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After Handies I headed over Cinnamon Pass and had some lunch in Silverton. I love that drive. The road has gotten a lot rougher since I did it last time. I then headed to Orvis Hot Springs for some relaxation. I love the healing hot water. I made a few calls and tried to come up with a plan for the next day. I was feeling pretty worked but I figured I still had some left in me. Gary Fondl was starting to feel better after being sick so wedecided that the Tuning Forks on Torreys would be the target. We met up in Frisco at 5:30 and were on our way. From the start we knew that the weather would be an issue. We made decent time to the base and kicked our way up the line. The new snow was balling up on our crampons every couple steps so it was a bit of a chore getting up. With the weather rolling in around us we decided that if the clouds got dark over head that we would bail. About 100′ from the ridge and the top of the line we decided to call it. Neither of us like being exposed to electricity very much and with such a great ski as our reward the decision was an easy one. Both of us have skied from the summit so who cares.

The snow was really nice. The skiers left side of the gully offered perfect corn snow. We yo-yoed down the line taking pictures and loving every minute of it. The exit zone offered some short steeps and the road walk out provided fine views of a great ski.

Enjoy the pics

The road walk

The Tuning Forks

Grizzly Couloir is still in

The rock on this rib was so nice compared to the stuff in the San Juans

Crampons balling up on the ascent

Gary in his happy place

Our top out. Close but not worth it. We got the goods though

Quick change over.

Let the fun begin

The snow was really good

I really didn't want to stop

All these little storms have been keeping the snowpack in great condition.

Just ask Gary

He's got an opinion on the snowpack

Some days its all about the skiing

Skiing fast that is

I nailed a rock in this zone. The Pitons are bulletproof

Such a fun line

I think I might ski this one a few more times this summer

The angle is perfect for skiing fast

When guys in their 40s whoop while skiing you know its good

Nearing the end

Wait pictures of me

Thats weird

Skiing it bump style at the bottom. That was funny

Tracks

Its funny how things seem to just work themselves out lately. I just seem to believe in a positive outcome and this seems to lead to good things happening. After dinner in Lake City I got a call from a 14ers.com member about hooking up for Handies. Sweet I had a partner, well he never showed up but I ran into Rob Steinmetz at the trailhead. We’ve skied a bunch together and he’s even in my book I’m almost finished with. We debated about when to start in the morning and then I FINALLY got a good nights sleep. Off at 6:20am we made fair time to the base of the East Couloir up Grizzly Gulch. After a short discussion we decided that we were in the right place and up we went. Snow climbing is really fun. We topped out on the couloir and headed for the ridge and on to the summit. Today was warmer than yesterday with less of a freeze the night before. We knew sluff would be an issue but also knew that it would be manageable. The views up top were great as it was also clearer than yesterday.

We skied off the summit down the ridge to the northeast bowl. Dropped in and skied nice blown in new snow and worked our way down and over towards the skiers right edge. The skis came off for about 100′ of contouring ascent to the top of the East Couloir. Then we yo-yoed down the couloir enjoying the steeps. At the bottom we decided to call it a day due to the warm temps.

It was great to see you again Rob. Looking forward to our next trip to the mountains my friend. Enjoy the pics, if you have any more I’ll add them.

Heading up Grizzly Gulch

Feeling yesterday at this point

The line

Making progress

Hmmm I think this is it

Topping out

Rob nearing the top of the couloir

The entrance

Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

"American Peak" and it's north couloirs

More views.

Rio Grande Pyramid

Summit Shot

Summit Shot

The snow here was really nice

Sweet

Steep entrance

Such a fun line

Always love that first turn

Hmmm which line should I take

Rob decides

Looking good

Quality for this season

The apron was a bit hollow

The stoke level was high though

The line

Yeah the stoke level was very high

A look at the line from Redcloud

"American Peak" Couloirs

Niagara Peak looking awesome as always

On the road to Silverton

So many options down that way

Well here we go again. I just can’t seem to stay out of the mountains. I headed up to Brainard Lake to see what the road closure was all about as I wanted to try and ski Airplane Gully on Navajo. The road was closed so I had to make other plans on the fly. I decided that the San Juans would be the way to go, so on the road again it was. I got to the Silver Creek Trailhead at about midnite and had a very cold night of fitful sleep. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately and haven’t been sleeping very well. I hit the trail at 7:40 and made very good time up the hill. Making the decision on the fly I didn’t bring a map and missed the turn to go get Sunshine first. I headed up the regular trail and did Redcould first and then hiked over to Sunshine for my 1st ski of the day. The skiing was awesome. The corn was a bit immature but the line was really nice. I skied off the summit down the ridge a little way then had super turns into the basin northeast of the summit. I then climbed back to the Sunshine/Redcloud connector ridge and plodded my way back up Redcloud. I was able to reach the summit with my ski pole from the snow and dropped in. After a little rock skiing I made my way down the northeast bowl. At the bottom I saw 2 elk. After a short climb back to the saddle I skied the remaining snow down toward the trailhead. I logged about 6000′ of vertical for the day. It was really fun. Going solo isn’t for everyone but the focus you can achieve alone in the wild is worth it to me every time.

Enjoy the pics.

At the trailhead

A Look at Handies

Up the trail.

Redcloud is in for a few more days

This mistake added vertical and mileage. But who cares?

Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre

Sunshine summit pic

Sunshine tracks. The snow was pretty damn nice. TYVM

Heading back to Redcloud

Redcloud summit shot

Hmmm I think I should ski this

Yep I should certainly ski this

I just couldn't stop.

Plans change when going for summits. My original plan for this day was to ski Castle Peak. The weather had other ideas for the mountains north of Gunnison. Luckily I checked the weather before leaving Denver. I changed the plan and lost my partners for the day. Something about 12 hours of driving scared them off. It looked like there would be a weather window in the morning for the area around Telluride. I had been wanting to get back to Sneffels for a long time. Back in either 96 or 97 I skied the Snake Couloir. However considering that the line starts after the rappel I wanted a summit ski. So up I went.

I drove to the “end of the road” where the snow wouldn’t let me go any farther. This was roughly between Stony Mountain and Potosi. I got a good alpine start of 7am and made decent time. After changing to crampons below Lavender Col I made my way up ice to the col itself. This was my mistake. I should have climbed the last Birthday Chute. Oh well next time, and there will be a next time, there are so many beautiful lines back in this zone. Anyway I made it to the top of the couloir and had a decision to make. The cliff leading to the summit was my decision. I made my way up half of it and decided to back off. I was alone and didn’t think the summit ski was even in. I thought I might have to downclimb the cliff and didn’t like that option. Not to mention the rock was horrid. There was weather as close as Dallas Peak. It just didn’t seem like a good idea. But I got in 3200′ of skiing almost all the way back to the truck. Not a bad 3 1/2 hours in my opinion.

I high tailed it back to Denver in time to hangout with my kids a day early. On the way back there was an insane snow storm from Silverthorne to Evergreen. Gotta love Colorado. Enjoy the pics.

On the road again

This is a great place to wake up.

Hotel 4Runner

I think I need to install a coffee maker in the 4Runner

Potosi left, Stony right.

Sneffels is looking pretty thin right now but what the hell I'm here.

Gilpin Peak's North Couloir looks sick.

Emma and Gilpin. Classic San Juan peaks.

Dallas Peak for a friend

Looking up Lavender Couloir

Great light all morning

Looking down Lavender Couloir

Looking back at some great corn snow.

Thank you old miners for building the road to such a great place

100' of visibility a points on the drive home.

Met up with Kim Ross at the T-Rex lot in Morrison and we headed up to the Sheep Gulch trailhead the night before. Car camping is fun and easy. Nothing to worry about in the morning. It makes things so much easier to just head up the trail all bleary eyed. The section of the Colorado trail leading to Hope Pass is really nice though fairly steep. We made decent time to the pass considering Kim has been working so much. Muscle memory is such a  cool thing. From the pass we headed up the ridge. Near the top the ridge got really fun with some great scrambling. The we popped out right at the top of our line. We took a break and some photos. Anticipation was high so we headed for the actual summit and made a hasty return for some skiing.

The snow was really good with about 4 inches of new snow. There was good bonding to the old layers. It skied super creamy and the sluff was very manageable. A bit further down the line we entered a zone that looked like it would be bumpy chunder but surprisingly it was super smooth. We yo-yoed down the line taking pics of each others’ skiing. At the bottom we switched back to shoes and headed back up to the pass. It was a really sweet day in the mountains. I can’t believe that there wasn’t any wind at all. It was really fun hanging with you Kim, anytime you want to ski I’m there.

Gonna be getting out a bit over the next few weeks and the summer for that matter. I just think this is the best way to get myself through some of the things I’m going through right now. Enjoy the pics and the rest that are on the way.

The woods were pretty

The mountains were looking good too.

We kept our shoes on all the way to the top. Its melting out early this year

The Hopeful Couloir from near Hope Pass.

At the top of the couloir.

Kim was stoked!!!!!

Summit picture

Summit Picture

Does anyone know the name of the Peak in the center. I think it might be next to Mt Champion

I love spring.

The snow was really good

Just a little sluff

Time to get in front of it.

Creamy snow

I don't want to stop but if I don't get some pics of Kim she's gonna be pissed.

Testing some Dynafits

I think she likes them

Solid skiing girl

The snow got really good the whole way

Nearing the choke

Slashing it

NICELY DONE

Yo Yo Photos

The snow was a little warm on the skiers left

So you just ski it faster.

Interesting fin feature

This line skis bigger than it looks

Kim turns them loose

My favorite shot

Um yeah I think she's stoked on the Dynafit Stoke.

I know I love my SkiLogiks.

My friend AnnChristina, whom I had met on my last visit, invited me back to Verbier for some more skiing. Weather was the only issue keeping me from returning and the window seemed to look like it was going to open for Saturday. I made a quick exit from Andorra after skiing and headed across France. After another 8 hours of driving and going way too fast while doing it I reached Argentiere, near Chamonix. I woke up and looked out the window. Les Grandes Montets top station was covered in clouds and it was snowing in the valley. YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME. Well I had plans to meet my friend at 10 so I was going. After a scary moment involving verglas and an oncoming corner I made it back to Switzerland. I didn’t need any coffee after that, I was awake. As I rounded the corner and Martigny came into view so did the sight of BLUE SKY. Game fucking on. With 40+cm of new snow over the last few days and cold temps to boot I knew it was finally gonna be great.

I met up with AnnChristina first who showed awesome Swiss precision by showing at exactly 10am, no seriously 10:00:00. Christianne and Chantal joined us and we headed for Mont Gele. The snow was soooooo good. Then we hit Stairway and Highway a couple times. I think we skied some other stuff too. Then Andy joined us for a few runs. Then we ate yummy food at the Cabane de Mont Fort. At 4pm we still skied fresh though heavy snow on the descent back to town. It was a great day. Thanks for showing me around again girl and it was very nice meeting you other ladies and you as well Andy.

I hope I got the French right in the title. So many languages this trip. It’s been a challenge, but it makes me feel even more alive having to think on my feet to communicate with all the great people I’ve met. Truly an adventure. It makes me want to learn more, take myself further.

Enjoy the pics

It's been a while

Will the weather hold?????

Christianne Mont Gele front side.

The snow was awesome.

Better than any other day this season back in Colorado. At least for me.

Cold smoke in the AM

AnnChristina ripping a carve.

Chantal enjoys the freshies

Heading up Stairway to Heaven

Yeah I'll follow you around the mountain for sure. Get some girl.

Andy getting some steep freshish snow.

Mmmm dinner. The food this trip has been awesome.

The weather this trip has been pretty harsh. Things seem to be getting better now but most of my goals have been put to bed. I haven’t gotten what I wanted but I’ve gotten what I needed. Time to think while going point to point has helped put some things in perspective for me. I’ve often said that its the journey and not the destination or the goal. This has been in regards to the mountain experience or with regards to avalanche awareness. I’m beginning to look at this as a life philosophy. Its important to have goals and strive for them but so much of life is missed with such a narrow focus. With life changing events like the ones I’m going through I feel like this journey has really helped me move towards a positive frame of mind. Ready for the challenges that lie ahead. I feel very fortunate right now.

I started this portion of the trip with the intent of skiing the North Face of Mulhacen, the highest peak in the Iberian Peninsula. After that the next stop would be Andorra for the Canale Este on Coma Pedrosa. After a very long drive and a fitful and short nights sleep, I awoke to blue skies on the southern coast of Spain. I was stoked. The weather window I had hoped for was good. 100km later I met a wall of clouds. It looked like a sandstorm at sunrise. The cloud deck was 1000 meters, The peak stands well over 3000m. I drove to Granada anyway hoping that I could go anyway. Sierra Madre ski area is the base for Mulhacen and the lifts were closed due to lack of visibility. You couldn’t even see the first tower on the gondola. I surely wasn’t climbing up into the pea soup in an unfamiliar range to ski a 2000′ big line that ends with a 300′ cliff. Tried to check out the Alhambra and couldn’t get tickets. Rough day. Back in the rental and onward to Andorra.

After another 10 hours of driving I arrived in Andorra and found a hotel. I woke early and saw blue sky over the Arinsal Ski Area. All the areas in Andorra were closed already but the hotels were open and you could make it to the trailhead for Coma Pedrosa, Andorra’s highest peak. With all the new snow I was a worried. The Canale Este is 3300′ of vertical and goes directly from the summit. It’s 45 degrees average and about 50 degrees at the steepest point. Being alone I’m trending more conservative so it doesn’t take much for me to back off a goal. The upper half of the mountain was in a cloud. In the distance I could make out some recent avy activity. The hazard for the day was the French equivalent of Considerable. That was enough for me. The idea of being in harms way for 2 hours booting up the couloir solo into no viz with recent activity was not appealing.

I drove to the other side of the country, about 20 minutes and got my boots on at Pas de la Casa. This is the pass that leads to France. I headed up the ridge to a saddle. After one short traverse across a 45 degree test slope my suspicions were confirmed. Most of it slid. I ended up skiing hippy turns in 8′ of good pow all day and got the summit of Pic Maia. Ended up with about 5000′ vert and a smile. Tapas were my reward at the pass summit restaurant. I love the jamon of Spain, so much richer than prosciutto. Bacallao which is refreshed salt cod is also awesome. Pan tom is another favorite.

Afterward I jumped back in the rental and headed toward Verbier. Chasing the windows can be fun, especially when you are rewarded with a good day. Outside of Nimes I got in the left lane sandwiched between some Ferraris. Topped out at 235kph and held it for about 20 minutes, such a rush driving that fast. Made it to Argentiere and got a room, I just didn’t want to drive anymore. Enjoy the photos.

The wall of despair

No up for you. GO AWAY!!!!!

Its good to listen to what the mountain is telling you

Trailhead and restaurant. Perhaps Loveland Pass needs a restaurant, gas station and hotel?

One ski in France one in Andorra

I can't see shit. Vertigo is awesome, its like a new drug.

Looking back after the first lap

Summit

Summit building

Second run starting to clear a bit

The reward. Driving so no wine. But I killed some cokes.

Town of Pas de la Casa at the bottom of my meadow skipping

Cool mountains. They remind me a lot of Colorado. Very similar structure.

France is beautiful

Rainbow over the Med

As some might guess I have a pretty big hit list for peaks. Well today I knocked an unusual one off it. One of the goals of this trip was to be open minded. I didn’t really want to make any set plans so I could just go with the flow and the weather. While looking at the weather the other night in Verbier I saw an opening to head down to central Italy and go for it. The Appennini Moutains form the spine of central Italy. This peak, the highest of the range, is only 80 minutes from Rome when driving the speed limit. I took a train from Le Chable to a bus to Aosta, then another train to Milan which ended up being late and I missed my train to Rome. I caught the later one but missed my connection to L’Aquila the main hub for the Appennini. I ended having to rent a car or start up the mountain at 11am. Italy’s highways are nuts, but I’m really proud of myself for finding my way out of Rome to the exact Autostrade without a city map. I only broke about 30 traffic laws in the process

I woke up in Fonte Cerrato and took the funivia up the mountain. A local offered me his number in case of emergency. People are really cool in Italy. He also showed me the way to the “trailhead” off to the side of Campo Imeratore Road. Thanks Lorenzo. The hotel picture, the large red building, once housed an imprisoned Mussolini. German special forces freed him before his trial in 1943. The place is creepy in a cool and funky sort of way. Campo Impertore has access to some top notch terrain as you’ll see. They also have big vert and great funivia laps on the front side, though there wasn’t enough snow this late in the season.

So on my way I headed up to the pass that puts you on the ridge to the Directissima. I had heard that this line has some technical climbing in the 5.8 range and has some serious steeps as well. Being alone I figured that Bissolati would be the better choice for ascent and descent. This would give me the chance to get to know the line and the snowpack and how my skis were with a fresh tune. The snow was very unusual to me. This part of Italy has a full on maritime snowpack but I was surprised by how rimey it was. Bonding seemed reasonable so up I went. The bottom has the crux with a 50+ section that’s narrow and very rocky. Then it scales back for a while to the 45+ range. You have another steep section and then it scales back to 40 till the last summit pitch. The summit bowl is 48+ down to the choke which is around 50. The snow was a mix of 30% 2′ of well bonded rime encrusted cream cheese which skied awesome, 50% corn and 20% chunder from sluffing and slides. What I was seeing kept saying to me keep going though the post holing through 2′ of heavy took it’s toll.

This was the funnest ski of the year for me so far. I love the feeling of a hard solo. The focus you need to maintain is very centering. When you walk away from the solo your perspective on the civilized world is enhanced. Doing it in a foreign country well that just takes it up a notch. On the last tram down I was talking with a bunch of guys from the ski school there. Most were surprised that an American would even know of their backwater ginormous little hill. All were surprised that I went for it alone. I have to tell you I was a bit worried on the train to Rome but when you bring that focus to bear on your target and you have a plan you can get it done. It feels really good to check this awesome peak off my list.

Now on to the stoke. These are very beautiful mountains. I’m sure I will look at these pics often. Trying something new as the upload time is killing me over here. Enjoy.

Heading to Tuscany for a few days and will drink lots of vino. There might be some windows before I leave Italy, but I’m heading somewhere on either Monday or Tuesday, that’s when the car goes back. Ciao.

On the train from Le Chable

The train to Rome was going about 150mph here

Nearing the top in the Funivia

There is a ton of hike to terrain here.

This is some.

And More

Corno Grande South Face

More hiking options

A cool Range across the valley

Bissolati's entrance

On the way up

Limestone mountains rock

Summit

Timing is everything

Tilted it. Oooops

Cool towers abound

Looking down the upper crux

Looking at the lower crux

Lower Bissolati at lower left of center.

Campo Imeratore Hotel

Hahahahaha Stickers

Well I’ve been in Switzerland now for 3 days. The first day was storming like crazy when I woke up and I had been up for 36 hours getting here so I went back to bed. This was a good idea I think. So much of Verbier is above treeline and never having skied the place and being wicked tired I figured it would be good to just get rest. The next day I woke up and was excited to see blue sky. I even posted this on facebook. On the way up to Medran I notice a high cloud layer roll in. It never warmed up. Dust on ice where I went all day except for a few runs. I think I lost like 3 fillings, not really but it reminded me of Cannon Mtn, NH after a January rain. Today I hooked up with Stina and Peter, 2 locals and got shown around. Had some good north facing powder first then hit the spring corn shots, nothing super steep got done due to the fact that the new snow was sluffing off the higher angled stuff, leaving behind ice. It was super fun and great meeting you two. Thanks for the tour of your great mountain. I’m thinking that I might need to come back here before I leave Europe. Stina good luck on your rando race tomorrow.

Anyway heading to Italy in the morning for some Alpenini action on Thursday if the weather window is forecast right. Planning to solo Corno Grande in the Grand Sasso National Park, you get an assist from a lift and end up hiking 3500′ vert for 6500′ of descent. Also checking out Rome. After that I’ll see what the weather’s doing. I want to get some summits in while I’m here if I can. Chamonix and the Pyrenees are the most likely targets.

Hope you like the pics. The camera ended up staying in the pack most of the day, we were just having too much fun to stop.

Sunsets flying east don't last long enough.

This is the storm wreaking havoc on Europe. It's Huge

Lufthansa has good food. Killing some cokes, but they're really small.

The view from my window at Hotel Gietroz in Le Chable. Home for a while.

Ruinette's great view.

I need to come back for this one!

And that one and that one and that one....

Hiking to our first run

Peter getting some good snow.

Sweet

The snow was pretty nice

This is the day after the storm.

Yeah Stina you rip.

Fast Women

Milking it

Wait we're on a glacier, now you tell me

Well slashed

Long runs

Thank you good people. I had such a fun day.

Stina seems to like the SKILOGIKS

Corn time

Au revoir