An outing I don’t mind repeating because the views are sooo good.

A nice walk essentially tracing the first bit of the Ptarmigan Traverse and looping around Hurry-Up Peak. This was my first time skiing at Cascade River Road not doing Eldorado and boy were the views mindblowing. I definitely need to make it out here more often!

It’s been fun to finally get around to checking out the spring opening of Washington Pass. I’ve joked that so much of the area seems same-y, but having snow on the mountains definitely adds some much needed character that I’ve come to expect from the Cascade Range.

Booked it down to the lower eastside to nab a line I’ve been thinking about since 2022. For some reason or another, it’s never materialized in recent years for many in our group so we were very happy to get it while it was pretty good.

For the second part of this trip we made our way to central Hokkaido. We stayed in Asahikawa which granted us the flexibility to check out the different zones in this area (at the expense of longer drive times of course).

A scenic loop to see soak in the fall colors and perhaps the impetus/rebirth of this very website!

Finally climbed the Grand Teton, which I felt was a bit overdue. Did the most I could in the Tetons without a partner, but was still able to romp around the range to see what’s out there when I come back with better objectives.

An unexpectedly smoky day, but probably the best of the so called Great Fourtneer Traverses in Colorado.

The Ouray 100 ultramarathon probably ranks as one of the hardest races in the country, clocking in at over 100 miles, ~42000 feet of vertical gain, at an average elevation of 10200 feet.

I’ve always wanted to do this ever since I saw the Mediocre Amateur video in what felt like another lifetime before the pandemic. I took the ridge direct, making it an extra long scramble 😋.

NFNWR is short for the north face of the northwest ridge on Mount Adams - what a mouthful to say. During the time I’ve been skiing in Washington, there’s been some opinions that this line might be less and less skiable as climate change impacts the mountain. With a fat high elevation snowpack and after seeing that some friends skied this line, I knew it was time to pounce.

I’ve done Ruth Mountain previously in the summer and I thought it had some of the best views in the North Cascades for the relatively easy level of effort. I couldn’t say no to the same views with even more snow, tagging Icy Peak this time around, and skiing back down the enticing slopes of Ruth.

A Fifty Classic Ski Descent of North America that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. This one was especially special since Chris and I crossed paths interning at some random company back in my hometown on the east coast many lifetimes ago.

The Ptarmigan Traverse is an ultra-classic mountaineering route that cuts through the heart of the Northern Cascades. Four days of miles and miles of glacier travel, rugged terrain, and never-ending views.

Ruth Mountain may have the best scenery-to-effort ratio in the North Cascades. A smooth gravel road to Hannegan Pass Trailhead, followed by a nicely maintained trail, easy snow travel, and no crevasse shenanigans (season dependent obviously) - highly recommend as a type 1 kind of day.

I usually forget a lot of my urban runs but this was a good one. I often think about what my life would look like if I lived in SF/Bay Area, and maybe I’d come here quite a bit if I did.

Mount Rainier is just an absolute unit looming over the Seattle skyline from afar - a 14411’ ruler from sea level if you were curious what that might look like. I’ve always dreamed of what getting to the roof of Washington would be like after first seeing it.

Eldorado Peak is one of the “Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America” that shouldn’t be. The quality of skiing itself was mediocre but the views more than made up for it. We were debating turning around with the grim visibility on the way up, but we pressed on and were instead rewarded with brief yet stunning views near the summit.

In retrospect this was probably kind of burly for me at the time, but I’m super thankful for the receptive partners and the proper conditions to ski a line of this caliber with no drama.