With the Grand Traverse only a month away Dylan and I knew it was time to go for a bigger training day. We’ve both been logging a lot of vert skinning but nothing all that sustained or in the same vicinity as the actual race stats. Vail, Beaver Creek, and Arrowhead have been our most frequented training grounds all winter long, so we figured why not go for a challenge and try to link up all three in one push? Read more…
It’s been a good snow year in Colorado so far. On the heels of the most recent January storm cycle, a wave of high pressure moved over the state for a few days and Brian and I decided to take advantage. After mulling over a few options we landed on Crystal Peak’s east face, a classic route on a friendly peak that Brian and I first skied back in 2012 and eventually went on to include as one of the 50 routes in our guidebook. Read more…
For Christmas this year Anna-Lisa and I decided to change things up by heading over to Aspen and skinning into the Benedict Huts on Christmas Eve. Cozied up in a backcountry hut 6 miles from civilization made for a unique and seemingly appropriate way to spend the holiday. Nestled in the hills southeast of Aspen at 11,000 feet, the Fritz and Fabi Benedict Huts are some of the most recently constructed in the 10th Mountain Division Hut system. Built in 1997, they were named in honor of the late Fritz Benedict and his wife Fabi. Read more…
One of my only firm goals for this year was to finally wrap up the Colorado Bicentennial list, that is, the 200 highest peaks in our state. It’s a project I had technically been working on since 2003, dating all the way back to my first summit of Mt. Elbert when I was 18 years old. Well, last month Anna-Lisa and my long-time friend Stu Clark joined me on a gorgeous fall hike up Organ Mountain in the San Juans. And with that summit, I’m finally finished. Keep reading…