It was time. After weeks of studying topo maps, watching the weather and checking the avalanche forecast; after one reconnaissance mission and numerous prayers to the snow gods, it was time. Time to ski Clover Mountain.
Continue readingSki Clover
backcountry skiing
SnoGo
I just liked the name of this antique piece of equipment parked at the top of Monarch Pass. There’s snow, let’s go!
Continue readingTracks in the afternoon
I’m still experimenting with the GoPro. A few days ago, I took it out for my first attempt at using it for backcountry skiing. Looking at the footage it captured I learned a couple of things.
Continue readingChalk Creek Mellow
On the final day of the avalanche course I took back in January 2023, armed with our newly acquired backcountry knowledge and excited to start exploring, me and my classmates spent a good half hour peppering our instructor Katie for suggestions on places to ski in the area. One of the locations she mentioned was a place called Chalk Creek.
Continue readingMiddle Fork Backcountry
Ever since I skied Mt. Shavano last spring I’ve been thinking about my next mountain. There’s no shortage of mountains around here. It’s sort of our thing. The question is, which one?
Continue readingSki the Angel
Do you ever get a thought or idea in your head that just won’t go away? One of those brain worms that burrows in to your subconscious and persists over months, popping into your head at the weirdest times? Over the past couple of years, for me it has been the thought of skiing the Angel of Shavano.
Continue readingPerfect
Approaching the top of Monarch Pass from Salida, a high ridge rises above the highway from across the drainage on the left side of the road. The ridge runs northeast to southwest and ties into the Continental Divide above the Monarch Crest parking lot where the tourist gondola runs in the summer.
Continue readingI like big dumps and I cannot lie
Snow Stake
It’s been two whole weeks of recovering from the Covid. I’ve been lying around the house doing nothing more strenuous than reading and the occasional coughing fit. My test went negative on day 13 and I was feeling mostly back to normal. I was dying to get outside.
Continue readingA better sense of snow
The key factor in staying safe when going out into the backcountry in winter is understanding what is going on with the snow. And what is going on with the snow, you might be asking? Well, as I learned in a recent avalanche course, a whole lot.
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