We’ll have our humble pie, then eat it, too.
Icy, dry, and windy describe the last couple months here in the Rockies. Without much terrain that isn’t blistered by moguls or glazed over by ice and wind-pack, we have opted to imagine back into existence our youth through riding parks. The video is so raw it could give you digital salmonella. But I’m putting … Read more
Groomer Sessions at Ski Loveland
After gouging our gear and bodies on granite stones at Guanella last week, Steven and I opted for some manicured groomers at Loveland this week. I am a Loveland pass holder, but Steve is still drinking the corporate Kool-Aid that Vail Resorts pours him every winter. Though there are many more skiable acres beyond that … Read more
Early Season Ski on Guanella Pass
Ah. It’s that time of the year here in Colorado where there is just enough snow to tease then coax the snow-deprived into packing their gear up a hill only to destroy the goods in one run. Steven and I, without many 14ers we feel comfortable to climb right now, decided to head out to … Read more
Snowshoeing Tanglewood Creek in the Mt. Evans Wilderness
The Deer Creek/Rosalie/Tanglewood trails have been a go-to for my wife and I anytime we need a quick wilderness tour and don’t have a lot of time to travel. The view from Tanglewood’s summit yields unique views of the southern Front Range and the undulating expanse of the Great Plains. The trail becomes faint in … Read more
Endangered Species Act: Numbers, Facts, and Defining Success
Despite a strong bi-partisan agreement that environmental protection is in fact economically and socially important, a major issue we’re now faced with is how to evaluate the success of existing publicly funded environmental programs–such as the Endangered Species Act–in the midst of economic turmoil. Over the weekend I read budget proposals and press releases from … Read more
Climbing Grays, Torreys, and Kelso Ridge
With no full moon to light our way, Steven and I had no reason to set our alarms for 11.30 pm to leave by midnight for the trail. Instead, we decided to sleep-in until 2am. At 1am I was brewing coffee, and just as tired as if I’d woken at 11.30. So much for energy … Read more
Some Quotes on Preserving Language, Culture, and Place
“In our efforts to preserve endangered species, we overlook something equally important: To me, it is a sign of a deeply disturbed civilization where tree-huggers and whale-huggers, in their weirdness, are acceptable, while no one embraces the last spoken languages of our world.” -Werner Herzog from documentary film, Encounters at the End of the World “Ojibwemowin … Read more
Where to Buy Outdoor Gear Online…with a Student’s “Salary”
When I see photos of grizzled mountaineers on top of Denali or Rainier in what appear to be burlap sacks, leather moccasins, and heavy, inefficient wool jackets, I wonder if they survived the trip down. Of course, many of them did–albeit with less digits and limbs that were claimed by Jack Frost. Nevertheless, the fact remains that their gear was, … Read more
Mt. Harvard: Less Gentry, More Dirtbag
We wanted our second ascent to be more challenging, but still within our expanding skill levels. We originally chose Mt. Columbia because it offered a vista that we imagined would be as eye-dazzling as Quandary’s, but which was twice as long a climb with a step up from cat. 1 (Quandary) to a cat. 2. … Read more
Desperate for Snow
This video of smashed together clips documents some solo riding I did over the holiday break. The snow was scant and the resorts were chocked full of hyper tourists and anxious locals, so I drove out to Guanella Pass and found a tree that had released its roots after a gnarly windstorm. With about 6 … Read more
Filed under Prose, Review & Commentary · Tagged with GNAR GNAR, travel