More Seattle Pictures

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

As promised, here are more pictures from my trip to Seattle last July. As previously stated, I did not take these, although I did some post processing to some of them.
Seattle really is beautiful in the summertime. I don’t know if I could handle 9 months of short, cloudy, rainy days, but I could certainly handle the absolutely perfect summers.

On the recommendation of someone on the internets, we went to the Pike St. Brewery. Great beer at a great price during happy hour.

The Pike St. Market was a blast. I’d never seen anything like it before.

Cool art like this was everywhere.


A panorama from across the bay from the city, taken as we were about to venture off to the rest of the state.

More to come…

Seattle Pictures

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

As stated in a previous post, I finally got Katrina’s photos from the Seattle trip. She took hundreds of photos, and I’ve gone through and selected some of my favorites. I did not take these photos, although I did some post processing to some of them. Enjoy.

Rainier taken during the flight in. It’s such a beautiful mountain. I still intend to get there this spring, and am talking to several people about the trip.

The two of us on the way to the Space Needle. The buildings immediately adjacent to it have some very interest architecture.


The view from the top, several hundred feet off the deck.

This was a rather large fountain that dozens of children were running around in.






There are so many pictures that it’s going to be a few posts to get them all in. More to follow.

A gorgeous day at Breckenridge

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

It was a beautiful, warm day in the mountains today. It hasn’t snowed in a couple days but it snowed substantially over the past week and stayed cold until today. There was even a very solid layer of surface hoar on the order of an inch thick early in the morning up high. It got softer as the day went on. I was glad to be there as I hadn’t made it out to Breckenridge since early season.

Here’s me gaping it up on a kicker I’ve certainly done a better of of hitting.
Lake Chutes was phenomenal. Soft, filled in, and of course steep. A little wind up top, but nothing compared to the usual Breckenfridge gale force winds.

Technically Unfat

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

As of yesterday, I’m not longer considered overweight under the government’s highly-flawed BMI system. The chart below shows the past year. The first month and a half is likely not exactly as shown, as there are no data points between the start of the graph and the peak in March. Those gains were caused by lots of time in the weight room, and the past year I’ve been focusing on cutting down to pick up speed in running, cycling, climbing, etc. Having the Wii Fit to look at every day certainly help with tracking your weight, and when you know if you’re gaining, it’s that much easier to push yourself to cut back on fatty foods and step it up on the exercise.

As can be seen, I’m still a ways off the lows of a couple years ago, but I have no interest in regaining them. I was too thin and not strong enough for what I want to do (though I was certainly fast!).


In other news, I just got Katrina’s batch of photos from the Seattle trip last Summer. I intend to get some up by this weekend.

Epic First-Descent in Old Town Arvada

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

This morning I went after a line I’ve been eying for some time. It’s only filled in enough to ski a few times a year. After yesterday’s dumping of snow, I decided to go for it. I loaded up the beater tele skis and boots in the car, drove to work, and had a cup of coffee while checking my work email.

After booting up and walking over, I was treated to 6″ of blower pow on top of a hay blanket base. There’s only one word to describe it: eXtreme!!! I did three total laps, and had a great time on each. It was a fantastic start to an otherwise boring day at work.



As for how I know it’s a first descent? This hill didn’t exist last winter.

What happens when they blow the forecast

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

Denver’s forecast was 20% chance of precipitation, with 1/2″ – 1″ of total snow accumulation. I woke up to see a few inches on the ground, and by the time the storm moved out, there was as much as 6″ accumulated. The road that heads by my workplace towards the highway (from a mile or two away) was a parking lot until at least 10:30am.

Berthoud Pass Avy Class

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday I was up on Berthoud Pass for the on-snow session of the “advanced avalanche awareness” class put on by Friends of Berthoud Pass. It was a full day of skinning, digging, analyzing the snowpack, and beacon rescue. Much thanks to Jamie and Liz for sharing their time and knowledge to help save lives. Here are a few photos from the day:

Michael cutting out a column for a shovel compression test:

Nate flailing around in the snow after attempting a windblown traverse:

Yesterday was the first day I got to skin with my Factors (with intuitions) and Dukes. People have complained about the weight and lack of stride (for both), though I had no issues. I was able to comfortable get my toes to the tip of the opposing ski on each stride. On another note, my Bluehouse Districts have continued to decamber. They are now rockered continuously from tip to tail. Absolutely amazing performance in powder, not so much elsewhere.

Gear Reviews

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

I came into this season with a few new pieces of gear – Black Diamond Factor boots, Marker Duke bindings, and the new Bluehouse District 187 skis. I’ve been meaning to get some brief reviews out, so here we go.

Black Diamond Factor: This is the boot that promised to be the end-all be-all AT/Freeride boot. Heavy, burly, stiff, and tourable. I have to say that they accomplished their goals. The boot is certainly heavy, but it is extremely stiff. The BOA system is great for snugging the liner down, however it is heavy. I have pulled them and put in Intuitions, which conform far better to your feet (my toes were getting crunched despite heat-molding the liner) and substantially stiffen up the boot. The walk-mode on the shell is as close to a free-pivot as is available. I’m enjoying skiing them, and look forward to spring climbing season with the Factors.

Marker Dukes: This is Marker’s alpine binding with a walk-mode. I still haven’t skinned with them, but that’ll change this weekend. The ski performance is outstanding. No flex or slop anywhere. Bravo Marker, you made something worth buying.

Bluehouse District 187: Some of you may be aware of the issues that BH is having with this ski. Something in the manufacturing process happened that keeps the ski from holding camber. After a few days on them, I’ve got roughly 9″ of tip rocker and almost a foot of rocker in the tail, measured with the bindings holding together. These are great in soft snow. Due to the lack of camber, edgehold is nonexistant, but they’re outstanding powder skis. BH will be sending me some proper ones once they’re done being manufactured, sometime in the next couple months. I look forward to getting on them, and I’m sure they’ll be great for ski mountaineering.

This weekend is Friends of Berthoud Pass’ on-snow avalanche education class. Should be fun.

…and we’re off!

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

2009 is officially underway, and Colorado’s snowpack is in shambles. The recent winds and heat that has made the weather in Denver so nice has resulted in extreme wind-scouring and refreeze. Even worse is that there remain serious deep instabilities in the pack that may be here all season. Friends of Berthoud Pass’ on-snow avalanche course is next weekend, so hopefully we’ll get a good dumping through the week to make things more enjoyable and educational.

Two people died in in-bounds slides (although both in terrain closed for avalanche danger) at Whistler/Blackcomb in two days – one on NYE and one on NYD. This season is highlighting the danger of the mountains, as even places once considered safe are proving their unpredictability.

I went to Keystone yesterday for the first turns of the year, and really wish I’d stayed home and slept in instead. The snow was very hard due to the recent winds and heat, and there were many areas of glare ice, dirt, rocks, and grass sticking out through the middle of their supposedly-31″ base. I hate that place. I forget why every so often, and I’m quickly reminded every time I go back.

An end and a beginning

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

Well, after what seemed like a ridiculously quick year, 2008 is on its way out – and what a year it was. Starting with the winter that refused to end, ski season was phenomenal, and though I didn’t make it out for as much ski mountaineering as I would’ve liked, the inbounds skiing kept me happy. Spring set off with my first century ride, as well as the start of the bike-to-work mission. Summer held an amazing vacation to Washington state, camping, hiking, and climbing the Grand Teton. Autumn was generally quiet with some enjoyable skiing, relaxing, and hanging out with friends.

Since I began biking to work on June 25 (bike to work day), I have ridden in 80 times, and driven 40 – exactly 2:1. The ratio moved in favor of the bike after I took my new job though, with November seeing only one day of driving to work. My goal for 2009 is to ride my bike 80% of the time. As long as Denver doesn’t get hammered by snow through the coming months, I should be able to make the goal without issue.

I’m ending the year with my weight at 179.8 pounds. The fact that this places me at 0.15 “BMIs” into the overweight group is obscene. I’m in about as good shape as is possible. Prior to the Clinton administration single-handedly changing the upper limit of the “normal” range from 27.4 to 25, I would’ve been solidly “normal” and healthy. But no, I’m supposedly at risk of all sorts of fat-based health issues. Right.

2009 promises to be another quick year. Goals include a ski descent from the summit of Mt. Rainier, a few descents of the Colorado 14ers (Maroon Bells possibly), Sopris, and Gannett Peak in Wyoming’s Wind River Range (if their snow ever gets stable). Another century ride or two will likely be in the works, and if I get really ambitious, maybe a half marathon.

Good luck for the coming year folks, make it a great one.