Once in a blue moon I get an opportunity to work out of my company’s headquarters in Durango. As fortunate had it, last Wednesday through Friday were my dates for 2013. A Durango-based work trip, leading into the weekend, in the middle of the driest, most reliable month to hike peaks in the San Juans? Sweet! I was stoked for weeks leading up to the trip. Little did I know mother nature had other ideas. Enter the record monsoonal flows of mid-September, 2013. Read more…
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Dillon. I grew up in New Jersey and moved to Colorado at the end of 2010. I like chicken, diet soda, beer, and greek yogurt. I’m an accountant, but still think taxes are evil. I didn’t find my mountain wife on top of one of these 14er’s, but am still holding out hope. AND I really hate my snowshoes. That’s probably all of the pertinent information you need on me. I figured the best way to give you my perspective into this 14er journey would be to take you all along for the ride. Enjoy! Keep reading…
With several feet of new snow falling up north and the ensuing avalanche issues still fresh in our minds, our group decided to head down south to ski in Yankee Boy this past weekend. With good coverage and a low CAIC rating, the excellent weather forecast is what put us over the edge. The San Juans are indeed a commitment to drive to from Denver, but with a combination of factors as perfect as we had, pulling the trigger was an easy call. For years Brian and I have looked forward to skiing some of the lessar-known lines in the basin. Keep reading…
Brian, Rick, and I decided to load up the car with gear and drive down to the San Juans this past weekend. We were not entirely sure what we’d find in terms of snow stability and coverage, but we managed to talk ourselves into taking the plunge. Tracking the CAIC reports and weather the week prior to our departure helped somewhat, but it’s nearly impossible to drive 350 miles to go ski steep terrain in March and feel totally confident about your decision. That said, we did have some reliable local beta that seemed to be giving us a green light. Keep reading…