Living Earl: Tony Pavlantos

Monday, April 25, 2011

Pfieferhorn

The Pfieferhorn, a.k.a. The Little Matterhorn has been on my list for years. A few years back I looked up some photos of people climbing it and descending the north west couloir. It seemed so gnarly. The line had a rappel half way through that is normally 40-50 feet early season. On a good snow year it gets a lot smaller.

Not knowing what to expect I grabbed 60 meters of rope and we started our ascent at 5:30 a.m. The sun hit early, the cloud cover kept the temperature down. We eventually cleared the treeline and hit the ridge that would lead us to the summit.

It was mellow skinning up until we were making the final push. Clouds moved in as we were almost to the summit. There were no breaks in the clouds. We sat on the summit waiting and deciding our way back down. The NW couloir seemed a little sketchy with no visibility. That was when SLCSHERPA and crew turned up. Those dudes are gnarly. They made us feel confident and we dropped in. Tony went first. The snow was manageable, but we rode with our ice axes for the first little bit. Parker went to the rappel anchors to film our descent. The cliff was completely gone. This is one of the deepest snow years I have ever seen.

I slipped out right at the choke blowing my shot, but tony got a good little pop off of the roller. The snow was great out on the apron and we all had a good time ripping it. It was one of the coolest zones I have ever been in, I hope to go back on a day when we can actually see.

Red Pine Lake

The Summit... What a view....

Parker and Tony in the couloir.

The apron

The way out.

By the time we were done we were so beyond tired. I need to learn to go lighter.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Provo Peak

Nearing the summit I found myself pushing hard just to get it over with. The elation of being high up on a ridge had slipped from my mind and I put blinders on transfering all my focus on moving up the ice encrusted slope. When the summit was finally within reach I pushed my legs faster and began to feel the fun seep back into my mind. I sat on the summit alone for a few minutes catching my breath. Ridges and valleys that could only be authored by God stretched out in every direction.

There is nothing like a new perspective. Gazing up from the valley always fails to depict the depth that these high places hold. Once you start up into them they change from a two dimensional backdrop to a whole different world. I think that is how most things are though, at first glance there isn't that much to see. But, as you really dig in you find that it is so much bigger than you could have imagined.

Tony Pavlantos, Zach Clanton, Parker, and I hurried down through some of the burliest ice I have ever been on. We rode with our ice axes out until we made it down to the north face. There was deep fun turns for about 2,000 vertical. We rode out as far as we could. I left the group when we got to the campground to try and make it to work. It was definitely and adventure, I know because there was a point on the dash to my car where I found myself absolutely miserable. The icy conditions helped me off of a small bridge and into an empty river bed. I was ready to be done when I got to my car.