Merry Christmas!

Time flies. And so does the snow. And this past month, so did Trevor. At least I felt like I had. Apparently, that's what repetitive 1,000 ft doses of powder snow does to me. I don't know, I guess I'm still getting used to it, but it's becoming more natural and I absolutely love getting up high on some new terrain in the winter. What began generally as an idea and a dream a couple months ago has quickly become a reality. And sometimes I still feel as though I'm living a surreal dream.

The weekend of the 4th/5th, I was able to get in a few runs at the Ghee with Ron after work on Saturday and then Sunday was spent skiing Oliver in the morning before attending an Arts Council meeting that afternoon. I had plans to visit Portland from Dec. 8th-14th, but heavy winter weather snuffed out those plans and I instead spent that weekend doing what else... spending alot of time on skis in the backcountry. Saturday, Dec. 11th, we took a couple laps again on Oliver. Quick and easy. Sunday, it was back into the park (GTNP) for a trip up Garnet Canyon. Rapidly warming temps put an abrupt end to that trip as we began to encounter widespread areas of unstable snow throughout the canyon at 8,500ft.

The next weekend, Jay and Lisa put on a 5k/10k run in Teton Springs on Saturday so off I went to run a 10k.


After the run, MikeE and I took a Glory lap off Teton Pass and came home feeling utterly spent. But, of course, then it was Sunday and that meant going to the park for Big Powder Park Sunday! We ended up getting three laps on Maverick and calling it another great day.

I took the end of this past week off so after doing some Christmas prep on Wednesday, I took off on skate skis in Teton Canyon for a quick dusk jaunt upcanyon and back. Thursday, taking advantage of a midweek day off, we headed back into the park for a trip up 25 Short. Yep, another three big laps of soft fluff. How could I ever go back to resort skiing after this? Friday, Christmas Eve, we made for the summit of Housetop Mountain, but after 4 hours of ascending, we called it off and turned back having another 1 1/2 hours to go before reaching the summit and a dinner party to be back for at 5:30. That peak has a deceptively long approach. Maybe some other day when we have more time.
Which brings me to today. Christmas. And another early trip up Oliver before anyone else had arrived and an absolutely beautiful Christmas morning to enjoy.

And if anyone is wondering where the photos are, well, some of them are still in my camera somewhere up on Maverick where my camera departed my possession and became one with the frozen Teton Mountains. And that explains why the photos from the later trips are missing as well. So until I get a new camera, this will have to do.

Merry Christmas to all of you.


Also, a friend of mine sent this video link to me. Another brilliantly done short film.

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

Donating Shoes to Africa

I've been meaning to put up this post for quite a while.



Last February or March, a dozen or so pairs of my old trail running shoes were stuffed into an oversize, overweight suitcase and flown off to Africa. This is where they ended up.









There are many organizations out there that take in used (but still in wearable condition) running shoes and send them over to Africa. Woontanara Aid just happens to be my local connection. From the sounds of it, collecting shoes and getting them to Guinea is logistically difficult for this particular organization and, at this point, it's not something that they are really focused on. Woontanara Aid recognizes the need for shoes over there, and they were happy to make room for mine, but their focus happens to be in other areas like education and health care.

My biggest request is to never throw away your old shoes unless they are completely, utterly unwearable. There are plenty of people in this country that would love to have a still decent looking pair of top-tier footwear. And there are countless other people in other countries much worse off than ours that may have never worn shoes in their entire life. So donate them. Either to your local second-hand store or maybe to an international shoe-specific charitable organization. Give the gift. Share the love. You may never know just where your old shoes will end up. But won't you feel good knowing they may cause a reaction like this?



For more information, please visit


http://www.woontanaraaid.org/

Here are a couple more websites for non-profit organizations that are shoe specific:

http://www.shoe4africa.org/

http://www.theashefoundation.org/

Wimpy's

The morning started innocently enough. A 6:30 alarm. A 7:00 ride. A drive over to the Death Canyon TH in Jackson.


Unfortunately, we got caught in Jackson's morning rush hour traffic...

We left the car at 8:45 and set off under a light snow to begin the long 4,000ft ascent up to Wimpy's. Everyone around here agrees, this has been one of the most memorable snowpacks for late November the Tetons has seen in a while. Which is fine with me, really, because as a result of a number of logistics falling into place nicely, I have a wide open door to fully experience everything the Teton Backcountry has to offer this winter. And today, things were looking good if not great.

The skin track from the prior visitors was still clear for the most part up the majority of the lower portion of the ascent, but began to fade up higher as the wind and steadily falling snow filled it in. We made the top in a steady, but comfortable 3 1/2 hours, took in the magnitude of our foggy perch, and proceeded on to a three lap, 900ft circuit in some of the best November fluff the Tetons can produce.

After the first lap, we stood on top of Wimpy's pondering the plausibility of getting up Albright Peak and just as we had settled on at least traversing over to check out the snow stability over there, I saw the cloud...

The large cornice on the NE facing ridgetop had released sending a massive volume of snow and ice down the face directly in front of us. The cloud of snow was followed by a thunderous crash as the debris cascaded down the NE face onto the lower snowfield. That was enough for us. Negative on Albright. So we took two more laps on Wimpy's.

What a day. I'm quickly finding my ski legs both climbing and descending and feeling better each time I go out even with my heinously monsterous skis. I could use a pair half the weight, but at this point it's only making me stronger. And it's what I got. So that's that.

The final descent down was what one would expect of a continuous 4,000 powder run. Not much else to say about that. Keep it snowing.

Table Mountain - almost

Tried to go up Table today but was twarted by a couple of factors: Late start, friend's frozen pipes at home (cause of the late start), ungroomed ski from the winter trailhead to the base of the climb that took longer than expected, and LOTS of deep, untracked snow to climb through. I am exhausted. But in a good way. And I doubt there is a more complete workout than what we did today. After the past few weeks, I needed it.

Skiing off into the sunset

Bliss

Down lower, the snow started to get heavier and thinner. So did the trees and willows. We had to pick our line down very carefully and never really felt completely safe until we were back at the summer trailhead. I happened to be on the receiving end of the two most noteworthy incidents. Finding the slope's biggest hidden rock garden and taking a scrubby aspen square between the legs. Luckily, I was able to push it mostly down and out of harm's way. Sheesh. The risks involved with trying to take a few early season turns...

We didn't make it to the top, but we were able to partake of the slope's best snowfields which, other than being a bit thin in spots, actually held pretty decent snow. Don't know if I'm gonna make it up Table this month. I haven't yet and I only have two more available days to do it.

A Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with family and friends. We all are extremely fortunate to have what we have and be able to do the things we do. Sometimes it's easy to lose track of that, but hopefully for only brief moments, if at all.

I live in an amazing place. I know this and I am thankful for that. And I have amazing friends. I am very thankful for everything I have and am able to do. Days like this are beautiful days.

Got together for a morning ski excusion up to Mt. Oliver with MikeE and Liz. Took the better part of the day skinning up to the 9,000ft summit then doing a few laps off the top. Then it was off to the traditional thanksgiving gathering at the house of some friends in Driggs. Great food. Great company. Lots of laughs. Don't know if I can think of too much else that would make for a better day. Except maybe to see my family and friends back in Portland. Two weeks!

Danny MacAskill

Quite possibly the best trials rider ever. And quite possibly the best cinematography as well. Brilliantly done.

12 Months of Table Mountain

The project began three days after Thanksgiving on the last Sunday in November, 2009. I continued to reach the summit at least once in each of the next 11 months.

I started the hike from the summer trailhead in three of the months, November, December, and October. The rest of the months, I began at the winter trailhead and ran the four miles upcanyon to the summer TH and the base of the climb.

I used the Face Route to ascend in all 12 months and used various routes down.

I used snowshoes in eight of the months from November through June. The other four were snow-free.

Here are the photos from the top from each month:


NOVEMBER - The best sunset









































DECEMBER - The coldest (it was -13 when I began and I'm pretty sure it just got colder from there)






































JANUARY - The most powder! And also the slowest.





































FEBRUARY - The worst summit photo

















MARCH - Most bluebird

APRIL - First time in shorts

MAY - The windiest

JUNE - Best use of all four seasons

JULY - Best hailstorm

AUGUST - The warmest

SEPTEMBER - The slushiest, sloppiest, slipperiest. And most crowded.

OCTOBER - The most unique colors (grey and yellow) and the best company (Jon and MikeE)

Late October - Into Storm Season

Towards the end of October, the climate began to display the shifting of the seasons in earnest as the temperatures had become consistently lower and the high country grew whiter. The lower elevations still hadn't been affected and we were still taking advantage of the dirt that remained under foot as much as we possibly could. That meant an afternoon outing up the Roaring Fork of Teton Canyon all the way to the windswept alpine expanse of Hurricane Pass on Saturday and a gentle meander through the remote southwest corner of Yellowstone Nat'l Park on Sunday amidst a relentless chilling rain. This is what it's all about right here.

2nd weekend in October

On Saturday, MikeE and Jon and I moseyed up Table amongst typical fall colors: Yellow leaves and grey skies.

This marked my 12th consecutive month summiting Table and the completion of my goal. But maybe I'll just keep going...

Then, on Sunday, MikeE and I drove over to JHole for an ascent of Buck Mtn. Finally! After ten years of living here, I finally got to the top!