I’ve devoted my 2014 to tackling some of the trips that have been put off for far too long. This started last month with the hut trip off of Cameron Pass and, this past weekend was Alice’s elusive Rabbit Hole. I have been looking forward to climbing it for the past few years; however, many things have gotten in the way, not the least of which is the last 2 years of depressingly low snow levels. I was initially worried that the group size may be too large, but, as the week progressed, climbing partners bowed out for one reason or another. Not to worry though, Mike was still in and I always enjoy a day in the hills with the Human Topo. Keep reading…
As we make the rapid transition to summer hiking season here in Colorado I thought I’d kick it off with a review of my favorite piece of footwear – the Camp Four trail shoe from Five Ten. This shoe has been just about everywhere with me since I bought my first pair in the spring of 2007, from long distance trail running endeavors to peak bagging missions, hanging around at the local crag to alpine trad climbs on Crestone Needle and the First Flatiron. It’s nice to have a few time-tested items in your arsenal that you can simply order brand new every few years with full confidence in what you’re going to receive. No shopping around, no sizing up or deliberating over various products, you just know. Well, this shoe is that piece of gear for me, and my fourth pair just arrived in the mail yesterday. To start things off, the Camp Four might be best described as a multi-use approach shoe. A hybrid between a trail runner, an approach shoe, and a climbing shoe, the Camp Four seems to hit the nail on the head in all the right areas. Read more…
In the state of Colorado, the word “Spring” can have many meanings. For my neighbors on Eliot Street, it means they can finally come out of their homes, sit on their porches, and wonder where I could possibly be off to next. For the friends I travel these hills with, it’s the season they’ve been waiting for all year, a time to strap on the planks and ski until the snow turns to grundle in mid to late June. For others, it’s straight up couloir season. And believe it or not there are actually people who just like to snowshoe. I’m not sure I fit into any of these categories, but I always do love this time of year. Keep reading…
On Memorial Day I was able to escape the city and check out another Front Range ski route that had long been on my wish list – the Northeast Face of Bald Mountain A (13,684 feet) outside of Breckenridge. Partners for this superb day of spring hiking and skiing wound up being David Yarian and our resident member of the “I Snowshoe with Skiers” club, Dillon Sarnelli. We met at the Trex lot and motored up to French Gulch, following the TH directions Brian laid out in our guidebook (he skied this route in 2011 and included it as the first chapter of the Front Range section). Once at the parking lot we geared up and began the long ascent up the French Creek drainage. Keep reading…
