Backyard Adventures

Here is a little video that I just edited from an afternoon skiing behind my house.  Ive been looking through all of my old ski photage getting excited for skiing in New Zealand- three more days and I'm there!

  Where I live in Alpine Meadows is truly a special place.  I can roll out of bed, put my ski boots on, hike right up from my backdoor, and after about 30 minutes of climbing I get to do this!   Enjoy!

US Ski Team Hockey Camp!!!

How do a bunch of US Ski Teamers handle themselves on hockey skates while trying to control a puck to score using their competitive demeanor?  Well, we are actually not that bad!  I just finished a week long hockey camp with my fellow teammates!  It was a lot of fun and our skills on the ice all improved.  It was a great change of pace as far as conditioning goes.  I was out of the gym and ripping around the ice for a week of intense hockey!

We had double session practices every day, one from eight until ten and the other from two until four.  Full time hockey coaches, who had spent some time in the NHL, pushed us around the ice doing drills, sprints, and scrimmaging.

Then to cap of a long tiring week we had a full on game at the end.  Tommy Beismyer and I were able to score some goals for the white team, but the quickness of Nolan Casper was to much for us and the black team ended up winning.

All in all a great experiene.  I look forward to playing more hockey in the future.

Jackson Hole Part Three- Solitude

The best part about backpacking for me is not the senery or the blue lakes or the clean mountain air, it would have to be the solitude.  It is alway so nice to hike a little ways off the betten path, and then sit down in a magical place and look around.  You don't hear any other people, there are no signes of human activity, and the sounds of cities, cars, phones, electronics, etc are gone. 

Now it is time to relax!  For me this is the best time to recharge and refresh myself for my return to society.  This summer I have been training very hard, going to school and keeping busy, but every time I venture into the mountains, my mind and body become refreshed and when I come back to real life, I can work and train that much harder!  I am a mountain man at heart and love the time I get to spend in different mountain of the world!

Jackson Hole Adventures- Backpacking: The Sleeping Indian

After our day trip deep into the heart of the Tetons, we decided to head east into the Gros Ventre mountains to get away from the snow and find a nice lake to camp at.  After talking with some locals we decided to go check out the Sleeping Indian.  

 

Base Camp: Camping at the trail-head on the Gros Ventre River, for an early morning departure.

River crossing.. The Red Hills in the background

Hiking up into the mountains through the Red Hills

We took a fork in the trail that turned out to be wrong, so after some rout finding and consulting the map, we decided to go cross-country and meet up with the correct trail.  Every few minutes we would call out to warn the grizzly bears!

Gaining some elevation- We were truly the only people up here...

Does anyone know what flower this is?  It was on the very top of a dry peak growing right out of the trail...

Our goal, the Sleeping Indian in our sights!

It looked like someone was planning on building a golf coarse up here at 10,000 feet! 

The Sleeping Inidan- It looks like a sleeping indian from the Jackson Hole side of the peak.  Jackson is just on the other side of the mountain from where this shot was taken.  

10 miles of climbing and we are almost there! 

Climbing down to Blue Minor Lake! 

The water level was very low still due to the lack of snow melt! 

The lake was freezing! In the morning there was a solid sheet of ice covering it! Even in the middle of summer!

Jackson Hole Adventures....Part 1

It turns out that Jackson Hole is only 4 hours away from my place here in Utah, so, with the urge to go play in some real mountains, my girlfriend and I decided to drive up there and go on a backpacking trip.  Initially we were going to hike up into Alaska Basin, crossing over the crest of the Tetons, and spending two nights exploring, but when we arrived in Jackson we realized that there was way to much snow.  So we decided to opt for a fun day hike deep into the heart of the Tetons with my buddy Max, as well as an overnight trip in the Gros Ventre mountains up to a peak call the Sleeping Indian.  It was an amazing trip.

Day 1- Ascending the Grand Teton Climbers Route

The Grand

Just Poemize It !

Eagles Nest aka. McConkeys

By this I mean poetry and furtharmore I am refering to a specific poem from a friend of mine that brought me right back to a morning "Nose to Fingers" race on a powder day at Squaw ripping down KT-22.  There is no feeling in the world that compares to making turns down untracked powder slopes that countinuously roll over steeper and steeper until you jump off something, landing on deep powder pillows only to be launched again into the enless sky and white billowing powder snow!  My deepest happiest feeling that I have ever experienced would probably be right after (or maybe during) a run like this, when time stands still and I leave my beautiful ski tracks on the spins behind like art work..... anyways here it is.....

 EZ Mail Zone- Truckee River

“deep white expanses” –a “Road Not Taken” parody

I was hiking through deep white expanses,

And trudging and pushing and panting…
‘til at last! I’m atop this great pile of rock
and standing before me, my chances.
I stood gaping—and back and forth glancing.

One path was so vast, white, and mellow,
The other: steep perilous and black--
So black that it made my heart yellow,
But down it’s spiny back I did throw
And vow to not think—not look back.

Through chutes and on and pillows I roamed
Deep breaths of white snow I inhaled.
At the peak I had left looking down
My colorless, comfortable home;
For tranquility, I’m still glad I traded.

To this time I think of that day
When I surpassed my prior wise walls.
In that feeling of flying I bathe
Every day in the winter, in it I lay
So content that I found my brain balls.

Commitment.... Frog Lake Cliff

Even more commitment! Go-wrongs drop.  The Roof...

EZ-Mail Zone- Truckee River

Barker Pass-Tahoe Backcountry...

Utah Summer Living!

I have grown to really appreciate Utah this last month that I have lived out here.  The mountain biking is great and the weather is nice!  We found some hot springs too!  Here are some photos..

Slack-lining in the backyard!

Was that a ghost!???!?  Creepy cemetery behind my house

Secret hot spring near Park City...  Really I talked to a few people who had lived in PC their entire lives and no one knew about it! Crazy! These Park Cityians need to get out a bit more and explore!

 Soakin'... It must have been about 106 degrees! HOT

There is nothing like a soak in the healing mineral waters of a hot spring after a tough week of dry-land training!