While digging a snow pit and pitching a tent in winter is great preparation for high-altitude mountaineering and a fun experience in its own right, Colorado has a better solution for winter overnights in the 10th Mountain Division Huts — a series of backcountry huts that offer borderline decadent backcountry…
At the far east end of Telluride, Bridalveil Falls is breathtaking in its beauty. Standing 430 feet high, it pours over a north-facing wall in a canyon. Come winter, the falls freezes into a delicate blend of hanging icicles, cauliflowers, and brutally steep ice.In 1974 steep ice climbing was still…
Let’s face it: at this time of year, almost everyone is a blithering basket case as the last days of the holiday season approach. If you’ve already done all your shopping, good for you; go have a hot toddy with the rest of the well prepared people you know.For me,…
Last weekend, three climbers went up and attempted a climb of Mt. Hood in Oregon. Luke Gullberg was found dead from a combination of hypothermia and minor injuries sustained in a fall. His companions, Anthony Vietti and Katie Nolan, were nowhere to be found, and an exhaustive search was undertaken…
On Monday, my colleague Ted Alvarez posted a video link to Erik Weihenmayer ascending the Naked Edge. The Edge, as many people call it, is a truly striking line that grabs the eye of every climber entering Eldorado Canyon. From the road at the parking lot, it looks much like…
Last weekend, spectators got a chance to check out the Snowboarding Grand Prix at Copper Mountain. If you didn’t manage to make your way up to Copper to see death-defying leaps of life and study potential mechanisms of injury, you’ll have another chance this weekend in Breckenridge…
In their song “Fear of Falling,” the Badlees sing “I have no fear of falling, but I hate hitting the ground.” Those sentiments have been semi-embraced by an increasingly crazed set of daredevils who huck off cliffs…
Skiers are a conservative lot by nature, telemark skiers even more so. While skis have gotten shorter and have more sidecut than they did 30 years, the shape hasn’t changed too drastically from the first wood planks that people strapped on their feet millennia ago.There is one brand of skis,…
For women looking for a unique ski experience, the Keystone Betty Fest might be the answer. The Fest gives women an opportunity to improve their skiing in the company of other female skiers, and to work with female instructors who can tailor their instruction to the demands of female skiers…
Many more skiers have started to pursue backcountry skiing as a way to get virgin powder. But far too few of them have taken an avalanche awareness class, or practiced repeatedly with beacons and probes doing avalanche rescue, or even know how to dig a pit properly to examine the…
Alright. I know it’s probably hard for people to grasp this concept, but just because it’s ass-kicking cold doesn’t mean we’re getting a lot of snow. The mountains are getting an inch here and there, but to quote Calvin, “Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in…
As you drive west toward Vail and come upon the East Vail exit, several ice climbs can be seen in the north-facing drainages. Just past the East Vail exit, at that point where the frontage road curves back under I-70, the amphitheater comes into view. The amphitheater is home to…
Nothing hits the spot after a long day on the slopes like a good microbrew. It quenches your thirst and replaces all the carbs you burned ripping up the steep and deep at your favorite resort. As if you needed an excuse to have a good beer. As long as…
As ski season kicks into gear, lots of people eagerly grab their boards and race up to the slopes. They’re leaving performance behind. Before heading to the hills, consider taking your boards in for a tune to get them into skiable shape…
The history of outdoor companies is filled with people who started with little more than a good idea and persistence. The mighty Patagonia was the softgoods company of Chouinard Equipment, which in turn was started by itinerant Yosemite rock climber Yvon Chouinard, who made chrome-moly steel pitons with a second-hand…
Last week, I wrote about some of the atrocities Hollywood had inflicted on the climbing community in their attempts at portraying the dramatic. These movies are so painfully bad, they make you want to throw food at the screen, and the list doesn’t even include all the ridiculous uses of…
Gone are the days when burly women skiers and riders needed to make do with poorly fitting gear designed for men. At one time, women athletes could just bask in the condescension from retail stores and gear companies, who felt women didn’t need strong gear because few of them really…
Part of the fun of alpinism comes from knowing its history. Climbing and skiing are both very well-documented, and the stories create a timeline in sport that might be unrivaled by anything except baseball, with its legions of devoted statisticians. The year 1971 proved to be a landmark year for ski…
Hollywood and climbing generally don’t go well together. While there are occasional climbing-themed films that don’t suck, more often than not Hollywood movies centering on climbing are written by some desk-bound moron who probably doesn’t know the difference between an ice screw and an ice axe. The scripts are concocted…
Instead of staying at home and cooking for hours and then facing hours more of cleanup, why not head to the mountains, get some skiing in, and let the resorts do it all for you? As an added bonus, getting some runs in will help you burn off the calorie…
While glossy ski-resort brochures often show pictures of wide open bowls and endless powder, many dedicated skiers know that the trees are where it’s at. Tight, technical, often magical, tree skiing can be a place where there’s powder to be found days after a storm. On bad light days, trees…
While most of the Front Range areas have already opened, Thanksgiving week will see several of Colorado’s major destination ski resorts start turning their lifts. There are plenty of events and deals available for those looking to get outside the Front Range this week for the holiday.Traditionally, Thanksgiving isn’t a…
