Grand Opening!

This is my new website for posting trip reports and anything else of interest. The Wasatch Mountains are my new home base, as well as the home of the greatest snow on earth (500-600+ inches/year is the average). Its amazing to have such an incredible mountain range right at your doorstep that is a hub for backcountry skiing, sport & trad climbing, trail running, hiking/backpacking, etc., and it would take a decade to merely explore the mountains and canyons within 30 minutes of Salt Lake City... let alone the rest of Utah. I'll definitely be taking advantage of the opportunities around me, and this blog will chronicle the adventures.

The image on the site banner is the north ridge of Little Cottonwood Canyon. I took that picture from the top of the Snowbird tram in April.

The big trip for summer 2010 is the John Muir Trail. We're also hoping to finish the Colorado 14ers, climb a whole bunch of peaks in the Wasatch, and tag a few of the Tetons (South/Middle... saving the Grand for 2011).

Some panoramic shots

Vail Mountain on closing day (April 18) and the Superstition Mountains on Memorial Day.

Moderate altitude = mileage increase

Living at 4300 feet has advantages and disadvantages compared to living at 8000 feet. The disadvantage of sleeping so "low" will probably be felt when I get back to Colorado to finish climbing the 14,000 foot peaks next month. The big advantage, though, is running at this altitude. I cranked out about 110-115 miles last week, a number that was not uncommon for me when I was living back east, but the kind of volume I never came close to touching while living in Vail. I'm trying to run as many hills as possible in an effort to keep my "climbing" legs, and we'll start climbing some peaks in the Wasatch as soon as possible. The weather was unsettled this weekend, and the Cottonwood Canyons and their high peaks were socked in by thunder/snow storms. So, we've just been running... a lot... exploring the SLC area on foot. I've posted some pics below of running in some more scenic locations a little over a week ago (Garden of the Gods and Kokopelli Trail).

Recent pictures from Arizona over Memorial Day and the last few days in Colorado.

May 2010 Recap

May started with powder days at Beaver Creek (which had been closed for a month), and ended with a string of 14er ski descents. In between I lost my job and made plans to move to Salt Lake City, Utah (hence the blog title, Wasatch and Beyond). The Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains will be my home base from this point forward.

I spent May 6-9 down in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with Andrea. We met up with my friends Karilyn and Andy, who are hiking the Appalachian Trail.

From May 20-23 I tagged six 14ers in a 4 day span. [6 Peaks 4 Days trip report] - [More Photos]

On May 27, I climbed and skied Castle Peak with my roommate Ben and his friend Joel. [Castle Peak trip report].

April 2010 Recap

Highlights from April included a ski trip to Snowbird, Utah, a visit from my Dad, and a ski descent misadventure from Culebra Peak, the only privately owned 14,000 foot peak in Colorado (Trip Report - Photos).

Mt. Shavano

Andrea and I headed down towards Salida and took a shot at climbing and skiing Mt. Shavano in winter. It was a long, tiring day... and the snow wasn't all that great. Still, it was a very rewarding day. We skied 5,400 feet - from just below the summit right to the trunk of my jeep. I posted the full trip report on 14ers: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=7724

March 2010 Recap

SPRING BREAK!!! Well, not exactly for me... but I had spring break visitors for the full month! Andrea for the first week, Jenna for the second, and Hannah/Pete/DR for the third (with everyone overlapping for a weekend). We had an awesome time... started off with my first calendar winter 14er ascent, then skied slushy snow in unseasonably warm temps for a while, and closed it out with one of the deepest powder days I've ever skied. Gotta love spring in Colorado! (Photos)

February 2010 Recap: Part 2, Videos

We made a few videos up on Vail Pass

February 2010 Recap

In the middle of February (Valentine's Weekend) we had our best powder skiing of the year. Luckily, it perfectly coincided with a 5-day visit from Andrea! We spent a day at Breckenridge, doing some short hikes for fresh pow, then a day on Vail Pass, skinning powder laps. The next two days at Vail were the best of the season, and the following day we skinned up to and skied Uneva Peak, near Vail Pass. (Photos). A week later, we got found a powder stash in the Beaver Creek sidecountry, some evidence of which is displayed below.

January 2010 Recap

We finally started skiing some powder! New Year's Weekend (Photos) was 4 straight days of great skiing. The following weekend, before Andrea headed back to Tennessee, we skied 3 more days of powder (Photos). I took my Avalanche I course a few weeks later, and we closed off the month with another big powder day in Vail (Photos).

December 2009 Recap

The snow didn't really start falling until the end of the month, but December was a lot of fun. Andrea and I spent the first weekend of the month in Park City, Utah (Photos). A few days later, Andrea and Jenna both flew to Colorado and spent the rest of the month in Vail with me. Jenna had never really skied before (which you wouldn't believe if you saw her ski a few months, or even weeks, later). You also wouldn't believe that Andrea is from Tennessee when you watch her shred it. We skied A LOT! (Album 1 - Album 2 - Album 3)

Around Christmas I got my first day in the Beaver Creek backcountry and first day on my new AT gear. (Album 4). After Christmas, the snowpack started to get a little better, and we had some nice bluebird days in Vail (Album 5).

November 2009 Recap

The ski season in Colorado started off VERY slow this year. Still, I got some nice pre-season hike/ski days on the mountain. Made another trip to Tennessee, and a trip to Connecticut as well.