Snoop Dogg, Old Balls, and Love in an Elevator!!

        So its been about 3 months since my last blog post back in February, and with my spring semester coming to a close as of yesterday I figured I finally have some free time to catch up on a few recent skiing adventures. 
         Its been an awesome start to the spring ski mountaineering season! Ive gained a new spring skiing partner, or should I say converted my winter ski buddy to the steeps of spring,  Eric "Mad Man" Malmgren, and we've been logging some vert and scoping new areas.
        Another close friend Aaron " Doc" Miller  also paid a visit just last week and it was great to catch up on old times and ski some corn together. So the pics below will kinda re-cap the past couple months of adventuring, including pics from the 4/20 Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa concert at Red Rocks!!  Party On! 

Pre Party tailgating before the Snoop Dogg/ Wiz show.  The Wellness Tour! 
From L-R Cory, Lil Andy, Vicki, Liz, Eric, Gnome, and Gangster White Paws... Thanks to  Lil Andy for driving us in the Freedom Van..

  A concert venue at Red Rocks is not to be missed. This was such an awesome show, and I was psyched to share in the experience with my good friends Cor and Liz!  One of the best concerts Ive been to in my life!  Also, if the pic looks hazey its not because of the camera...

In the spring you can literally skin up hill.... If your Eric Malmgren that is...!   

On our way to ski the east face of Citadel which is visible in the background.

 Eric!! Are you having a good time!  Psyched as always, why I love skiing with the dude..

Some Gore Range adventuring... Buffalo Mountain and the Tenmile Range in the background...

Eric skiing the East bowl on Red Peak. The mountain town of Silverthorn can be seen in the background.

East Portal- Rollins Pass Colorado

  Looking at the Cool Whip Couloir in red. This sweet little area has been quite good to us this winter. The "Gilbilly" couloirs are pretty much right behind Aaron and Cory in the pic above. It wasn't until just last week, pretty much spring consolidation, that we could go back into this area safely and ski these lines that we've been scoping and drooling over all winter.

 Oakley sponsored split-board Ninja Aaron Miller..

Aaron Miller and Old Glory-  Cool Whip Couloir.

Cory Fleagle dropping into some Cool Whip turns, at the same time his ski pole mounted ( Dinkium Systems) GoPro is filming in HD.. Cant wait to see the Video!  Bro tele's 40+ degrees one handed, props!

Aaron and Cory on the ridge leading to the entrance of the Cool Whip Couloir. The other lines we ended up skiing that day can be seen in the background. On the left is a big open bowl that skied awesome, and the other line on the right ( Hidden Couloir) ended up being a nice steep line..

 Aaron, Old Glory , and James Peak..  On our way to the next line!

 

 

 

 

Cory searching for the best spot to huck the cornice..


 

Aaron dropping into the bowl above Heart lake. Cory can be seen as a tiny dot in the background filming..

Pretty awesome photo taken by Cory Fleagle of yours truly laying down some tracks...

Looking back at our tracks. Cory's on the far right, although he did huck a 20 foot cornice, which was sweet, he also sacrificed some great turns to get the money footage.. The price you sometimes have to pay to be a good photographer..

Cory showing off the GoPro mounted with a Dinkium Systems flex mount to ski pole technique.

With the winds gusting in the 30mph range it definitely helped to keep snow from going to mush too early, and it gave us enough time to search for one more ski descent before heading home.

This one should do! The Hidden Couloir.. Although it was a bit firm due to its north facing aspect it was steep and tight which made up for it..

Cory in the dogleg section of the Hidden couloir...

Some sweet little hidden lines back up in the Clayton lakes drainage area. This area definitely has some mid winter potential!


Rocky Mountain National Park,  Hallets Peak- Elevator Shaft Couloir

We had assembled the classic crew for this line. Aaron, Cory, Lil Andy, El Teedro, myself, and our new rookie Forest, where this was his first ski mountaineering descent ever! Boy Don't Even Know It!

 View of the south side of  Hallets Peak from lower Chaos Canyon.

Just a small squad of ski mountaineers.

                                                             Lil Andy- Stylin El-la-va-ta!!

                                                                                    Classic!!

Taking a break and soaking up the view before skiing down.

Forest getting after it like a pro!

Mr. black and yellow, El Teed Ro,  sporting the new blue pack, and kicking up some serious air time in the Elevator Couloir..

Aaron carving down the lower half of the Elevator Shaft..

                                                      Andy Morgan- Elevator Shaft Couloir

                                                                       All smiles!!  Till next time! 

Peace,

Jason












  

Hidden Valley, RMNP, 2014

Sweet powder day, with some awesome friends, Lil Andy and Gnome...

Perfect Trees, Berthoud Pass, Colorado

Here is a short video of Brian , Jack , and I ripping through the perfect trees off Berthoud Pass..
Awesome day, sunshine, no wind, and soft powder snow made doing 3 laps a breeze.. Just another Tuesday for us Front Range ski bums!!

Enjoy,

Jason

Frosty Mountain Ski Video by Cory Fleagle

Check out this awesome ski video Mr. Fleagle created of our early season ski descent of Frosty Mountain, East Portal, Rollins Pass.

Enjoy,
Jason

Frosty Mountain, Early Season POW!

Cory Fleagle Skinning up the east face of Frosty Peak 11,960

Last week Cory, Andy , and myself  decided to tour up to the Arapahoe Lakes, located in the James Peak Wilderness area, on the east side of Rollins Pass. Generally known as East Portal, or the "train tunnel", this rugged backcountry area lends itself to long tours, steep tree skiing, and fun above tree-line bowls.

Cory pointing to the east face of Frosty as Andy catches his breath.

Skiing Frosty is becoming a annual early season ritual for me. This trip probably marked the 5th time I've skied this peak before January 1st in the past 7 or so years. Every time with a different partner, sometimes solo, sometimes with my backcountry ski wolf buddy Butters. This time I was psyched to show Cor and Andy my little above tree-line secret stash.

  Summit hi-fives!

 What? No Wind! 

Beautiful lighting late in the day. Prime photo taking hour!

Getting ready for our ski descent. Sunlit ridge of Radiobeacon Mountain in the background.

Cory Fleagle

Andy Morgan

                                                                  Fresh Tracks Baby!!

Purple mountain majesty.

Looking back at the east face of Frosty. Our tracks visible in the middle of the photo.

What an Awesome memorable ski descent with two awesome friends. What started out as just a mellow recon ski tour turned into a full on ski adventure. We left our plans about the day open ended, willing to skin farther and suffer longer than most parties and it paid off big. Like most fun adventures I'm starting to feel that it's the unplanned that makes for the possibility for pure development of fun.

Peace,
Jason

This seasons Photography.

View of Longs Peak from Lumpy Ridge. Estes Park, Colorado.

Rocky Mountain National Park at sunset.

Changing colors. Lumpy Ridge, Estes Park, Colorado

Sharks tooth, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Andrews Glacier Skin track. RMNP, Co.

Boulder Canyon at sunset.

Torreys Peak Ski Descent

Ruby Jewel Yurt 2012

Here is a short video of our Christmas Yurt trip to the Ruby Jewel Yurt near Cameron Pass..
Although the snow conditions could have been more favorable, there still was enough powder from the previous storm to keep us afloat.. Also, due to the high avalanche danger we were limited in our terrain selection..
But that just lent to more time for chilling at the Yurt with close friends and eating some great Christmas time meals..
Thanks again to Cory and Liz for taking so many great pics over the weekend. Without those I don't think I could have put this video together..
Thanks to Andy for bringing all the MEAT! , Carol and Ted for such awesome breakfasts, and our good British friend Naomi for supplying us with awesome English Christmas pudding! Yum!

Peace,
Jason

Lucidmountainadventures YouTube video archive

Click on the video above to view my most recent video creations.

Enjoy,
-Jason

Alexanders, RMNP

Cory Fleagle and myself climbing Alexanders Chimney WI4 M4 II in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Kor's Door, RMNP

Got to love the GoPro helmet cam! Made this video about a month ago..Its been one of my best alpine climbing seasons so far..  Just returned from a week long trip to the Wind River range of Wyoming..Will post pics soon... Time to catch up on the blog I guess.... This is a video of myself and Sarah Monteverde climbing a classic Layton Kor route..Kor' Door..5.9 III  on the lower east face of Longs Peak..

Enjoy,
Jason

Castle and Conundrum Peak/ Green Wilson Hut Trip 2012

Finally got around to posting this video Ive been working on the past few weeks.. Such an awesome hut trip and a great crew!! Definitely going back next year!
Peace,
Jason

East Portal, Rollins Pass

Some good old East Portal shenanigans.. Word along the Front Range is that East portal of Rollins Pass is the new Patagonia training ground...
Peace,
Jason

Berthoud Pass Backcountry 2012

Backcountry is getting better!! This was from a couple weeks ago skiing with Naomi Guy and Mike Schlauch up on Berthoud Pass..Just catching up on some old un-published videos....

Enjoy,
Jason

Niwot Bowl, Indian Peaks Wilderness

Good fun with the GoPro helmet cam!..After a huge Front Range upslope storm that dropped up to 4 feet in some areas, Mark Soot, Chuck Bird, Butters, and myself ventured up to the old Niwot bowl to take advantage of all that awesome new snow..
Enjoy,
Jason

Wind Blown Pow!

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

No work = More Play...
Peace,
Jason

Ouray Ice Park

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

Bragging Rights!!

Peace,
Jason

New found love... for Eldo...

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