It’s mountaineering season in Utah! Anyone have plans to hit some fun couloirs this weekend? …there are lots of options to choose from: Mt. Timpanogos Cold Fusion Forked Tongue Grunge Everest Ridge, although that’s getting thin up high from recent pics I saw Mt. Olympus Memorial 1 Memorial 2 Apollo Tolcat, maybe there’s still enough…
Tag: mountaineering
2024 Year in Review
2024 started out strong on the heels of a year where much had been accomplished. I was hopeful to keep that momentum going. It did for a while, but then balanced itself out with many disappointments. STATE HIGHPOINTS My 50 state highpoint project stalled in 2024 with nothing new from where I left off in…
Denali Prep Grounded at AMS HQ
DAY 1 – Arrive at AMS HQ After a few days hanging out in Talkeetna, it was time to meet up at the AMS Headquarters to begin our Denali Prep Course. Participants arrived at 8am sharp with the anticipation of a big day, starting with a short tour, introductions and overall course orientation. I had…
Hanging out in Anchorage and Talkeetna
Traveling to Alaska for the AMS Denali Prep Course I signed up for back in February was finally here. Since this was my first time to the 49th state, I arrived a few days early to check out the Alaskan vibe. I didn’t capture a good picture of it, but downtown Anchorage is a few…
Waiting On a Weather Window
A small group of us from Utah made our way out to Washington state again for another Pacific Northwest volcano. This time was to make a winter ascent of Mount St. Helens. Two from our group tried it last year at this same time but experienced a whiteout and had to turn back within a…
Prepping for Denali Prep with AMS
I just submitted an application to attend a Denali Prep Course offered by the Alaska Mountaineering School in May, just THREE MONTHS away! When our plans for climbing Alaska’s highpoint got pushed out yet another year, I felt the need to take a bigger step in prepping for Denali. I can’t wait another year, hearing…
Walking the Planks of Rainier
Trying to get any sleep the night before a big summit day is always a challenge. Am I ready for this? Did I bring the right boots? Should I have brought that jacket instead of this one? It turns out to be a long restless night of going through all the “what ifs” since a…
The Stars Aligned for Rainier
Rainier was the only peak I didn’t have pre-arranged plans for as we rolled into this season of mountaineering. I knew I really needed to get it done this summer if I were to be more prepared for a run at Denali next summer. I just wasn’t exactly sure how that was going to happen….
Consider Always Roping Up on Glaciers
I was talking to a guy that broke through a snow bridge on Glacier Peak the week after we did Baker. The story and pictures he shared makes me take glacier travel way more seriously. “I fell into a crevasse on Glacier Peak last weekend. Had I not been roped up, I would have broken…
Heliotrope Ridge Trail to Hogsback Camp
My summer mountaineering tour of the Pacific Northwest continues in Washington with Mt. Baker. We planned for 5 days to bag Baker from the Coleman-Deming Route with a schedule that went like this: DAY 1 – Fly in to Seattle, drive up to Bellingham Most of us chose to fly in for this one because…