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Spalding

On Thursday (6/8) I did a little scouting trip up Mount Spalding  just north of Mount Evans to look at some of it couliors and see what the conditions for ski descents would be.  There is still a lot of snow up there although its melting fast.  There are still lots cornices waiting break off.  Her are some pictures.

The South Face of Evans

Looking down Chicago Creek

This is the top of Chi-Town Coulior, a classic coulior according to Roach, which tops out around 13.200

The cornice sitting atop Sunrise Coulior

This is from the top of Windy City at about 13,500 on the spalding ridge, a good 1500+ ft of skiing waits below.

Chi-town can barely be seen as the second snow band down from the snowfield at top right.  It is a pretty narrow coulior.

Windy City goes between the ribs at top left down the snow field.

I believe this coulior is called Goodfinger, another classic.  Note the HUGE cornice lurking at the top which will be crashing down the coulior soon.

The ridge hiked to the summit, a short 2.3mi jaunt.

TEVA GAMES!!

The Teva Games were this past weekend in Vail.  I competed in the XC mountain bike race and the Bouldering competition.  In both events I ended up finishing in the middle of the pack which is pretty typical.  It was good motivation to get training for next year.  Here are a few pictures from the games...

Memorial Weekend

This past Memorial Day weekend we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park for some backcountry skiing.  I had just gotten over a cold (or so I thought) and was stoked to get out and play.  We camped in the Moraine Park campground which was actually quite pleasant despite the holiday weekend crowds.  The wind was supposed to be howling on our first day there with forecasted gusts of up to 65 mph.  We decided that a quick tour up into the Loch Vale/Glacier Gorge valleys would keep us relatively sheltered from the wind.  Unfortunately on our way up we missed the winter trail which is a short cut that skips about a mile of the normal summer trail.  We didn't think this was a big deal since were out on a casual tour and an extra mile didn't sound too bad.  The trail took us up near some water falls that were freeing themselves from the snowpack (Albert Falls?).  Unfortunately the well defined snowshoe trail ended at the falls and the trail was impossible to follow under the snow.  We ended up bushwacking the last mile up to the main trail junction where we were both pretty wore out.  We finished up the tour up to the Loch but quickly turned around and skied the gully back before the warmth opened up holes in the snow covering the creek.  We spent the rest of the day exploring some trails we had never been on in the park.  Unfortunately I don't think my cold was completely gone yet and I was too tired to do Flattop Mtn the next day so we just headed home.

Hallet's North Face

The Falls

Crystal taking a slight detour into a tree well on the way down.

Taos Anniversary trip

Crystal and I have a little tradition.  Every year we take turns planning an anniversary trip that is a surprise.  This year was Crystal's turn to plan the trip and she didn't disappoint.  We made the 4.5 hour drive down to Taos, NM to enjoy the forecasted 80 degree weather and thaw out after a long winter of playing in the cold.  We stayed at the Historic Taos Inn which initially made me nervous considering it had a neon sign marking its location.  The Inn was actually a great place to stay, located across the street from the city square, our room was large with canopy bed, wood burning fireplace, and really nice bathroom.

Our first day in town supplied 80 degree temps and clear skies as promised so we headed out to an area sport climbing crag after grabbing a morning brunch.  Really unique walls with huge cobble stones and pockets.  The rock was really different then what we were used to but a lot of fun.  We hopped on a couple routes then cruised back toward Taos stopping to do some bouldering along the Rio Grande.  Once back in town we took the recommendation of our friends Brian and Ted and stopped at Eske's Brewpub for dinner and a sampler of beer.  The beer was good with a few brews that even Crystal liked.  The most distinct was Eske's own green chile beer, how New Mexican indeed, surprisingly palatable and spicy, yet not something I would want to drink a pint of.  We also split a huge burrito at the suggestion of Brian who said he still thinks of it on occasion several years later.  As with the next two nights we enjoyed some live music at our hotel bar and called it an early night.  Taos is an interesting town as it seems to attract an older crowd and I suppose in turn doesn't have a whole lot in the way of nightlife. 

Suiting up for some cobble climbing

Rio Grande

Looking for boulders

A little out of order, but this was breakfast

Green Chile Beer!!!

This is for you Brian

The next day is when the weather changed and a snow/rain mix moved into the area.  We headed to Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe for breakfast, and remarkably only had to wait a few minutes for a table.  This place is great and I would highly recommend it if you are in Santa Fe, unfortunately it is always busy and is a small place so waiting for a table is the norm.  Last time we waited 30 plus minutes for a table for breakfast.  The food is amazing though.  I had polenta with tomatilla, corn, and chorizo, topped with egg.   It didn't disappoint.   We spent the gray afternoon cruising around Santa Fe and checking out the galleries and shops.  Several inches of snow fell and we regretted not bringing skis for what looked like some promising backcountry.

I can't remember what she got, I was too distracted by mine.

Mmm....Chorizo

Pasqual's Cafe

So much for 80 and sunny