Category Archives: Hikes & Scrambles

A Few Good Days in April

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It’s no secret that this year’s spring season has been a temperamental one in terms of weather, snowpack, and ski conditions for just about every skier in the state who doesn’t enjoy absolute freedom of schedule. The high country has been continuously raked by winds and dust storms throughout most of April and into May. Our snowpack ended up being nothing to write home about (slightly below average and with some aspects and ski lines never really coming into condition). Keep reading…

Turning the Corner

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On the last full day of winter Rick, Zach, and I decided to take advantage of the sunny weather forecast and go for a summit in the northern-Gore. We settled on “Northwest Corner” peak (12,663 ft), one of the highpoints along the serrated ridge extending from “East Corner” up to Meridian Peak on the north side of the Piney River Valley. Keep reading…

January in the Gore: Upper-Piney Creek and “Peak D”

With an unusually long period of relative stability persisting in the backcountry around Vail, Dave Bourassa and I decided to head out for a late-January tour in the upper-Piney Creek area. With no particular plan in mind we skinned up to the base of the Piney Bristle summit block, skied down into upper-Piney, climbed and skied a neat line off “Peak D” and then ascended back up to Dave’s sled at sunset. Read more…

Sun and Shadow: Winter in Canyonlands NP

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As the holiday weekend for the Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. approached, I decided to take PTO the Friday leading up to it and enjoy some freedom and solitude in the desert. I’d mountain biked portions of Canyonlands near Moab before, but had never visited the Needles District until this trip. Read more…