I just returned from the annual Middlebury College spring break ski trip. Five gals and myself went to the Gaspe Region of Eastern Canada for a week of backcountry ski touring. The Gaspe area (Chic Chocs) offers numerous peaks to climb and ski, some of the tours lead to steep chutes and other tours are on gladed runs. This years snowpack was half the normal amount but as you see in the photos there was plenty of fun to be had.
Jacqui leading us to the summit of Mount Blanche.
Catherine on the steeps of Champs de Mar.
Jacqui again putting down some very nice turns.
Ali looking very solid for her first season freeing the heel.
This years trip was another great success. Thanks to Middlebury College for promoting backcountry adventures like this for the spring break.
The annual Red Rock Rendezvous was a bunch of fun this year. Great weather, good friends, and a beautiful spot make the RRR one the best climbing festivals in the country. This year I taught crack climbing at the Hidden Falls crag. Everybody in my class seemed to have a blast, and we talked about everything from racking, to taping, to the various jamming techniques. It was especially rewarding for me to see people dramatically improve; some were unable to struggle their way to the anchor on their first try, but managed to climb the route cleanly by the end of the day! Thanks to everybody in my clinics for the great effort and good times, I hope you all enjoy your hard won Mammut swag!
The photos from top to bottom: Bill and Miker climb Left Out and Brass Track respectively, the crew on Saturday, showing Ben and Jessica how to tape.
On the way to/from Vegas I was able to do some personal climbing. Highlights include some 5.13 sport onsights (especially psyched to onsight the VRG classic .13a, Joe Six Pack in HOT conditions), and making an early repeat of two new classic "longish" routes at Red Rock--The Velvet Tongue and Jetstream. Both of these routes were amazing, so if you climb .12+ look at Jerry Handren's new Red Rock guide and check them out. It was pretty chilly during these climbs, and I received several comments and longing looks from my partners over my light, yet warm, Broad Peak and Microlayer Windbreaker Jacket combo. Stay toasty while belaying, then stuff them into their own pockets, and clip them to the back of your harness while you climb, perfect. I know...the Microlayer isn't available any more, but Dean tells me that there's a new jacket on the way that utilizes the same ultralight material.
Excited for some great trips for this summer. Hatching plans with Whit for a trip to Mt. Hooker in the Wind Rivers, and Dylan Johnson and I have a Lyman Spitzer and Mugs Stump Grant for an exciting unclimbed peak in China! And of course there's also the constant stream of projects closer to home! Hope you're all having a fantastic and productive spring. Thanks to Dean, Mike, and everybody at Mammut for their continued support!
We just got back from a nice, 4-day weekend at Smith Rock. The first day was cold (typical winter conditions at Smith), but we managed to carve out a session. I sent a route I hadn't done before (Sketchpad, 5.12d), a rarity at Smith, but it came at a cost. I re-tweaked the collateral, lateral ligament in my middle finger on a heinous 2-finger pocket move. Regardless, I still got some great pitches in, and focused on repeating routes I'd done in the past instead of working any new projects.
The rope we took for the trip was a 70-meter Revelation, and it proved to be a great choice because many pitches at Smith need extra length for the lower-off. Also, this thin cord is great for reducing rope drag and cushioning long lead falls on the vertical walls, a situation where you definitely do not want a "hard" catch. I was also really glad to have my Stratus Flash jacket, which was toasty warm for long, windy belays.
We are crossing our fingers that the weather clears soon in Squamish so we can get on some of our projects at home!
The heli ski season has begun on Thompson Pass, and we have been getting unbelievable amounts of snowfall. Over 200cms of snow has fallen in 10 days at the Tsaina Lodge where Valdez Heli-Ski Guides base their operation. Unfortunately, this has meant a lot of down days so far, but it is setting us up for an epic season when the skies break.
This has been one of the biggest storms I have seen in Valdez in seven years working here as a guide. In fact, it may be one of the biggest storms I have ever witnessed, period. In a three day period this week, 7 avalanches have hit the Richardson Highway on Thompson Pass in between mile 32 and mile 53. Some of these slides were naturally triggered, others by the DOT Howitzer, and other still by ski tourers.
Overall, however, the snowpack has good structure, meaning that when the storm snow settles there will be plently of safe, deep skiing out there.
We have been able to take advantage of a few weather windows this week. Below is a pic of Valdez Heli Ski Guides' Dylan Freed enjoying the Chugach in his Mammut Transmission Jacket.
I will be the first to admit that skiing isn't my best skill set. I spend a fair amount of time doing tricks; you know the kind of tricks that some say looked like a crash, but unless i come to a complete stop, it's a trick.. right?!? Yeah, that's what i thought! I'm pretty good at those kind of tricks!
For me, climbing and exploring have largely been about seeking adventure. Whether it's on a severely overhung 35m sport pitch dripping with tufa's on the Island of Kalymnos, jamming my way up clean splitters on Devil's Tower, or scratching around with my crampons and ice tools on some icy north face in the mountains near my home. Adventure keeps me looking around the next corner for something exciting to try.
This winter, my adventure has been exploring the remote Lemhi Range on skis. Often passed over for more famous ranges in the area such as the Tetons or the Sawtooths, the Lemhi's provide several hundred peaks with the tallest reaching an elevation just over 12,ooo'. However, the majority of peaks range between 10,ooo' and 12,ooo' and usually offer 4,ooo' to 5,ooo' vertical feet from the valley floor to the summit. Not massive by any means, but adventurous due to their craggy nature. The Lem's are windy and cold, and at times effected by the rain-shadow effect, leaving us to deal with many winter challenges. Likely these are some of the reasons why most people don't waist their time in the Lemhi's and focus on more reliable winter alpine environments.
Enter adventure...
An unnamed peak in the Lemhi's
A bit of scrambling and easy rock climbing
Some classic alpine terrain
The chimney exit pitch near the summit
Steep and deep powder turns below the summit ridge leading into a nice couloir
The bottom end of a nice couloir
And of course, the apron below the couloir back to the skin track!
There are dozens if not a hundred peaks in the Lemhi's that have not seen winter visitors. Slowly but surely we have been exploring them, skiing them, and finding so much adventure within the Lemhi Range.
It has been a rejuvenating couple of months away from climbing this winter. Now the warm rays of spring in the Snake River Valley are greeting me on my front porch hang board during my upper body fitness sessions! Winter isn't quite over yet and i would imagine the springtime adventures in the Lemhi's will continue for several more months! In parting, my friend Wade attempts one of my famous tricks but botches the end sequence by stopping. Volume helps!
It's been two weeks since I got back from Patagonia. It was great to get home and see my son Eli who is now 9 months and getting ready to walk. It's a new feeling for me missing my son while out climbing, I am going to have to start bringing him along.
The short mission I had down there was all I could ever ask for in a alpine climbing trip. From the previous posts Josh and I put up you can see we got some good, high quality climbing in and had a blast doing it. It's great hanging with a good friend on a bunch of huge granite walls.
Though we were not successful on Desomochata it stands out because of the dramatic weather and poor conditions that we had to make work. Josh below in classic Patagonia conditions. The cool thing is that now we have a project for next year. Can't wait!
Josh flew out a day earlier than I did so with my remaing hours and a good forcast I chose an objective that I could climb fast. I hooked up with a good Canadian climber named Jason Kruk. Together we made a speed ascent of Poincenot. We climbed the 2000 foot route in three hours by soloing together with no ropes. I did belay Jason through one 60m section at the top of the ramp. Poinceniot is the prominent tower left of the large Fitz Roy. The Willians route follows the subtle ice ramp from right to left; then wraps around and up the left sky line. The climbing was supurb and perfect for moving fast.
Of the twelve days I spent down there I had only two rest days. What a lucky roll of the dice, a perfect alpine climbing trip! Now Eli and I have to get training for the spring.
For the fifth time in two years I find myself back in Kashmir. This time it is Indian Kashmir, where I have spent the last three winters working on a project that I may never send. We’ve all worked a proj that is so above our heads that even small progress is satisfying. So here I am, chipping away at something that is super fun and extremely rewarding, training Kashmiri men to become ski guides.
The Pir Panjal mountain range is the front range of the Indian Himalaya. It is home to Gulmarg, the only “modern” ski area in the entire Himalaya. The Indian government built a gondola in an alpine zone with the intention of sharing the mountain landscape with the domestic population. Most of the action in Gulmarg happens in the summer, when families and couples travelling from Delhi and Mumbai attempt to escape the oppressive heat and head for the hills. On a busy summer day 5,000 people will ride the gondi. During the course of the whole winter, there may be 2,500 people that ride this lift, all foreigners and all looking for powder.
The terrain around Gulmarg is ski touring paradise. Virtually all of it is above tree line, moderate elevation (4,000 meters, 13,000 ft) with peaks up to 5,000 meters. One of the best parts is that it is non-glaciated, which makes the route-finding and navigation so much easier and safer. With Himalayan scale and remoteness, it would be very easy to totally hose yourself by dropping the wrong side of a ridge or riding too deep into a river drainage and not be able to get out easily. As with any area, local knowledge is super valuable. It is the difference between being safe and shredding pow all day or postholing and skinning for several hours just to get back to a road or village.
The locals guys here in Gulmarg are ripping skiers and know the area really well. They are great mountain hosts. My mission is to set them on a course to become mountain guides. Over the past three winters I have been providing instruction and training scenarios related to avalanche rescue, safe ski techniques, first aid, weather observations and snow science. As well as the softer side of things like managing a clients emotional needs. The project has been going really well. The guys are stoked that someone is reaching out to them and giving them skills to be safe and responsible while sharing their home area. We’ve all grown quite attached to each other after many long days in the hills and riding some of the best powder lines of our lives. Becoming a certified ski guide can be a long road and these guys know that most of the road lay ahead of them. Regardless, they are very grateful and excited to learn all they can. For that reason I’ll keep coming back.
We escaped the Vancouver Olympic mayhem with a quick trip to Northern California. Since we live in Squamish, we were trapped between Olympic venues in Vancouver and Whistler and feared the worst, but people who stuck around said it wasn't that bad at all. In fact, Squamish was kind of deserted...
We'd spent some time in Sonora area over a decade ago and always wanted to go back. It's about 1.5 hours from Yosemite and the landscape is riddled with bands of basalt, some very overhanging. The weather was good and we enjoyed two weeks of physical climbing on the steep crags. I cracked off a few 8a's fairly quickly, but the weather and timing didn't allow for me to try some of the longer and harder routes, which looked fantastic by the way. I hope to go back with a bit more time. I did discover that on-sight climbing is quite difficult here due to the tricky and beta-intensive nature of the climbs. It's good to go with a local - it will save you a lot of energy!
Access is a big concern in this area as many of the cliffs are on or accessed through private land. If anyone is thinking of planning a trip, be forewarned that there is very little climbing information out there due to the sensitive nature of the relationships with the various landowners. The best approach is to befriend a local climber who can then advise you as to the proper etiquette for the various cliffs and inform you as to what the climbing guidelines are. If it doesn't work out, you can always bail to Yosemite...
If you visit Sonora, respect the wishes of the locals and treat the area with respect. It would be a shame to lose such a tremendous climbing resource.
I read a post by Peter Kamitses on this blog toward the end of 2009, entitled something like "Bring Me a New Year." Peter reported on a poopy year filled with unfortunates, and I really identified. My 2009 was, well... pretty crappy. Though I got to check out some cool, new-to-me areas from the Red River Gorge to Ceuse, each trip and each destination was sandwiched between unfortunate circumstances, and punctuated by illnesses and major injuries.
SO I began 2010 psyched for some positive change but the Universe, it seems isn't finished with me. A road trip that was supposed to begin in early January didn't actually start until February for very unpleasant reasons... and the first month of said trip has proved to be riddled with snow, rain, wind, and more injuries...
In any case, we have stopped by Zion, Moe's Valley, Red Rocks, Hueco Tanks, and are now in Indian Creek. Bad weather seems to have descended on most of North America, so we're taking this time to hang out in Moab and get some internet/ electricity-related work taken care of, and let some of these pesky injuries heal up a bit... so there's not too much to report, but hopefully "the gods" will give us a bit of a break soon, and I'll start posting photos and stories of ridiculous sends, amazing health, and sunny days.
Seeking shelter from the Texas wind in Chris Weidner's van.
Triple feature at the dollar theater in El Paso.
My newest injury: pulley.
Broken down en route from Heuco to Indian Creek: Sleeping in the mechanic's parking lot (Blanding, UT)
Waiting for someone to pass. Alternator failure in N.E. AZ, no cell reception.
This forum was created for athletes on the Mammut Pro Team to share pictures and stories of their most recent trips and expeditions with other climbers and outdoor adventurers around the World. Check back often to see what our guys & girls have been up to.
Thanks for all the support!!!
A short hike to the finals venue.
Hope all is going great with the rest of the team.
