you really don't do that often which is climb rock at night....

Peace, Jason

Winter Mojo 2010

2010-10-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

East Ridge of the Owls..

2010-10-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

Still recovering from my last outing on Lumpy Ridge ( Wolf's Tooth) Aaron Miller and myself headed back up to Lumpy for the Tenth Annual Lumpy Ridge trail days as well as the Lumpy Ridge climbers reunion...We had planned to climb the East Ridge of the Twin Owls via Crackle Crack,.a fun link up that would bring us up to the summit of the Owls in 3 varying pitches, mostly 5.8 climbing due to my still handicap condition. ..Unfortunately while following Aaron up Crackle Crack my injury from last week made an un-welcomed return. Stabbing pain down the left side of my abdomen made me nervous that possibly I had torn my ab-ductor muscle more severely than first expected...Not wanting to climb the remaining pitches due to the fact that I may aggravate the injury more, but also not wanting to be one to moan and complain and shut the day down short, I was having quite an internal dilemma. We talked it over and I decided to continue, me taking it easy and just moving slow through the next pitch...Which is what I did, climbing as cautiously as possible trying not to use my 'core' strength which irritated the injury every time I engaged my abs...Surprisingly I climbed much better, taking my time, finding the best foot placements to re-set my body weight, after one long time consuming pitch, I set the belay relived to be handing the rack back over to Aaron for the last pitch..

Crackle Crack 5.8....

Aaron attempting Pitch 3...This is right before he gets sucked into the off width roof slot....

At this point I think Aaron was questioning the grade of this pitch 5.7-5.8 ? Maybe if its climbed correctly....Stemming through the roof slot seemed to be the most reasonable approach...Lots of fun but quite deceiving....similar in ways to the Cave exit on the Book Formation...

After finishing the climb we made our way back to our packs at the base and contemplated climbing some more....with my abs still burning intermittently in pain I volunteered to belay Aaron on anything he wanted to lead but my climbing today was over, even though I REALLY wanted to keep climbing...Another internal dilemma....this time my nagging injury won and we ended the day short and headed back to the car for some beers....for the first time ever in my 6 years climbing on Lumpy Ridge I was glad to be heading back to the car...

So its been about 2 weeks or so and I feel that I'm slowly healing..Not going to be climbing until at least the end of October... Want to heal properly...I cant complain, its been a awesome summer...

Peace, Jason

Wolf's Tooth, Lumpy Ridge, Co

2010-09-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

Jason Estes and myself climbed the ever classic Wolf's Tooth 5.8+ on the Twin Owls of Lumpy Ridge this past weekend.

Having climbed a majority of the other classic crack climbing routes on the ridge I'd definitely say that this is one of the best so far....Lots of off- width crack technique employed, including some full body squeeze chimney to boot...Physical...to say the least...Combine it with Conan's Gonads ( 150 feet of 5.9 hand and fist jamming ) for the first pitch up to the roosting ramp, makes this one sweet crack climbing link- up...Highly recommended!

Twin Owls formation. Wolfs tooth climbs up the opposite side of the semi-detached pillar on the left side of the photo...

A better Perspective...Closer and from the other side...

The sweetest link- up. Conan's Gonads to Wolf's Tooth....

Jason Estes doing battle with Conan....This 5.9 is as steep and physical as it looks!

Feeling a little nervous.....

The off-width start to Wolfs Tooth...

The awesome view back down the chimney of the Tooth....

J2 sporting a nice fist jam near the end of the pitch....

After one more funky 5.7 pitch we were standing on the summit....Totally awesome climb and one that I look forward to repeating.... after my body recovers.....

Peace, Jason

Pingora 11,884

2010-09-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

After our well deserved rest day we set our focus on climbing Pingora by way of the East Face Left Side cracks 5.7 IV about 1500feet. With some beta from Cory and Liz , we were stoked to climb this route which is supposedly better than the other 50 classic that was just around the corner, but loaded with other climbing parties.....We, on the other hand, had this route all to ourselves....

We started about two or three cracks to the right of the shaded dihedral in the center of the photo..

Aaron leading pitch two...some more Cracks from hands to off -width body jams...this route had it all...

Aaron probably leading Pitch four right before we started simul-climbing for about 500 feet.

The view down looking at Lonesome lake and Mitchell peak from about 2/3 the way up Pingora

Aaron following the last pitch.... More sweet jamming....

Summit!! Visible from right to left Wolfs Head 12,163, Overhanging Tower 12,164, Sharks Nose 12,229, Block Tower 12,210 , Watchtower 12,288

Plenty of climbing still to be done and I will definitely be making return trips to the Winds...

I feel that I only got a small taste of the climbing to be done in the Wind Rivers which makes me want more.....

Id like to thank Aaron for making this trip happen for me( enduring those tooth aches until the pain meds kicked in) as well as Cory and Liz for being so awesome and showing us this incredible climbing area.

Peace, Jason

:The Winds post below is actually suppose to come before this post :

The Winds

2010-08-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

Just returned from an awesome trip to the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind Rivers of Wyoming. Aaron Miller and I made plans to climb another one of the 50 classic climbs of North America, the North Ridge of Wolfs head IV 5.6 1,000 Ft "traversing". We also planned to climb Pingora by way of the East Face Left Side Cracks, IV 5.7 1500ft ? And for a bonus the day after our ten mile hike into the cirque we climbed the South Buttress 'K cracks' of Pingora for a good warm up to get accustomed to the style of climbing to be expected. Cory and Liz were along as well as our gracious hosts since this was there 5 th trip to the Winds.

First sight of the Cirque....

Ant Man !! Hiking just past Big Sandy Lake..The first easy six miles are behind us now...

Nice view of both of our objectives for the trip ...Wolf's head (left) and Pingora (right)

Resting up after the long hike in..

Aaron walking through a field of wildflowers on our morning approach to Wolf"s Head ridge..

After simul -climbing the first 300 feet of easy grassy ledges we ended up on a large bench with a short vertical pitch separating us from the start of the "sidewalk pitch"

Aaron going through the rack before the classic run out ( but easy) sidewalk pitch...2ft wide and about 40ft long no pro, just friction...Probably 5.2 climbing but in an incredible position...
"Sidewalk pitch"

Looking down the sidewalk....

Great shot of Aaron following the traverse around the first tower which is followed by a sketchy step around the exposed boulder...

One of the most striking towers that we climbed around, the " Darth Vader" tower, could easily be seen from camp below resembling the helmet of Darth Vader...

Aaron leading the downward hand traverse pitch, which finished with a tight squeeze through a gap in the ridge.... A truly unique and memorable pitch.

Looking through the gap......

Last pitch of the climb. A great route, truly classic, and one that I would definitely climb again....

View of the ridge catching the last bit of sun....

So after climbing Wolfs Head we were in agreement on taking a rest day before climbing Pingora.

Our one rest day was pretty relaxing, went on a short hike , did some sweet bouldering in the cirque, and tried not to eat all of our food for the rest of the trip.....

Pingora continued below.......

Petit Grepon

2010-08-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

One of the 50 classic climbs of North America the Petit Grepon has been on my to do list since I first started climbing. Finally this past Thursday Aaron Miller and myself headed up and climbed this awesome alpine route by way of the classic south face, grade III 5.8 800ft. Solid rock and breathtaking exposure throughout the climb, I cant believe its taken me so long to get this route done.. Roping up and getting psyched...Although the recent monsoon flow throughout the front range has left "the Park" quite wet...Trails on the approach were running with water and when we reached the start of the route the lower pitches looked as if they were running with water as well..

The start was a little wet, but we kept our hopes up that the upper pitches past the chimneys would be dry..The chimney on pitch 2 was definitely running and wet when we climbed through.

Aaron toward the end of pitch 3 leaving most of the wet rock below us now. Sky pond visible below....

Mr. Marmot keeping me company at the belay....I think he was scoping our line!!

Aaron sending the crux pitch...

Looking down from the extremely exposed pizza pan belay ledge...Single serving, room enough for one, no room for seconds!

Aaron getting his slice of the pie....

Aaron leading the final summit pitch.....

Yours truly finally on the summit of the Petit Grepon.... Totally Sweet!!

One hour and 5 rappels later we were back at the base of the Petit...Me actually smiling while pulling ropes...I hate rappelling!

Chillin back at the base of the route...Feeling good!

Walking out, the Petit on the left and the Saber on the right....

Till next time...

Peace, Jason

P.S.

All this moisture in RMNP has sprouted up some interesting looking mushrooms.....

The Ten Essentials

2010-07-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ventured back up to RMNP last week with Aaron Miller to climb a lesser known route on Spearhead 12,575. called, The Ten Essentials III 8+ . The route starts with the first three pitches of the more popular Sykes sickle 9+ and then veers right into some broken flakes and cracks for the remaining 2 pitches to the ridge crest. The route pretty much runs parallel to the barb flake formation, at one point climbing behind the huge hanging flake of "the barb". Exciting old school 5.8 climbing at about 12,000 ft, with the crux coming at the end of the route. We then finished with the last 2 pitches of the North Ridge. A nice long day car to car..

About 6am almost to Spearhead which is the large spiked buttress in the background....

The 800 ft. east face of Spearhead.....

Aaron Miller following the 1st pitch....

Aaron starting the 2nd pitch. The route moves right toward the end of this quite run-out slab pitch, over to the hanging flakes and corners seen above Aaron to the right....

Good view of the upper pitches. The crux pitch climbs beneath the HUGE hanging flakes of The barb. Sweet stemming and lay-backing throughout the climb...

West side of Longs Peak and the Keyboard of the winds looking over your shoulder the whole climb...

Aaron following the crux pitch.....

Pull'in the crux...The look of excitement, or concern on Aarons face??

Looking down the last 2 pitches of the North ridge and the top of the barb flake.....I combined these last 2 easy pitches due threatening weather....

Aaron eating candy soon after finishing the climb....Spearhead's summit seen in the background... The weather still holding... Sweet views of McHenrys peak and stoneman pass from the Spearhead summit...Awesome climb!!!

Peace, Jason

Zowie

2010-07-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

Its alpine season once again, too hot to climb even on Lumpy Ridge one must gain some elevation to keep things on the cool side. I climbed Zowie by way of the standard South Face route, Grade III 8+ with my old roomate Beth Andrews at the end of last season, one of the most enjoyable routes of all year, and now I decided to start the alpine season off right and climb Zowie first with my good buddy Mike. With this being Mikes first alpine climb I was totally excited to share in that experience with him.. So the typical alpine climb start, at least for Zowie due to the shorter approach. Wake up call 2am, pick up mike leave Boulder 3am, drive at a high rate of speed to Estes Park and then through the park to Glacier Gorge trailhead 4am, start hiking 4:05 am, roped up and climbing by 6am, 6 pitches and approx 700 feet later on the summit 10:45 am, back at base of climb 11:45 am. Lunch, meditation, reflection back at truck for a cold beer 2pm....So with the details out of the way here are a few pics from the climb..

Sun coming up over the Loch....

Morning Alpen glo on the tip of Zowie, the large buttress in the foreground that narrows to a spire.

Mike climbing up one of the early morning pitches of the climb. I think the smile on Mikes face is from finally being able to escape the hoards of mosquitoes that were at the base of the route. They were pretty bad. I think Mike said some thing along the lines of" I think you need to lead this pitch as fast as possible dude!" as he was dawning his rain coat for defence.

Mike following pitch 3

Great Views of The Gash and Sharkstooth from mid route, looking south west towards Andrews Glacier....

Mike enjoying himself, no more mosquitoes!

Looking up at the final crux pitch. The left of the 2 cracks splitting the overhung headwall above. The right one goes too..Just a little bit harder, #4 Camalot crucial if you want to sew it up.

Mike climbing up the last difficult bit to the summit....

Looking down part way through the descent of Zowie...

Mike descending the boulder field in front of Zowie ....Good perspective on the size of the climb..

A great climb and the perfect start to this years alpine season...

Peace, Jason

Bitty Buttress Baby!!

2010-07-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Climbed Bitty Buttress route ( 8+) with J2 on Saturday. Easily my favorite multi pitch route in Boulder Canyon for the grade. Steep, exposed, and super funky moves make this a definitely must do route. Very different from most Boulder Canyon trad climbs....Actually climbs more like an Eldo route in my opinion..

Looking up the first pitch..Pretty much follow the dihedral that flanks the arete for a long pitch (150Ft) Belay on a large ledge on the east side of the buttress......

Pitch two....More funkiness and some sweet exposure on this pitch...

Looking down Pitch two....

Crux Pitch Baby!! Climb the thin crack into a shallow left facing dihedral, when it ends as well as your gear stem across and do a long reach for a hidden rail high left...sustained 8+ with good gear below your feet.....

View down the crux 3rd pitch.....Next gear placement after the crux is at my waist at this point....

J2 after the climb.....Sweet clouds and some cool rainbow virga going on in the cirrus clouds in the background.....

Peace, Jason

Flagstaff Bouldering

2010-07-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

My buddy Mike Zadd is visiting from out of town and with this recent stormy weather we decided to take it easy and do a little bouldering up at the world class flagstaff bouldering areas....

Started at Upper y traverse for a good warm up and then we headed down to the 3 of a Kind traverse...

Your's truly getting horizontal with it on the 3 of a kind traverse, V4

Mike hanging in there...

Mike pulling down on the muppet traverse V3....

That's what I call "Extreme" concentration..Notice the sweet left hand jam utilized to reach over the bulge.. A heel hook takes some stress off the arms...

Front view of muppet traverse....

Flagstaff is quite a awesome place to come climb or just boulder, which it is quite famous for....Finger shreeding conglomerate sandstone on mostly overhanging terrain make for some sweet problems.....Just look for the chalk...crash pad optional....

Peace,

Jason

Lumpy Ridge

2010-06-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Lumpy Ridge, located in Estes Park Colorado, is hands down my favorite place to climb. Spectacular crack and face climbing on bullet hard granite with a unbelievable backdrop of a setting, Rockey Mountain National Park. Upon entering my fourth year of climbing on the ridge, I cant help but feel grateful that such a place exists only 45 minutes from Boulder. This season I'm hoping to document more of my climbs on Lumpy and in RMNP, and compile enough footage for a slide show at the end of the year...But that also means I really have to start remembering to bring my camera...So to kick things off here are some pics form last weekend at Lumpy with my buddy Jason " J2" Estes. He's also a DBC Courier and a solid second, always down for climbing, no matter what I put him on...

J2 on the first pitch flake.....We decided on doing a variation to Pear Buttress called Thindependence.....Pretty much what it sounds like...Some thin crack climbing...Bring RP's.....The dual thin cracks of Thindependence..

Looking Back down after sewing it up!! Whew!

Check out pitch three of Pear Buttress, awesome finger to hands crack going for 100 ft....Sweet!!

This is a pic I took after we finished, looking up at another climbing party on the same route we did about to start the Pitch 3 hand crack to the climbers left...

Looking down pitch 3 of Pear Buttress

J2 figuring out the funky moves to exit the cave route and finish the climb....

Jason "J2" hanging out at the end of the climb. Longs Peak dominating the background...

well it never really got that hot, and the afternoon T-storms never materialized so we decided do go and climb the first pitch of Georges Tree on the Book and set up a top rope. Standard lumpy flared hand /finger crack, sustained 5.9 climbing for 100 ft.. The perfect cool down...

Happy Trails!

Jason

Escalante

2010-06-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

Went climbing in Escalante Canyon a couple weeks ago with Cory Fleagle and the dogs for the weekend. Lamont and Sarah met up with us out there as well for quite a good weekend of sandstone crack climbing.

A little soggy on Saturday..But still got a lot of climbing done...

Cory Fleagle leading just one of the many splitter finger cracks in the canyon.....
Sarah pullin through.....Definitely one of the coolest routes in the area...

Lamont, styling through the roof crux....

Sunshine making an appearance....

The " S Crack ". Finger tips to hands to fist to double fist stack inch fest......Totally sweet climbing!

Butters.... Zowie...

Just like to thank Cory Fleagle for pulling me up all those sweet routes and showing me the ways of desert crack climbing..

Peace , Jason

" The Park "

2010-03-09T18:20:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday Aaron Miller and myself headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to check out the snow conditions near the Dragon Tail couloirs above Emerald Lake. With the recent warming temps I think we both were very intrigued on what we might find.

It was definitely warm on the approach....Aaron getting ready for a dip in emerald lake?

The snow conditions actually felt a little spring like, not too heavy to make turns, and super fast...Although it looked pretty tracked out from this past week there was still plenty of untracked lines to be skied....It was good!!

After two laps near the apron of the Dead Elk couloir we decided to go check out the snow under the north face of Hallett which was still in the shade.
The massive 1000ft North face of Hallett looms over us....
But of course as the day got warmer the glop factor ( snow that sticks to climbing skins when the temps rise ) was in full effect.....Time to get the scraper out...
The snow that was being preserved due to the shade under the N. face of Hallett was really good....Super soft and winter like ....It made for some great turns and an equally impressive show for the spectators down at Emerald lake....never before had I skied a slope and got a standing ovation from the onlooking snowshoe'rs upon our exit.....It was a little weird I admit, but probably not so out of place if say we were in Europe or something.....

Peace, Jason

Hidden Falls Hi-Lite reel

2010-03-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

So once again I've neglected to keep up with my posts, but at least this time I've got enough good pics to sort of wrap up this past month of ice climbing at Hidden Falls. Also got the privilege of introducing ice climbing to two close rock climbing friends, Mike Zadd who was in town visiting from his law job in Kentucky, and Jacob McGuire a good buddy and sold front range rock climber. They both did awesome, which just solidified my enjoyment of guiding and introducing people to new things in the mountains...

Cory Fleagle asking me for a little privacy before he launches up a mixed line in awesome form.
Uhh....I don't think so Dude!!

Mike Zadd enjoying the experience.......Yours truly chopping away...
Jacob making some delicate moves on the ice curtain ...Till next time.....
Peace, Jason

Dirt Bag!

2010-02-06T18:57:00.001-08:00

Hidden Falls

2010-01-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

Ted and I ventured out this past weekend to Hidden Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park, a popular ice climbing area with almost a 100 ft of vertical ice a mere 40 minutes from the car. First sight of the flow from the trail.....

The ice was looking good upon arrival and with only one other party already setting up their ropes our chances of climbing ice were guaranteed .....No crowds yet.
Closer inspection of the flow revealed that the party of two that beat us there also had the most solid and driest line, unlike our line that was running with water. Looked like it was going to be a wet one. With this being the first time either Ted or myself have climbed here we took what we could get.

Ted looking surprised after taking a football sized chunk of ice fall to the face...
What was left of his protective shield...

The climbing was definitely what we were looking for as for steepness but the frozen shower you had to deal with made it a little hard to fully enjoy the pump.
And it was WET!! Frozen rope...

Some interesting looking mixed lines in the area....

So after the right side of Ted's face started to swell up and we were both soaking wet and partially frozen we decided to call it a day, vowing to return when the temps got a little colder.

My rope thawing out in the shower, still frozen...
Peace, Jason

Ice is Nice!

2010-01-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

Started the new year off by climbing some ice. Clear Creek Canyon and Boulder Canyon have formed up pretty well thanks to the cold temps these past few weeks. Haven't been up to the "Park" yet but I bet there's some good stuff in up there. Here are some pics from the weekend climbing with Ted and Russell.
Clear Creek Ice/ Lower flow, west of the Little Eiger.

Boulder Canyon ice in some afternoon sun.

Yours truly swinging away.

Russell climbing in fine form.

Interesting lighting on the ice makes for a cool perspective.

Pretty good start to the year.

Peace, Jason

To Ski ? or to Climb ?

2009-11-01T15:15:00.000-08:00

About two feet of snow fell in Boulder on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, much more in the mountains. But ofcourse its Colorado and on Friday it warmed up into the 50's and boulder melted out just as fast as it froze everyone in.

Snow Bike

Saturday :

Chris taking flight to avoid the Butters obstacle...

Hoping to get some weekend ski track leftovers Chris and I strolled up to Caribou to scope out conditions.
Not much up there yet but we made the most of it....Fast hard wind slab turns..I'll take it.

Cruising back down Boulder Canyon it felt like summer and when I saw people climbing I had to remind myself that climbing season wasn't over, I had to get out and climb the next day. The remainder of the drive I continued to swerve my way down the canyon, pointing out to Chris in the process, all the cool stuff we could climb. I guess I'm a good salesman, Chris texted me later that evening that he was down to go.
So this morning we headed up to the Bihederal, a popular sport and mixed climbing area not to far up the canyon. With its perched southern exposure, and relatively easy approach, I knew this place would work great.
Chris on the 3rd class approach

tying in

I felt that these were some of the best shots I got of Chris pulling the crux on Puff Daddy 5.10a
Pretty Sweet!

Nice work Doody!!

Nice view of the Bihederal from the road. Climbers visible high on the wall.

Peace, Jason

East Portal RECON

2009-10-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Chris, Butters, and myself headed up to the train tunnel on Saturday to do a little recon on the snow conditions.

After about three and a half hours of hiking we finally made it above tree line and saw that there was not much filled in just yet. Looking at the SW ridge extending from Frosty Mt.

With the daylight we had to spare we decided to drink a beer and refuel our motivation levels. While drinking our lunch we spied two mini couloir's that looked quite interesting .
Chris and Butters scouting out the mini couloir. Our line is the longer of the two vertical snow ribbons.

Although short it proved to be a pretty exciting descent. I think Chris measured it at about 42degrees. Steep, narrow, and fun!Yea! Butters first Couloir!

Felt good to slide on snow again.

Looking back on the peaceful prairie.
Peace, Jason

Back at it !

2009-10-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

I feel that its about time I catch up on some writing. Unfortunately when my adventurous friends as well as working buddies got laid off last April so did my blog. Having to work full time at the couriers left me searching for energy and motivation, not only to keep up with the weekends activities, but also my new blog. So I'm back, and determined as ever to document as much as possible this winter season.
This summer went by way too fast! From awesome climbing adventures in the Park, Lumpy Ridge, and my new favorite place, VEDAWOO ,( Thanks Cory )
I feel the need to hold on a little longer to one of the best summers Ive had yet in Colorado.

But winter is approaching quickly and its now time to sharpen those edges,wax up the skis, and check those batteries in your beacon.....Lets get it on!!

Peace, Jason

Adventure Royal

2009-05-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Alpine season is back!! Here are some great shots of our little adventure in the Indian Peaks.
The alarm clock went off at 3am, in the car by 4am, and riding my bike with my skis on my back by 5am. All well worth it to catch a glimpse of a little early morning alpen glow.

With snow coverage being awesome our options on what to ski were plentiful. We finally decided on Queens Way, a snow ramp on the north east face of Apache Peak 13,441 ft.
The line follows the strip of snow going up the middle of the photo.

Approaching Queens Way; Great views of Navajo Peak and Navajo snowfield.

Evan, Chris , and Rob kicking steps up QW.

Rob topping out on QW.

Colder temps and wind kept the slope from changing into corn. The turns were still sweet and the lower half of QW corned up really well. After descending QW we realized that south facing slopes were actually in perfect spring condition, although it was already 1pm, pretty much the cut off time during regular spring ascents. Due to the cooler temps throughout the morning south facing slopes had taken longer to set up and were now calling our names....One more for the road....

We had eyed this south facing couloir on Shoshone Peak while on Queens Way. Evans glove is actually pointing at it.

So we climbed it.....The larger of the two strips of snow being split by the rock buttress. The couloir on the left looks really interesting....maybe next time...

And then we skied it......Evan with the shot of the day....

Peace, Jason

Rocky Mountain Cement!

2009-04-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

With the latest spring storm dumping up to 4 feet of wet snow in the Front Range mountains Evan, Chris, Butters ( his 1st gooney tour), and myself decided to head up to East Portal and scope out the coverage. Breaking trail took awhile, but after 4 hours we were finally above treeline. Good ol' Butters postholed the whole way..

Once above treeline the snow was quite deeper and halted Butters valiant effort to go higher. So Butters and myself decided to hang out and just take some pics of Evan and Chris skiing.

Good day to jump off stuff...

Butters first huck !!

And he lands it!!

The coverage was quite good, areas of what would normally be rock scree filled in nicely with this dense wet snow. Although difficult to ski it sure made for some good photo's..

Peace, Jason

Its a Wet One!!

2009-03-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

With a huge spring blizzard dumping up to a foot of the wet stuff on Boulder this morning just getting into work was an epic battle. Last week I was riding around in a t-shirt and shorts, but this particular morning I find myself putting on my mid winter ski gear ; minus skis and AT boots. With roads too dangerous to ride on, and the bike paths still not plowed and pretty much unrideable, it was definitely slow going. Thankfully Chris lent me one of his extra mountain bikes so at least I had fatter tires...But the snow was so heavy with moisture that even having a studded tire mountain bike wasn't cutting it....I'd say that the time I spent actually trying to ride was equal to the time I just spent walking due to occasionally unrideable areas. So with most of Boulder shutting down around noon, as well as buses stuck on I- 70, the couriers had no choice but to close early as well. With the 4 hours of work I actually did on a loop that consisted of riding, slipping, walking, wrecking, and carrying a mountain bike ( hike- a- bike) I did get first tracks on the Goose Creek bike path sucka!

Really wet snow makes it easy to park your bike though....
Peace, Jason

Red Peak 13,189

2009-03-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

To start off the weekend Evan, Aaron, Eszter, Chris and myself set off to ski Red Peak. North of Buffalo Mountain, Red Peak and Buffalo are the first major mountains that greet you as you exit the Eisenhower tunnel on the western side of the continental divide. With temps expected to reach the 60's in the mountains we were excited to get in some of the first real corn turns of the season.
After the delicate and tretrous approach, which included skining over a snow covered waterfall, we were finally awed when we crested tree line and were welcomed by the Gore range in all its rugged beauty. Hands down my favorite mountain range in Colorado.

Eszter and Chris kickin steps to the summit.

The Doc a few steps from the summit..Buffalo Mountain visible in the background.

Some more pics from our awesome 2,700 foot ski descent.

Back at the trail head Aaron in his surfing attire getting ready for a return trip to the Goodwin Greene hut with Eszter and Chris over the remainder of the weekend....Good luck guys, and please come back with all your toes...
Peace, Jason

On the Eva spring

2009-03-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

With the Spring ski season right around the corner I have been itching with anticipation to strap the skis to my pack and start climbing the high peaks. No better way to kick off the spring season than to head out with the Gooney crew to kick some steps up the east ridge of Mt. Eva 13,130 ft, and ski Eva's South bowl.

Mt Eva in the distance, south bowl on left side of pic...

The girls get'in it done....

The challenge for the day: finding soft snow. With day time temps still at about freezing up above treeline the snow wasn't quite metamorphasizing into what we spring skiers like to call corn.
But the snow did turn into something ,not quite corn, but also not a concrete wind slab. It was actually soft...

The turns? Fast....Chris Miller check'in out a northeast facing bowl across the saddle. Of course we skied it. Chris got a great shot of Issac huck'in off a cornice that's just out of view.

Look'in back at Eva, and our fresh tracks, on our way to the top of the north facing bowl we were scoping from the summit.

Awesome late day back light highlighting our rooster tails.

Completely exhausted we skied back across the sketchy Fall River Reservoir, which both Aaron and myself post holed through( soaking us up to our knee) earlier that day on the approach.....Luckily enough young ninja sensei Sarah had brought an extra pair of socks which Doc and I split. 1st rule of being a snow ninja: always be prepared for anything....Good job Sarah!

Spring skiing definitely has some kind of spiritual hold on me. Get'in up high in the mountains, the solitude, fresh air, exposure, and friendships built in such awesome settings will always leave me craving for more.....

Later, Jason

The First, on the first

2009-03-02T16:50:00.000-08:00

With winter behind us and spring approaching quickly it's once again Flatiron season. Well at least first flatiron season due to the seasonal wildlife closures on the Third and Second flatirons.
So Evan, Amber, and myself decided to get a jump start on the rock climbing season and climb the First, on the first. Both Amber and Evan had never climbed the 1st so I was excited to be their guide for the day and show them how much fun it is to climb a flatiron.
My initial plans were to climb the Standard route (5.6s, 1000ft, 6pitches) but of course due to it being Sunday and that routs overall popularity there was already a line forming to climb it. One thing you must always have as a front range climber is a backup plan. Fandango was mine. Just 200 feet to the left of the Standard route. Although shorter by 2 pitches it is definitely just as good a route as the Standard. Interesting slabs, cool solution pockets, wave like overlaps, all high over Boulder.

Evan in mountain man pose...

The first two pitches of Fandango went smooth although at the end of pitch 2 while squeezing between a tree and a rock overhang, somehow one of the 2 Upslope beers I had in my pack sprung a leak. I hurried up , set an anchor, and dugout the leaking beer from my pack. 400 feet up, Let the drinking begin!

We drank up the leaking beer and saved the other one for the summit. Feelin the buzz, due to the fact I don't really drink that often, I left the belay and instead of climbing up and right off pitch 2 I accidentally climbed over to the left onto Zig Zag, a different route rated at 5.7s. Other than cutting off some climbers who were on the route below us it was no big deal. Having climbed almost all the routes on the 1st numerous times I still knew exactly where I was. Just felt a little foolish for getting off route due to a little beer buzz...I guess the important thing is that Evan and Amber didn't seem to mind and the last two pitches of Zig Zag went great.

Evan and Amber on the "tricky" part of Zig Zag..

Once on the ridge most of the technical climbing is over and you are awarded with a spectacular view of the Indian Peaks and Longs Peak for the 300 foot ridge traverse....

Evan and Amber gigglin on the ridge......... Climbing over the first false summit..

Once on the summit it was time to rig up the 100 foot free hanging rapel. Showing Evan the safer method to descent a rope we all rappelled safely to the ground anxious to drink the surviving beer.

And it was good!!! I'm pretty sure this was the first time an Upslope beer made it up the First flatiron.

Peace, Jason

Steamboat Yurt Trip

2009-02-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally posting some pics from this last weekend's Yurt trip to Pearl lake near Steamboat Springs. Our objective was to track out Farwell mountain 10,800ft, and ski some of the best aspens in the state. Upon our arrival Thursday afternoon a fresh 2 ft of snow awaited us, so we headed for the top with much trail to break. After a grueling 4 hours of breaking trail to the summit we were finally rewarded with an alpen glow backdrop and face shots of some of the softest powder I've skied all year. It was awesome, effortless skiing through perfectly spaced aspens.
Chris skiing near the summit.

Friday brought us perfect snow but not so great light for pictures. Chris got some interesting footage with a home made helmet cam. The snow seemed to be preserved due to the cloud cover and cold conditions, but things were soon to warm up and spoil our soft snow. Surprisingly I got some of my best shots on Friday. One of Chris Miller in what we snow ninjas call the "Combat Position" and one of Aaron with snow ninja tools in tow. Notice the whistle and scraper attached to the "dummy" cord.

Mike and Jason joined us on Saturday along with warm temps and clear blue skies. So warm that the pillow light soft snow we skied just 8 hours earlier was now turning into a gloppy mess. Snow, heavy with moisture from the warm temps, was now acting like cement on our skis, slowing uphill progress, and making the descent tricky. But it was sunny and warm, it kind of felt like spring, hard to complain.
Evan showing off a fine example of what we backcountry skiers call "Glop". I'd say this is a serious case.

With this being my second trip to the pearl lake yurts I got the same impression from my last trip; peaceful isolation, no other skiers, cozy yurts...They actually have electric heat.

So with a keg of Upslope and some of the best food I've ever eaten off my vintage Coleman stove
we lived like kings. Spaghetti, lasagna, and oh yea, shrimp quinoa stir fry....."Mighty Ninja Draw Power From Ocean ! "

Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible, The Doc for reserving the hut, and especially the hard core DBC crew for covering for us and making it possible for myself in particular to attend this great trip.

Peace, Jason

Ice Climbing courier

2009-02-16T06:03:00.000-08:00

Secret stash!!

2009-02-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Headed out today with Cory, Liz, and their dog Zowie to check out the skiing at the hidden stash spot. We were also celebrating Zowie's 7th birthday, Butters came along as well for a little dog's day out.

Cory round'in up the doggies.....

Snow conditions were primed for speed. With about 3 inches of new snow sitting atop a pretty hard wind slab it made for some fast turns. Definitely some of the fastest skiing I've done this year. It was like skiing "freshies" at the resort "Bro".....

Liz doing some evasive maneuvering around Butters......

Weather conditions in Boulder this morning were much different than in the mountains, cloudy and cold. With it being partly sunny up high, a classic inversion was present and it made for some great shots from high above cloud line looking east.

Peace, Jason

Lookin to get High!

2009-02-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

Went up to East Portal on Saturday with my friend Matt who teaches avalanche courses for C.U. outdoor program. Butters, of course came along to.

Avoided most of the crowd in the mountains that morning and headed for the Continental Divide at about 12,000 ft. to ski some awesome lines off the ridge.
Butters scoping out his line...
The snow conditions were pretty stable and we found ourselves some nice 40 degree slopes to descend.
Even made a few jump turns!

A few more great pics...

Butters lookin west with Winter Park / Mary Jane in the background.

Peace, Jason
Also check out some more pics and a slide show of this trip, including the past two posts as well.
http://www.flickr.com/pohtos/lmadventures/show

No Ice ? Climb Rock !!!

2009-01-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

Average temps this week in boulder topped 70 degrees, and with hours being cut back at work I was able to skip out early Thursday afternoon and go climbing in Boulder Canyon with a long time climbing buddy Jacob, who had just recently moved down to Boulder from Jamestown.

We decided to climb a popular and fun multi- pitch sport climb on east blob rock called Young and the Rackless 5.10a/b 4 pitches. The line is generally right up the middle of the buttress in the photo below.

This isn't the first time Ive climbed this route and it surely won't be the last, as in my opinion its one of the best in the canyon. Intricate thinker moves on every pitch add to its flair; liebacks, cracks, slabs, edging, its all there.

Jacob starting us off

We were definitely having a good time. It felt great to get back out on some rock and climb after about two months of no climbing and just skiing. Just like riding a bike...

Ive never been able to get into climbing indoors. I guess its just too much of a scene for me.
I need the outdoors, the fresh air and sunshine ( well not always sunshine ) to power my adventures. Living in Boulder I feel its possible to climb outdoors year round, you just have to be flexible ( because mother nature isn't ), and you have to like climbing with numb fingers.

Rock'in it on pitch 2

Looking back toward Boulder, at the end of a great climb. Getting in the last of the warm temps ,as it was forecasted to drop into the 40's for the rest of the week.

Peace, Jason

Hidden Treasure !!!

2009-01-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

Great snow, awesome weather, good friends. Undoubtedly the prerequisites to an epic backcountry yurt trip - of the good kind. The mob of 13 consisted of a colorful array of AT skiers, telemark skiers, and of course one split border . Our objective; 3 days skiing above the Hidden Treasure yurts nestled in the trees at 11,200ft on the south east side of New York Mountain 12,500ft. Each yurt slept up to 8 people outfitted with a wood stove plus propane fueled burners and lighting. It was pretty cozy, as long as the fire was stoked.

Once settled in the yurt it was time for a little sunset ski session.

Waking up on Saturday we were stoked to get back out and ski. Half of the group decided to ski some slopes near the yurt while Aaron, Sara, Cory, Liz D. , Alex, Kendra, Eric , and myself made plans to summit New York Mountain (12,500ft) and then ski down it. Definitely worth it.
On the way to the summit.

After summiting and skiing some awesome lines down the south west side of the mountain, Liz D., Alex, and Kendra decided to return to the yurt, and Aaron, Sara, Cory, and myself commenced to pretty much track out most of the rest of the un-skied terrain on the south east side of the mountain. Hats off to Cory for breaking trail about 100% of the time.

Sunday brought exactly the same conditions, clear skies, soft snow, no wind. A welcomed change from my last hut trip. Unfortunately Cory awoke feeling under the weather, but was still motivated to get out and ski. Well, halfway through our morning tour Cory ended up vomiting on the skin track. Whatever was ailing Cory definitely seemed to be more serious than just an upset stomach from drinking the night before. Not letting a little vomit slow us down we all pressed on and ended up skiing some great trees on the north east side of the mountain and also found a fun little half-pipe style gully below treeline.

All in all I can definitely say that this was a great yurt trip. Plenty of skiing got done with great friends sharing awesome sunsets. Couldn't ask for a better redemption trip.

FYI- We had found out later that Cory's sudden sickness was brought on by a salmonella tainted power bar. One of which was part of a recent large recall of peanut butter. Thankfully Cory made a quick recovery and was back to himself Monday for the ski out.

Had an awesome trip, thanks to everyone that made it happen.

Rich, Liz B. , Cory, Liz D. , Aaron, Sara, Kendra, Eric, Victoria, Alex, Matt, Ted.

Peace, Jason

Right on Par....

2009-01-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

Trying to rest up this weekend I hung out with my old high school buddy Alex, who was rolling through town on his way up to Minnesota. Played a little frolf ( aka- frisbee golf ) on Sataurday in the crisp 30 degree weather. Needless to say we had the course to ourselves.

Al in his Ti Chi frisbee pose.

Waking up Sunday morning the lure of the mountains was strong, and of course I went skiing. I have to say I was a bit more anxious than usual this being my first time out since the "hut" trip, especially when my jacket and pants still reeked of survival camp fire. Anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful day in Ned to get in some fresh wind blown turns. Clear visibility and 100% sunshine.

Peace, Jason

Resolutions...

2009-01-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

When I started this blog a couple weeks ago its sole purpose was to be adventure based ( rock climbing -skiing- mountaineering ), to help with my documentation for guiding purposes, and to keep my family and friends who don't see me that often better updated as to how I spend my free time. But as I sit here typing another entry taking inventory on 2008 I've realized that my love of writing has returned to me. I feel that I've always loved writing, even from the young age of ten when I won a young authors award, its always just come easy for me. I think my mom still has the book that won the award ."The Robbery"
Writing also helped me get promoted in the military. Composing an essay of 500 words or less stating my reason for joining the Marine Corps and why I thought I should be promoted to Lance Corporal over another Marine who had the same number of promotion points, I amazingly wrote the better essay, and was at the First Sergeant's door the next morning picking up my new rank.
I'd like to read that essay today!

So with yet another year past I come to think about the future and the resolutions that I can make. One of them could definitely be writing more. Which I suppose is inevitable now with the start of this blog. But I would like to go on more rides with Butters, read more books, climb harder, ski faster, and overall just live life to the fullest. Because isn't that what its all about?

Happy New Year
Butters and Jason

Goodwin- Greene Experience

2008-12-29T06:46:00.000-08:00

Our objective this past weekend over Christmas was to spend 3 days at the Goodwin Greene hut.
Nestled at 11,600 ft in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness the Goodwin Greene hut is said to be one of the best huts in the Alfred A. Braun and Friends hut systems ; wood stove, solar lighting ,breathtaking mountain vista, and also the most difficult hut to locate.
Arriving at the trailhead Thursday morning in the historic town of Ashcroft, ten miles outside Aspen, we were quite relieved to be finished with the 4 hour drive up from Boulder, including the exciting 180 Aaron's CRV pulled on the slick snow packed road to the trailhead.
White- out conditions did exist that morning in the valley, as well as above treeline,but with an alpinist optimism we were hoping for conditions to improve as the day unfolded.
Skining our way up Express Creek road.-
While traveling up through the Express Creek drainage we encountered many large avalanche paths that required some travel techniques to be employed for them to be safely passed. Moving one at a time across the slope we were able to keep everyone in sight and minimize the group risk. Of course, everyone in the group had a shovel, beacon, and probe; standard backcountry traveling gear.
Navigating the drainage was pretty straight forward with map, compass, and altimeter, as well as still easily recognized terrain features, that is until we foolishly attempted to navigate through the engulfing white-out above treeline. Totally committed, and with only about an hour of daylight left, there was no turning back, no 180's to be had, just the grim realization that we had made a huge mistake by proceeding over the ridge and further into the white-out/storm. With already limited visibility night was creeping in like a dimmer switch being turned down, blinding our progress and erasing any opportunity to retreat. As the limited white light we had faded into black darkness, anxiety and panic were quickly making an appearance as now we needed to take shelter immediately,and it wasn't going to be in a hut.
While our obvious plans were to be sleeping in a cozy hut we had still prepared for if we did have to sleep out over night, which we were about to do. Everyone had a sleeping bag as well as a water-proof bivy sack. Issac and Aaron both brought portable stoves and David thankfully, and most importantly, brought a light weight shelter called a mega mid. Scrambling to erect our shelter in the blowing snow and high winds at about 12,200 feet it was difficult to accept that for tonight this is where we would have to give into the storm and wait it out till morning.
Once in the shelter we laid down packs and a small tarp to form some type of coverage from the snow underneath us. We got out the stoves and cooked up some soup and hot coco to try and get warm, and eventually tried to lay down and get some rest. With a total of 7 of us packed into this 4-5 person shelter you could say it was a bit more than just cramped. This was a good thing though while sacrificing comfort the warmth of everyone lying on each other was definitely a necessity.
Huddled down that night in our shelter a furious storm was raging outside . With at least 2 ft. of accumulating snow and winds in excess of 80 mph we struggled to stay warm. At around 2am when the storm was reaching its climax the winds were ripping through the air above with such force that you could actually hear the gusts approaching, like an passing Boeing 757, the defining roar of mother nature was upon us. All of us were grasping onto our shelter for if that was to be blown off the mountain our possible survival through the night was to go with it.

Incredibly, making it through the night with shelter intact, we awoke dehydrated as well as mentally and physically exhausted, but with winds dying down, and visibility improving, it was time get a move on to find this hut.
Due to the fact that we ascended the pass at night and in a white- out, upon our discovery of certain terrain features in the morning our exact location was still to be debated. The only obvious terrain feature we had to navigate from was a small rounded peak called Gold Hill, and even its exact location came into question. Heading north from our camp site on what we thought was the south east shoulder of Gold Hill we ended up contouring around north-north east into an unknown drainage. All the while we had thought we were heading in the right direction, and we knew that the hut was located somewhere at or above treeline. We had a feeling many times that the hut was "right around this noll" or"right over this slope convex", including many false sightings of dwarfed pine trees made out to look like an A- frame structure. Mocking disappointment! When finally realizing that we had dropped too much elevation and that we had possibly passed the hut the anxiety and dread returned like a reoccurring nightmare, as the thought of another night out may soon become a reality.
Although now situated below treeline we felt our best chances for making it through another night was to construct an improved shelter. Taking cover in the trees we started excavating a spot for a small fire to get warm, and to melt some snow . Evan and Aaron's attempt to retrieve water from the drainage located near our new campsite was unsuccessful due to the deep snow pack and difficult terrain; it was almost impossible to retrieve water safely from the creek.
Upon Evan and Aaron's return from the creek with the bad news that they couldn't get any water they also had some possible good news as Aaron thought he spotted the hut from the creek, possibly only 300 feet from our location in the trees. Driven by the sheer motivation to get into a cozy hut, Aaron and myself immediately set off for the slopes above to hopefully pinpoint its exact location.
Ascending above treeline on our tour for the hut we saw numerous fresh avalanche paths. Even though visibility was greatly improved the vastness of the snow fields above were overwhelming and we started actually considering that this hut may be buried under all this fresh snow. Which was not such an outrageous possibility. Reading past trip reports of other groups searching for this hut, many stated that they had to "dig the hut out " or "tunnel through the snow to reach the front door".

Exhausted, with still no sign of the hut, Aaron and myself returned to camp 2 below treeline with the bad news.
When we returned to camp 2 the fire was going strong and we were successfully melting snow and trying to rehydrate. At this point with the daylight hours at a minimum Evan and David set out for a quick search for the hut on the opposite side of the drainage. Unfortunately, with day light coming to an end, Evan and David returned with no success in locating our elusive hut.
We were definitely spending another night out, and with the storm exiting and the skies opening up we predicted it to be a cold one.
Huddled around the fire thawing our sleeping bags and gloves, drinking melted snow,and occasionally snacking, the disappointment of not finding the hut crept in. Come morning we would not be searching for the hut, but for the saddle on the ridge that would bring us back to Express Creek drainage and return us to our car, hopefully. There still was the slightest possibility that we might not find the right drainage on the other side of the pass and we may have to make it through another night.
Getting up Saturday morning we had made it through the frigid night it pretty much the same fashion as the first night, shivering and spooning for warmth in our mega mid shelter. It was definitely the coldest I've ever been in my life and once we all got up and started moving around it seemed to only get colder.
Leaving camp 2 vowing never to return we dumped any extra weight or excess food and we set off up the unknown drainage that we had came down the day before. Once moving around in the frigid temps (it easily could have been 20 below zero)gear problems started to arise as most peoples skins would not stay attached to the bottom of their skis. Using voile straps and electrical tape we attempted to secure the skins to the skis for at least a temporary fix, but due to the extreme cold it was definitely just temporary.
Remarkably, guided by a magnificent sun aura, we ascended to the top of the drainage and onto the snow field near our first camp site at 12,ooo ft. It was at this point in the cold numbing winds that the crux of the day was upon us; Finding the entrance to Express Creek drainage.
Once through the saddle and up on the ridge it took some orienteering to figure out exactly which path we took over the ridge during the white-out. Thankfully Issac's keen sense of direction kicked in along with Aaron's spotting of some posts on the ridge near our initial ascent path and we were heading in the right direction.
Seeing the Express Creek drainage the weight started to slowly rise from my shoulders, but I wasn't fully convinced until we dropped in and recognized or initial skin track up some 2 days prior, surprisingly not totally filled in. The odds were starting to turn in our favor. But we would soon unfortunately discover that the coldness of this day would have lasting affects.
On our way out following our vague tracks, we were hoping for someone to be in the Markley Hut, a hut that we had passed on our way up to our hut 2 days prior. Located only about 3 miles from the trailhead it would be a perfect pit stop on our way back to the car. A chance to get water, get warm, get dry, get in a hut!

Thankfully there was a small group who had booked the cabin for the weekend and they had just arrived. They were most gracious and invited us in to get warm around the fire, and even cooked us up some soup. Removing our boots and socks to cozy up to the fire we started to recognize signs of frost bite on certain peoples fingers and toes and the seriousness of our situation over the past two days started to sink in . Only staying about an hour as to not impose for too long, the sun was setting fast we had to get back on the trail and down to the cars for only then could we fully unweight the burden of being lost for the past 2 days.
Well we all made it back alive. And i guess that's the most important thing to take from this experience. So many things could have gone wrong, more foolish decisions could have been made, but they weren't. I attempted not to mention names as much as possible to try and state that this experience was a group effort. There were no individuals out there those frozen days and nights, just a strong motivated group set on making it out alive and staying positive in the process. I feel that every person on this trip contributed to our success and survival. I thank the two strong women in our group, Amber and Andrana ,for having the patience to deal with us lost men up in the mountains. Evan, for his dependable patience and overall generosity. Issac, for keeping me in check to avalanche hazards as well as help with navigation and breaking trail. And finally, thanks to Aaron and David for always thinking ahead, preventing another possible bad decision, and keeping up morale when things we at there worse. I will never forget this experience and I hope to learn from our mistakes so that in the future, possibly faced with similar circumstances, I can look back and reflect on the right things that were done for our survival and prevent the wrong.

Still surviving, Jason

EAST PORTAL

2008-12-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

Leaving Boulder this morning with no real set plans on where to ski I found myself again in Nederland with the dilemma of east portal( rollins pass), or somewhere off the peak to peak highway. I decided to go to the east portal, and I figured with any luck I might run into Chris and Redcoat who also had plans to be up there.

Pulling off the highway in Rollinsville, onto the dirt road to the tunnel, it was definitely windy.....

Once above treeline though it wasn't so bad.

I eventually made it up to the Forest Lakes area and had to decide on what to ski. Which was a difficult choice considering all my options.

With so many alpine bowls calling my name I still had to be aware of avalanche dangers .

Playing it safe and staying on lower angle slopes ( slopes generally under 30 degrees)
I got in some great turns on old Frosty Mountain
which is the prominent rounded mountain in the pics.

It was definitely exciting being up that high alone and in the middle of winter. No room for mistakes or second guesses, no one else to blame if things go wrong. Its that extreme level of self reliance that made this trip to the portal so rewarding.

Caribou, Always Good!

2008-12-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

Me and Butters "Ben" my 4 yr old wolf shepard mix finally got out into some backcountry for the first time together this season. Although traveling solo I hardly felt alone for there was at least 8 other skiers out that morning, and probably as many dogs!! But what do ya expect it is Ned backcountry...

It was a great day to get out with my dog considering how much he loves skiing with me...Although he also got wore out after only 3 runs.....dosen't have his backcountry legs yet!

So back to the truck went Ben, and on the way out I couldn't resist my hidden stash. Although overlooked this little utility-line skirun is actually really fun to ski. Especially on high avalanche days.

One more for the road?......Butters didn't agree