bouldering outside in January

Even though I've lived in Boulder almost 2 years, I'm still having a hard time understanding how winter works here. Although I had hoped to be skiing this morning, I ended up in town watching Coal Miner's Daughter* while waiting for my new dining table/chairs to be delivered. (This plays into accomplishing "goodbye to hand-me-down furniture" as mentioned in a previous post about goals for the year.) As luck would have it, it was 70 degrees here! With the table assembled and in place by noon, so I had a nice little Saturday freed up. I took the liberty of working on another of my 2009 goals and headed up to Flagstaff for some outdoor bouldering. By the time I got up there, the afternoon clouds had rolled in, so it was a bit chilly, but the climbing was still enjoyable. I headed up towards the Upper Great Ridge, near the First Overhang Ridge, where I spent an afternoon in November. There was still snow on the ground, but the rock felt good in the cold. I walked right up and onsighted Southwest Layback (V1... my first) on King Conquer boulder (#11 in this photo). After messing around a bit more, I walked downhill to the Upper Y wall. I onsighted Y-Right (V0, #14 in this photo). At the very top of Y-Right, I started to get a bit of fear because a guy working on the Y Traverse below me fell, cutting his hand and elbow, causing the ol' blood to get a-flowin'. His friend's scream scared the crap out of me, and from there on I couldn't shake the fear, so I decided to call it a day quickly... maybe the setting sun and wind also played into this. Either way, it was a reminder that climbing outside is not like climbing inside in the least. (The flakes at the top of Y-Right are a little thin, so the stories about flakes breaking off by the folks below me didn't help my cause...) I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to bouldering outside, so we'll see how my improvement goes this year. On a positive note, at least I've already logged a day and we're nowhere near spring!

*I hadn't seen that movie in a long time. Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones do a wonderful job in it. I haven't lived in Kentucky for about 13 years, but you couldn't mistake the scenery for anywhere else... seealso Elizabethtown. Loretta Lynn's story, in my opinion, is one of the more interesting threads of the Americana web.

Beaver Creek joins list of resorts skied

On Saturday I skied Beaver Creek with coworker Tim and ex-coworker Ryan. The weather was absolutely perfect and the snow wasn't too far off. It hadn't snowed in over a week, so it was a bit crusty, but nothing like the icy conditions I had at A-Basin New Year's Day. We discovered a lot of new terrain and got really tired in the process. Since Beaver Creek is the furthest resort from home that I have on my season pass, I got up extra early and was pretty tired to begin with. I think it showed... I was fairly disappointed in my skiing, but still had fun anyways. In my opinion, the views from the top of Beaver Creek's lifts are almost unbeatable. As I've said before, I love the Gore Range, which is visible from almost the entire resort, and you can also catch glimpses of Mt. Of the Holy Cross in some areas.

We spent most of our time around the Larkspur Bowl but also checked out the Rose Bowl area and the Grouse Mountain glades. The highlight for me was the Grouse Mountain glades, even though I didn't ski that area well, it will be my first stop when I make it back to Beaver Creek. While we were in there we saw an elk jaw hanging from a tree. It seemed fairly fresh and had either been put in the tree by a bird or mountain lion.

Beaver Creek reminded me a lot of Steamboat in that there is no terrain above treeline and there are lots of aspens compared to most resorts in Colorado. The mountain is also structured similarly in that you can ski down to Beaver Creek Village from almost any lift regardless of how far back you are. The runs are fairly long and steep, which is also a similarity. It seemed like some of the bump runs went on forever, which would be a dream come true in good snow if my legs would just cooperate... Speaking of, I'm starting to get nervous that I've plateaued a bit, so perhaps I need a refresher lesson. I know I haven't really been pushing myself this season. I think it's time to spend less time on the groomers and get re-acquainted with steeper and bumpier terrain... unfortunately, the snowboarders that I ski with will not share this opinion. Ahh well. I need to improve my confidence too; it's still fairly flaky. I fell once in Thresher Glade and was sub-par from there out.

This was my 5th day on skis this year and 20th total in Colorado including last year. Here's hoping I have at least 5 or 10 more this season... It feels like ski season is finally in full swing, so hopefully February and March will bring big storms and powder days, where I can prep my self for a spring backcountry day or two.

wrapping up last year, kicking off 2009

Well, it's the time of year for reflection, resolutions, goal-setting, and all that stuff. Here's looking back at some of the best of 2008...

• In May I was my brother's best man (a first) and welcomed a new member into the family. This was a fantastic occasion and an honor.
  
• A year ago I was (by Colorado standards, at least) a novice skier. Fast forward a year, and Saturday I was standing atop Breckenridge's double black diamond Imperial Bowl ready to get my powder fix at ~13,000 ft. I've come a long ways in a sport that I hope to enjoy for the rest of my life, so that's definitely noteworthy. It will be a long time before I forget those great days at Winter Park, Copper, Loveland and Steamboat...
  
• On a similar note, a year ago I was just getting back into bouldering. Now I feel like I'm probably climbing about as well as I ever have. My right wrist has hindered progress slightly, and a recent busted toe has definitely slowed me down a bit, but excuses aside overall I feel like I've been at a plateau since around Halloween. I hope to break through that barrier soon and get to the point where I'm climbing the best I ever have this year... that especially includes spending more time climbing outside rather than just on plastic in a gym.
• Ryan and I made it up 4 more 14ers this year, including some early season ascents in winter-ish conditions. This was good experience and will hopefully lay the foundation for more 14ers this year.
• On the opposite end of the geographic spectrum, Mexico. What a trip. My traveling soul has been revived. Seriously, after flying for Thanksgiving, Mexico, and Christmas, DIA felt like home away from home for about 6 weeks. While I don't like the impact flying has on the environment, travel simply does my soul good.
  

And looking ahead to 2009...

• I just signed an offer for a condo, so goodbye to apartment living, hand-me-down furniture, and weirdos living above me that start the washing machine at 11pm every night! This spring I'll be moving into my top-floor bachelor pad and embracing a life of mortgage payments, HOA fees, tax write-offs, and especially one night stands with Ms. Wrong where I wake up wondering who is showering in my bathroom, what her name is, etc... err, I mean..., maybe just the first few. But still, this is big.
  
• I have a brother-in-law queued up in Austin, so it seems like Cupid is done working his magic among my siblings. Perhaps I need to learn to enjoy being the bachelor of the family.
  
• Weddings, weddings, weddings. I am signed up for the best man job once again this May out here in Colorado (the first of my college roomates will be getting hitched) and will be attending at least 1 more wedding here in Colorado, so wedding season will be a lot of fun this year.
• More regular reading of the Bible. 2008 definitely saw a dip in my time in the Word and memorization of scriptures. I need to change that trend this year.
  
• In 2007 I made it to Vail for some lift-assisted downhill riding one day. In 2008 I logged zero days. In 2009 I want to increase that number... if I could also get a few days in around Crested Butte that would just be the cat's freaking meow.
• Avalanche certification and snow climb classes leading to couloir climbs and backcountry skiing (in the Indian Peaks in particular). No questions or excuses. This must happen. Specific objectives include Skywalker Couloir, Quandary Couloir, Mt. Toll and the Brainard Lakes area. This should plant the seed to set Mt. Rainier as an objective in years to come. [30th birthday? It does me no good to have named my cat after a mountain without having climbed it, right?]
  
• More 14er ascents. We'll inevitably explore new ranges this year, which I'm looking forward to. I'd like to start the season early this year and extend it as late as we did this year. Hopefully without sounding like a snob, I'd like to take the most pleasing (and attainable) line to the top and not just the standard route if the standard route would be considered less interesting. I want each ascent to be as inspiring as Huron was for me, and more about the experience in the mountains than just ticking a peak off a list.
  
• Phish is back on the road. I will attend at least 1 show!

In news unrelated to year ends/beginnings, I've been skiing 4 times this year and am well on my way to making good use of my season pass. I went to Breck in November to kick things off, and was fairly disappointed in the man-made snow. A few weeks later my eyes were opened to Vail and my hope in winter was renewed. New Year's day Ryan and I explored A-Basin for the first time. There is a lot of potential there, but you'll need to wait a bit longer for conditions to become prime. My 4th outing, Breck on Saturday, finally felt like ski season was here and off to a good start. The snow was great, and my impression of Breck improved dramatically. I'll keep you posted on outings to come...