Boulder Alley Cat Race 11'

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'

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

New Beginnings..

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

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..

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

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

Peace,
Jason

Corn!! Finally

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