Skiing 2014

I'm going to attempt to take one photo (or at least make an entry) for each day I ski this year. It's a great way to keep a record to reflect back on great times spent out in the cold.

Day 37: 4/2/14 Gash Point.  Warm, sunny, gorgeous day skinning up to the very top of Gash Point outside of Victor with Vince.  The snow was wet and heavy; skinning can be quite a workout.  I even triggered a very small slide of the point... point release but scary nonetheless.  A beautiful day in the Bitterroot.

Day 36: March 30th. Snowbowl, snowboarding, sunshine. Solo. No, that's not a typo, a repeat of last week.  I only snowboarded for about 2 hours, I was exhausted from life.  But it was nice to get out in the sun and enjoy the fact that winter is still on! It is still snowing. Snowbowl has a huge base.

Day 35: March 23rd. Snowbowl, snowboarding, sunshine. Solo.

The snow keeps coming!

Day 34: March 14th. Backcountry around Downing Mountain. The snow conditions were not amazing, but we went skiing anyways and it was really fun!

Izzy shreds.

Day 33: March 13th. Backcountry around Downing Mountain.  Definitely one of my favorite days of the season.  Phenomenal views. This is one of the reasons I live and why I love skiing.

Brett atop a scenic saddle looking south into the Bitterroot wilderness.

Day 32: March 8th: Tele Race finals! I wore a silly outfit. Really glad I did this league this year, excited to get a team together for next year.

Day 31: March 6th. Tele-race semi finals.  Getting better,  but I still suck at telemark.

Day 30: March 2nd.  Snowbowl.  1/2 day snowboarding by myself.  The weather was harsh, the skiing was great.  I had such a good time just cruising around by myself.  Felt really solid on the board today too.

Day 29: February 28th.  Snowbowl. Morning laps with Spencer in 14" of new snow. What a season this has been...

Day 28: February 27th. Snowbowl. Telemark race league. Powder tele races! I suck at tele racing! oh well.

Day 27: February 25th: Snowbowl and Mt. Sentinel with Colin.  WHAT A DAY! Probably one of my most favorite days at the Bowl ever. Bluebird skies, power everywhere. And I telemarked.. that was hard.  After teaching class, we skinned up and skied down Mt. Sentinel in town.  What a great Missoula day!

Day 26: February 23rd: Discovery with Heather, Jamey and Anna.  A great day at a new mountain for me.  Rode my old alpine skis. Loved the steep terrain and we had a great group to just lap double blacks all day.

Day 25:  February 22nd: Snowbowl with Heather Jones.  Boarded my booty off for 3 hours.. only could make the half day but the snow was great.

Day 24: February 20th: Snowbowl. Telemark race league! Powder turns at night! yeehooo

Day 23:  February 17th:  Snowbowl with Michael Moore.  Half day skiing on my teles while Michael boarded.  We did nonstop laps for 3 hours!

Day 22: February 16th. Snowbowl with Dallas and Thomas, visiting in from Seattle.  Good times with good friends, conditions were... eh.  But that's ok, we had fun. Rode my pow skis, probably shouldn't have.

Day 21: February 13th. Missoula Telemark Challenge! My first ever ski race, on telemarks.   Night skiing at the Bowl.  Glad I signed up for this.

Day 20: February 11th. Snowbowl.  Morning powder turns and blue skies with Jamey.  Nothing quite like powder turns before class.

Day 19: February 9th. Gash Point. SO MUCH SNOW.  Touring with Daniel. Only got the car stuck for 45 minutes. Not too shabby. Some of the best snow I've ever skied.  Came in cold, dry, and deeeeeeep.  Luckily a party ahead of us broke trail up to the top! We were both too tired to take another lap. It was a great day.

Day 18: February 8th.  Lost Trail Powder Mountain.  Powder. Lot's of it.  Glad I brought my pow skis today! Skied inbounds at Lost Trail with Anna, Melissa, Christina, and Larry. Tired.

Day 17:  February 1st. The G-spot, Lolo Pass, with Skander, Anna, Larry, and Paul.  Bottomless powder!! 5 laps of the G-spot, a generally safe place when avalanche conditions are considerable.  It. Was. Fantastic.

Day 16: January 31st, Snowbowl. POWDER DAY! Biggest powder day of the season.  Paul, my friend from Seattle was in town, so I rode with him, Lucas, Greg, and Evan (briefly).  Saw lots of people up there. It was a fantastic day! I snowboarded... the thick new snow was definitely challenging for me and I got a great workout.

Day 15: January 28th, Snowbowl.   Tele skiing with Emerson.  Sun, hard snow, frustrated with school... so I went skiing with a friend.

Day 14: January 21st.  Rattlesnake Cirque.
I took a week long hiatus from skiing because I was in Red Rocks climbing.  I returned to Missoula to very warm temps and sunny skies.  Spencer and I decided to go on a tour out in the Rattlesnake by taking the lift to the top of Snowbowl and skinning from there.  What a day!  Probably my most technical day of skinning.  I learned a lot (and swore a lot coming up the icy track back up to Point 6). What a gorgeous day!!

Our return involved skinning back across the valley towards Point 6 (prominent peak to the left)

We skied the chute off Murphy Peak in the center of this photo.

Day 13: January 12. Snowbowl.  Rode my huge powder skis all by myself. No one wanted to ski 10" of pow and others had to work. Suit yourselves, suckas.  Lavelle was closed again (3rd day in a row) so I hiked to the top. I should have brought my skins! It was a brutal walk through high speed winds, but the decent was so worth it.  Since the chair had been closed for days, there was a lot of untouched powder awaiting me.

Day 12: January 10th. Snowbowl.  First day back on my tele skis with Colin, Anne, and Matt.  So much new snow, but Lavelle chair closed because of high winds.  Had a lot of fun on the tele skis and was much better than last time I tried two years ago!

Day 11: January 8th.  Snowbowl. Snowboarding with Spencer, Michael, Maggie, and Lindsay.  A little bit of new snow and lots of freezing fog.  Still good to get out for a few hours.

Day 10: January 5th. The G-spot, Lolo Pass.
Best day so far this season. Lots of powder, blue skies, sunny, cold temps.  Skinned up and lapped the G-spot with Anna and Shefije. Great day.

Day 9: January 4th, Snowbowl.
Snowboarded with Claudine and her son. It was cold and there was fresh snow found in the West and East bowls.

Day 8: December 23rd, Snowbowl.
First day on the alpine skis for the season. Wow, more out of shape than I expected to be! Got a good workout skiing the heavy snow from top to bottom.  Skied with Matt, Spencer, and Spencer's friend Michael.  Warm, drippy, little visibility, still fun.

Day 7: December 21st.  Crystal Theater at Lolo Pass with Claudine and Greg.

There was about 7" of new snow on top of an ice crust.  The base is getting better, but we still need more snow to really shred through this stuff.  It was still great to get out and enjoy the snow with friends. Got a little practice digging my own snowpit today. Izzy had a blast and is doing better about getting out of the way of my skis!

Day 6:  December 20th.  Me, myself, and I at Snowbowl.  

No one wanted to go skiing today, mostly because of the "bad" conditions.  Whatever.  Life is short, go skiing, even if the conditions are bad.  I took my snowboard up to Snowbowl today by myself, got a playlist going, and lapped the upper chair for a couple hours.  I felt waaay better on my board today -- even did a few easy runs 'switch' (non-dominant foot leading).  The snow was soft and the edges of the runs were even a little powdery.  I had a blast. Once I got cold, I went home. Actually I went for a run with Izzy :). 

Day 5: December 18th. Skinning with Anna and Skander at Gash Point. Keyword: skinning. We didn't actually get to ski. But the effort, enthusiasm, and desire to ski was all there, just the snow wasn't.  Oh well, I'm counting it anyways. HA! 

Day 4:  December 8th, Snowbowl  Opening Day (snowboarding) with Christina and Jon. -12 degrees at the top and loved every minute!

Day 3: November 24th, Skinning to St. Mary's Peak with Anna and Skander

Day 2: November 20th, Skinning up to Carlton Ridge with Colin

Day 1:  November 9th, X-country at Lolo Pass with Colin 

Season's pass

I just want to take a minute and reflect on how much fun I've had skiing this past week.

I am glad I am that I have a pass this year!  I have been having a lot of fun this break going up to the Bowl really frequently.  I love skiing at the Bowl, shitty conditions or bluebird skies.  It's exactly a 30 minute drive from my house.  People love to hate on the Bowl.... and I can't really figure out why.  You minimize the driving, maximize the skiing, and still have time to run errands, go to the dog park, and the climbing gym.  I rode the chair with an enthusiastic lady today who said it pretty perfectly...

"You either love the Bowl or you hate it. And all those who hate it can just miss out and leave the rest for us."

It really amazes me how much people complain about bad conditions, or refuse to go skiing in "bad conditions."  Last time I checked, storms = snow.  So yeah, if you want to ski soft snow, your probably going to have to go skiing in a storm.

 I also want to recognize that in the past week I have snowboarded, toured, telemarked, and alpine skied. I am so grateful that I have the physical ability, money, friends, and time to be able to do this.  This time last year I wasn't sure I'd ever ski again.

Thanks to all who get out there with me; I look forward to the rest of the season and many more to come.

Accomplishment

The weather this time of year has been phenomenal; I've been climbing outside twice a week!  I had a great week and I just wanted to make a quick update to recognize it and remember it later on.

On Friday last week, I led successfully my first ever 10.d, a route called "Flying Time" in Kootenai.  The reason I was so proud of getting up this climb, besides it being my first 10.d lead, was because I'd never even seen the climb before. I'd heard about it as being "up by the second buttress."  I'd had it in my head for a couple of weeks that I wanted to lead it and it just was never the right time.  Last Friday, one of my good climbing partners and mentors, Claudine, made sure that I did it.  I fell a few times making my way up,  but the falls were all clean.  For the first time, I figured out how to work a hard route.  Trying out moves and failing until I stuck them was a new process for me.

Flying Time

Desperate heel hook

It was short, maybe only 5 bolts or so, but it was pumpy, overhanging, and an absolute blast.  It was great to have Claudine there cheering me on -- she was there when I led my very first route (a 5.8!).
That day we also got on the Razorback Arete (a stout 10.c) which Claudine led, and 11th Commandment (a very stout 10.a, which I led).  Daniel, a guy I met climbing 2 weeks ago, joined us as well.

Daniel on Razorback Arete

11th Commandment

 But in other news....

Yesterday I led my first 5.11!!! A goal on my 25 year bucketlist is to 'onsight' and 11.  Well, I didn't onsight it because I've toproped the climb before, but still, it was a huge accomplishment. I led the Tempest (5.11a/b) in Kootenai.  It is a beast -- so long you need a 70 m rope to do it.  It is 14 bolts! It is a beautiful climb.  I got it in my head after Flying Time last week  that I wanted to get on the Tempest and lead it.  However, even when I toproped it previously I had been very challenged.  The start is super cruxy, and  clipping the second bolt involves a huge committing move above the safety of the first -- fall in between the two and you'll likely deck out (hit the ground) due to slack in the rope and rope stretch.  I knew that I just had to stick the first few moves, which I had done 2 weeks ago on top rope, and after I clipped the second bolt I could take a breather and work the rest of the route.

And great success! I took a number of falls and struggled quite a bit, but Daniel, my belayer, was patient. One move in the climb required the most effort I think I've ever exerted at any one point -- I drew the ability to do it from deep inside me.  It was an incredibly spiritual feeling, being able to access that effort and ability out of pure determination.   With one bolt to go, I thought to myself, holy shit, I actually am going to do this.   A few moves later and I had topped out, looking east towards the glowing Bitterroot Valley.

I had to drink beer after that climb. It had taken so much effort, concentration, thought, and mental preparation that I just needed a drink.  And what  a good beer that was.

Peace of mind

I've come to learn one reason I really love climbing is because it is the one thing I can do and completely forget everything else going on.  When I'm climbing, there is one thing on my mind: the rock. It is an incredible sense of direction, clarity, and escape.  I've never found this state of mind in anything else I do.  It is crazy to think about how much multitasking goes on in our daily lives.  Especially as a graduate student, where life always feels unpredictable, stressful, daunting, and burdened, I am always multitasking.  While I've been working on this blog, in fact, I'm also listening to music, writing and running computer code, and populating a word document table. Gross.  Climbing is an escape from all of this.

It is also an escape from negativity.  There is no bad day out on the rock.  I've never had a bad day climbing. I've had days where I'm disappointed in my abilities, but regardless, I commend myself for showing up and trying.  I've never had a bad day.

I needed it today.  The peace of mind, the escape.  It is scary and real being up on rock, climbing above your last bolt with moves you aren't sure will stick.  There just isn't anything else like it.  Not even skiing (my other true love).  I like yoga and running, but I think too much about other things when I do it.  When I climb, it's just me, climbing. Nothing else.

Today I got out to Mill Creek, outside of Hamilton, MT. One of my absolute favorite places to climb right now.  Since my climbing abilities and knowledge are still fairly limited, places like Mill are fantastic.  I'd love to get into more multipitch trad climbing, but I'm not there yet.  So for now, I'm perfectly satisfied with sport climbing.  The walls in Mill are granite and the routes are fantastic.  Today was an incredibly perfect fall day.  All the plants and trees were changing color, in stark contrast to the rocks and burned forest floor which surrounds the crag.

I forgot my camera, so I had to use my crappy cameraphone.  Trying to capture the amazing colors here...

Also, today I climbed with an entirely new group of people.  I climbed with a girl I had met briefly in the spring, two of her friends, and another guy we picked up on the way, a friend of a friend.  We all climbed really well together; everyone was at different levels, but we were all excited and stoked to be out.  We even went out to mediocore Mexican food afterwords.  I love that climbing can bring such a random group of people together.  We're hoping to get out next Sunday again.

What is awesome about climbing out here, is that you often run into the people who puts the routes up in the first place.  Today I was climbing a route and the guy who put the bolts up was at the base, giving me beta.  The climbing community, and the Missoula climbing community in particular, is just awesome like that.

I opened up this blog today because I have been experiencing some confusion and frustration in life in general. Then I thought about the clarity of climbing and I had to write it down.  With climbing, there is no middle ground. You can do it or you can't.   You get up or you bail. You clip or you fall.  You're determined to get to the top, or you're heart isn't in it.  It's that easy.

 It's challenging when others make feel like I'm not good enough, whether or not it is their intention. But then I think to myself about I  feel very confident with who I am and what I'm doing.  I know that my degree program isn't going to lead directly to my career, but I'm sticking with it and I'm trying as hard as I can.  I work hard and I play hard.  I'm not afraid to spend an entire day with strangers.  I can close the bars and get up at 7 to go skiing the next day (thanks Husky Winter Sports for training me so well).

Beauty in the Bitterroot

Frustrated rambling aside, I had a great day.  I'm just going to keep having the best days I can.  Confusion is annoying, but hell, at least I've got my rock.  And my dog.

And then I went to Idaho...

The wallpaper on my computer is a picture I took on my spring break trip to Idaho this year:

I was going to watch a quick episode of a show, but then I felt compelled to look through my Idaho pictures. The Idaho trip I took was my first solo trip after a really non-ideal breakup situation.  It was the first time since the breakup I just was able to get out on my own and realize how much fun I could have all by myself with the dog.


  I feel like this Idaho trip had really started something pretty phenomenal in myself.  For the first time in my life I felt like I had complete control.  The major breakthrough on this trip was my first hike in over a year.  I had put on my stiff hiking boots and didn't even pack lunch because I was sure I wouldn't be out long.  I ended up going on a nearly six mile hike.  A very steep three miles in each direction.  The trail was also covered in snow.  It brought me pretty close to the tallest peak in Idaho, Borah Peak, amidst the Lost River Range.

I gained and amazing sense of self on this trip; a feeling which has perpetuated throughout the summer.  I feel like on my own I have so much more pride and determination in my my actions.  Everything I do is because I and only I want to do it.  And everything I achieve is because of my own perseverance.   I certainly don't remember feeling like this when I was in a relationship.  Was it because I've been in the wrong relationships?  Or is it just because I haven't had the opportunity to prove myself to myself yet?

I find myself bringing up my Idaho trip frequently in conversation. It was just such a fun and perfect 4 days.  I trip I would have experienced in an entirely different way if I had been in a relationship.  There is a lot I've done recently which I never would have done if I hadn't been single. 

So I guess the long story short is, do  I try and pursue a relationship and hope that I can maintain my drive and determination, or should I wait until I feel the need to be in one? How does this work? I'm confused. A huge part of me wants to try this whole relationship thing again and another part of me is terrified.  

11th Commandment

Quick entry.

For the past week or so I've had my mind on climbing 11th Commandment. It's a route down in Kootenai Canyon in the Bitterroot Valley.  It was one of the first climbs I did in Montana; therefore it was one of the first climbs I ever did as a "rock climber" because prior to living here I hardly ever climbed and never went outside.  Last summer, I couldn't get up 11th on a toprope.  I got about 1/2 before getting stuck at the crux.  Even when I climbed it in May (also on toprope), my arms got over-pumped and while I got to the top, it was a struggle. I had it set in my mind that I was going to go lead 11th first thing when I got back to town...

... and I did it! AHHHH it felt so good. It was a big hell yeah in my book.  It's not even that hard of a climb (10.a) - - although it is super muscly and the start is overhanging on the way to the first bolt.  Either way, I lead that shit and it was the PERFECT way to start the school year. Plus, ratings are totally relative.  It could have easily been a 10.b/c in other places.

Unfortunately, the graduate students are already freaking out and stressing. I had trouble finding a belay partner for today -- people somehow already were backed up with work. Before school has started. The last day of summer. Give yourself a break and go climbing! You'll be way more productive later, I swear.  I called up my friend Andrew, who is fairly new to rock climbing but who had expressed interest in going when I got back. He was down.  I trusted him to belay me, although he'd only belayed on lead a handful of times.

We warmed up on "Sleeping Beauty", a 5.9 and a Kootenai classic.  You have to cross the river to get to it and the all is in glorious shade all afternoon. I'd never lead it before, although I'd toproped it a bunch last year.  I felt like I cruised up it.  Andrew had fun, but it was a hard warm up for someone new to climbing.  We then crossed back to the main buttress to do 11th.

It was just so awesome to do those climbs. And while I was doing them I was loving it.  Sometimes I'm climbing and I'm in a bit over my head and the fear/adrenaline overwhelms any other feelings.  But today I just had fun (ok, there was a spot on 11th where the rope drag was really bad and I had to tug to get slack to climb/clip bolts and I was freaking out a little. But just for a moment).  I feel like climbing gives me something to live for. I know that's kinda deep, but it is a lifestyle, more so than any other sport.  I can't just take a week or two off climbing and expect to jump off right where I left off.   It just doesn't work like that.  I've been viewing other activities (yoga, running, ect) as ways to get me better at climbing.  This is probably a really bad time to be obsessed with this, seeing as I have a master's degree to complete, but I just don't want to put it on hold.  I'm feeling on a roll and I want to keep going. crossing my fingers I can just do it all....

1st Annual Blackleaf Canyon Roundup

Well now I actually am 25.  This was a memorable birthday: a) because I got to go climbing in an awesome place; 2) because I spent it with strangers. And I had a blast!

I somehow got out of going to work on Friday, my actual birthday, and started the day right with breakfast at the Nova Cafe.  I got a vegetable scramber, hashbrowns, and substituted a gluten free mango coconut muffin for toast.  So good.

I also somehow found someone this guy I met on a climbing website, Mike, to drive up to Blackleaf with me from Bozeman, which was great because driving 4 hours solo is just unnecessary and it would mean I could climb an extra day, since the others heading up to Blackleaf weren't getting there until Friday night or Saturday morning. We'd climbed together once before in Bozeman and I had kinda got my ass kicked, in a good way.

  We left at 8:30 to get up in time for a good afternoon of climbing.  We got to the wall around 2:00 after establishing camp and warmed up on an 11.a multi-pitch route.  No joke, the first thing we climbed was a 6 pitch climb (~500 feet).  Luckily it was mostly 5.9-5.10 with only one pitch of 11.a, but still.  It took one climb before I was addicted to multipitch.  Before that I'd only climbed a single 2 pitch climb with a nice giant ledge for the 2nd belay.  Here I learned how to lead belay with my feet dangling in the air.  We then got down, ate some snacks, and then climbed the 3 pitch "Shotgun Wedding." I lead the first pitch (5.8) and toproped the next two (5.10ds).  We got most the way up this wall on the two different routes.  It was exactly what I wanted for my birthday!

Sun and shadows. 

That night, a bunch of people from the Missoula/Kalispell climbing crew arrived.  I spend the night of my 25th birthday with a guy I'd spent a day and a half with and two total strangers, Matt and Cindy, all of whom were awesome!  They are no longer strangers! 

We woke up the next morning, and Mike hauled me up "Zen and the Art of Bolting"; another 6 pitch climb. I lead the first route, then toproped the rest.  It was consistent back to back leading and climbing more strenuous routes and it was awesome to be able to get through it! I had to take a break to hunt my way through the 11.b route, but I made it non-the-less with only  2 or 3 falls/hangs the entire route. I was stoked!  Mike climbed the last pitch, a 12.b.   

Back on earth about 3 hours later I tried to onsite my first 5.10d (which means leading a route clean the first time you try it -- no falling or hanging on the rope).  I clipped the 9th bolt (of 10 total) and couldn't make the last move to get to the last bolt.  I tried and fell 3 times before giving up.  I was still really glad I tried.  It was really awesome to have encouragement from someone I felt could push me to my limits but not beyond them.  I onsighted  "G-Force" (5.10b) as a consolation prize.  We ended the day on "Mr.Sharpie", which was very much uncomfortably sharp.  Pretty quickly clouds moved in, we felt sprinkles, and called it a day.  We headed back to camp and rendezvoused with the other climbers for dinner and a fire.

The crew; crashpad couch and all! The dogs had a great time. 

The next day we got a whole lot of fun climbs in and stayed away from the routes with more than 2 pitches.  I started the day by leading a 5.9 "Legal Eagles".   At first I was feeling a little out of it.  Even after  the second climb "Messin' with my Mojo" (I skipped the 11.d second pitch and just belayed Mike) I was still not feeling it.  So to get back in the game I lead "Like a Fox" -- and suprised myself by onsighting my first 5.10c! I've lead c's before, but have either fallen or taken a break.  This one was a little overhanging.  Probably one of my most favorite climbs of all time!  Super, powerful moves and a little bit of traversing.  I was feeling motivated, and after a short break, Mike encouraged me to climb the first pitch of "Prozac Moments" (5.10+).  I needed one break but other than that I made it up! Stoked to finally be making it up harder routes and doing so almost cleanly.  Mike lead the second pitch, a 12.b, and he fell for the first time that weekend but still made it up.

Mike on repel.  Not sure of the route.  As we climbed up the cliff, we traveled through time.  Roughly every 100 feet was completely different rock (all limestone but different textures, deposits, grip, holds...). If we looked carefully we could see fossils of ancient sea creatures!

We were feeling pretty done  after that.  I lead one more route ("Spare Change" a 10.a/b), which had a super tricky move near the top. I had to high step to a completely bent knee and straighten it, with the very edges of my fingertips holding me on the wall.  Hard but fun, once I had made the move anyways.  My wounds from the weekend were minor. Scraped up legs and very red fingertips. 

It was such a good weekend -- awesome to meet new people, get on some harder routes, learn how to do multipitch.  Probably the most memorable moment was when the wind was blowing hard as I was climbing about 350 feet off the ground.  I literally thought "What the fuck am I doing?" and "This is some of the most alive I've ever felt" at the same time. It was powerful.  

The right wall is completely undeveloped.