On Saturday around noon a large chunk of the N/NE face of S. Diamond slid. This is the third year in a row this slope has avalanched. Apparently it was a busy day up there; skiers and riders were farming turns on Ptarmigan Run, kids were hucking jumps at the base of Main Gully, and countless parties were traversing the bench below the face. Fortunately no one was caught in the slide. It is still unclear whether the avalanche was natural or remotely triggered by a party skiing along the ridge or down on the bench. [Read More]
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Two years ago, the alpine bowls and tributary valleys of Castle Creek conspired with snow and gravity in a failed attempt to assassinate me and 10 of my good friends. I don’t blame them. [Read More] Enjoying puffy warmth at the top of pitch one. There are few things in this world that make me happier than an intermediate belay. For the uninitiated, an intermediate belay is the stop-over between pitches – you ascend a rope-length or gain a nice ledge (whichever comes first), plug in some gear to build an anchor, affix yourself to the wall, and relax. It’s a perfect place to get some water, eat a snack, wrap yourself in your favorite puffy jacket, slip into some heavy gloves, and enjoy the view. The intermediate belay is a payoff several times over: you get to rest and recharge from the often stressful and strenuous climbing, you get to check out the scene from a place that few people ever stand, you get to solve complex anchor-building puzzles, and there’s often no one there to see the tears in your eyes as the warm blood refills your frozen fingers. Over the years, I’ve stockpiled memories of my favorite belays – some noteworthy for the scenery, some for the relief, and some for the shenanigans – and the top of the first pitch of Hyalite’s Silken Falls ranks right up there with the [Read More] I made it up to the pass twice this week and found safe and stellar skiing on both occasions. As everyone knows, this season’s snowpack is delicate and reactive. We have a widespread issue with depth hoar that will likely plague us for months to come, and the complexity of the snowpack can drastically differ from location to location. Digging around on various aspects in different drainages near Cameron Pass I saw very little in common pit to pit. One constant was a large (35-65cm) bed of FC (faceted crystals) beneath various layers of / (Decomposing and fragmented precipitation particles) and + (Precipitation Particles). [Read More] I usually don’t set new goals for the New Year. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about goals but usually I set them throughout the year instead of when I am drinking champagne with friends. This year, however, my husband was sicker than I had ever seen him and the wind chill outside was below 10F, so we did not celebrate New Year’s Eve, we did not even go out on New Year’s Eve. Instead, I stayed at home and wrote down my goals for 2010. I thought about goals such as meditating more, trying to make the house more eco-friendly, being a better friend and family member, but those still need to take some more shape up in my head before they make it to paper. So, in the end, the goals I wrote down all revolved around hiking. Several of my hiking goals have been up in my head for quite a while, but there is something about writing it down and posting it where I can see it that encourages me and holds me accountable at the same time. And putting it on my blog? Well, that’s like double the accountability and it gives me something [Read More] In those wilder lands with fewer souls, I found midnight to be a more subtle experience – an event akin to a branch bending in the wind, or snow squeaking beneath a well-waxed ski. [Read More] |
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