Ancient Art

Quick weekend trips are one of the things that make living in Utah amazing. You can go from a powder day to climbing and mountain biking in less than a 3 hour drive. When Eric called and threw Ancient Art on the table it didn't take much convincing.

We pulled in to Moab a little before midnight and crashed for the night outside of town. The night was a lot colder than we had anticipated but a Grand Slam at Denny's balanced it all out. We waited for it to warm up and then drove out to the massive pile of mud called Fisher Towers.

Eric and I took turns swinging leads. I lead the first and third pitch and he took the second and fourth. As I pulled my way up the third pitch to the walkway to the summit I was surprised. I have seen pictures of the climb, but nothing really does it justice. It was one of the most unique features I have ever seen. Eric made the awkward scurry across to the corkscrew and climbed it like a champ.

My mouth definitely was dry as I took my turn on the summit. The Fisher Towers make for interesting climbing. Climbing Ancient Art made me question my desire to do other climbs in that area. There are plenty of other routes made of solid rock to keep me busy for now.

We hit a climb on Wall Street called 30 Seconds Over Potash before heading home. We had a good time and the weather was perfect. Other than the two hour traffic jam we hit on our way home the trip went without a hitch.

Better than coffee

People love their coffee... I have tried the stuff. Tastes like someone scraped all the burnt stuff off of toast and put it in water. I love the smell, but don't want to "acquire" a taste for something like that. I will stick to waking myself up by having something to look forward to.

Josh recently picked up a split board and there was a fresh layer of snow so we headed up early for some turns. It was an awesome morning to be out. We got some really great turns in some settled powder. Parker was able to snap a few really great pictures which he let me post. Hope you enjoy them.

Neena's first tour

A couple Saturday's back things were lining up for a good day to get some big lines I have had my eye on, but when Neena said she wanted to go for a tour I jumped at the chance. I called around trying to find a set up for her to use and before long, thanks to Caroline Gleich, we had everything we needed.

For those of you who don't know, Neena has Crohn's Disease. It is an auto immune disorder that causes her body to attack her digestive tract. There is no cure so over the past year we have been trying to find a treatment will work for her. This was the first time in months that she had expressed any desire to do something like this. 

We woke up and took our time getting to the hill. I decided a good first tour/summit for her would be Patsy Marley. We took our time stopping for snacks and even had a nice lunch. It was good to be out in the mountains together. Her endurance isn't where she would like it to be, but she was a champ and was determined to make the summit. 

Standing on top of Patsy Marley with her was a neat experience. It was our first summit together. The ski out was a little hard on her tired legs but she did great. It was an awesome experience to be able to spend the day doing what I love with my favorite person. 

Maple Ice

Last weekend I headed down to Maple Canyon for some ice climbing with the Utah Climbing Club. It was my first outing after getting sick for the entire week before. It was good to be out of the house and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Shooting photos and video was the main goal and I spent a portion of my day sitting at the top of a climb shooting pictures. The ice was awesome and Darren and Jen put together a great event. They are an amazing couple and we all had a blast.

 

Night time ice

 I met up with my buddy Dan Thrasher a few weeks back for some night time ice climbing. It was an awesome evening.

Another day in the trees

The snow changed dramatically from day one of the storm until now. It came in light and fluffy initially, that is what we rode the other day, but throughout the course of the storm the snow became much more dense and heavy. Every day I go out things are different. Sometimes the snow is great, sometimes it sucks. Occasionally I think "it isn't worth getting up at 5 in the morning today" but every time I do I never regret it. Parker shot these photos of me this morning. I am really blessed to have talented friends that enjoy the mountains. 

Silence

Windless snow storms are unique. Every other type of storm creates noise. Rain falls hard, winds howl, lightning and thunder crash, but Snow? What does it do? It captures sound and doesn't let it go.

David Kaplan and I went for a short tour up Big Cottonwood Canyon the other morning and made our way up through some low angle trees. As we hiked the through the freshly fallen snow it was remarkably silent. The only sounds we heard all morning, other than our own, came from another party dropping into a line and screaming with joy all the way down.

As David skied away from me I took a moment to look around and listen. I couldn't hear the hum of my computer. There was no traffic in the distance. There weren't even any planes overhead. In today's world it is almost impossible to forget about civilization because it is always there. Snow helps you get away from it all. The next time a big storm like this comes, take the time to get away and listen to the silence.

Timpanogos

 

I was really craving a long day in the mountains. I had been hoping for the Grunge Couloir, but as I called around looking for a partner people let me know that it wasn't filled in. Brody Leven was looking to explore the Southern Wasatch and it came down to just the two of us.

We met and made the short drive up to the Aspen Grove trail head and then made our way up Primrose Cirque. The snow was surprisingly good and we made good time. After stopping for lunch we decided to go for the summit. We crossed the valley and headed up to the summit ridge. We started to make our way across to the summit. It was slow going. Having left my crampons at home I was taking extra time kicking in steps. I was pretty tired by this point, my endurance needs a little work. We eventually realized that we weren't going to make the summit. 

We decided to turn back. The trip back was a little faster, and we got back to our drop in point at just the right time. The sun was setting and we snapped some great shots. 

The ride down was probably the most exciting part of the day. We got cliffed out and had to hike up a ways. We lost the light and I was attacked by an invisible bump. Then we rode out blind on a bumpy trail only able to make out the faint outline of it. We had a good time.