Back to Reality

Ryan and I are finally out of the mountains. What an amazing trip it was. Although, after 20 days of living on ice, we were ready to come home. The weather was primarily bad, dropping about 2 meters of snow in four days, but we also had some incredibly warm weather reeking havoc on conditions. The conditions were presented to us and we made the most of it. After all of our time, we tallied about 10,000 feet in technical climbing. Some of the time the conditions were good, most of the time they were not. Ryan and I persevered and had fun with what was thrown at us. The Buckskin glacier is an amazing place, solitude and magnificent walls. It is a place I plan on returning to someday.

The Moose's Tooth and Bear's Tooth massif.

Base camp. Only 30 minute ski from the base.

Hokan-dog kick'n it in camp.

Approaching our first route. The left gash to the summit. Potentially a new line.

Reaching the belay, top of pitch two.

Rest day.

Third attempt on the Moose's Tooth.

Looking down the route with the sun rising.

Climbing started to get more difficult.

Approaching the crux and our high point. 3,000 feet up the face.

Feeling worked after a 18 hour push.

Back at camp for some much needed rest.

Shooting for the second ascent to the col between the Moose's Tooth and Bear's Tooth.

Sun rise high on the route.

Ryan leading near the top.

Ryan pimp'n products at the top.

Starting the descent. Hour 16.

Time to head home.

Solo at Kootenai Canyon

Woke up to an overcast day today, but thought I ought to make the most of it. I headed down to Kootenai canyon for a little climbing and to take some pictures. Since lighting was poor due to the overcast sky, I thought this would be a good opportunity to get a few creek photos showing sense of motion.

Shutter speed 1/10, F36, ISO 200

Shutter speed 1/10, F36, ISO 200

Shutter speed 1/6, F36, ISO 200

Experimenting with photoshop

Here is a photo from the ski trip that I have been altering with photoshop. It is actually three different photos that I have tried to stitch together. You can probably spot where the different photos end since I'm still learning how to use the program.

The entire Selkirk range with Sir Donald on the right.

Fun with the camera

Tonight I thought I would finally get around to trying some time exposures. I hiked up the mountain behind the house to get a good view of Missoula. The sun had gone down about thirty minutes prior to me getting into position, so I thought it may cause some nice color in the sky.

Missoula night.

East and South side of town.

Another try.

The Big Dipper.

Fresh powder, great turns, and nothing better to do.

I just got back from the second leg of my two week journey. Back country skiing in the Purcell mountains of British Columbia.

After driving back from LA, I picked up my Uncle Bob, spent the night in Missoula, then continued on for another 7 hours in the car. We spent two nights in Golden BC due to weather, then took a helicopter into the back country lodge. What an amazing place. I couldn't imagine a more cush experience. It was a little awkward at first, but I quickly got accustom to it.

The week was filled will amazing food and incredible skiing. Fresh snow had fallen just before we got there leaving everything untracked. I got to spent the week developing my skiing skills and impressing everyone with how many desserts I could eat. I would love to go back, but unfortunately I'll probably never be able to afford it unless I get a job guiding there. At least I got to experience it and it's an experience I'll never forget.

The chopper ride in.

The Purcell mountains we skied.

Heading out for the day.

Sunrise over the Purcells.

Bob beginning the day.

Kirk getting some sweet turns.

Our turns one day. Oh so good!

Sir Donald as the scenic background.

Bob bust'n out a blues riff after skiing.

Sunrise on Sir Donald.

Flying, Surfing, and no work!

The Los Angeles trip has been great. Nick and I are on day four and having nothing but fun. On day one we stopped at the Point of the mountain in Salt Lake City and got about four hours of air time. Jeff O'brien meet us there and of course the cameras came out. Nick put the video camera on my glider so Jeff and I raced around trying to get some neat footage. After an hour, Nick and I thought we should get some footage of O'brien fllying close to launch. Jeff entertained us with several sliders and low passes until we were finished with the camers. After an excellent morning flying, we got some lunch and continued on our way to LA.

On the road to Salt Lake City.

O'Brien dragging a tip.

Jeff entertaining us with a slider.

Nick and I got a hold of Peter Swanson from Wills Wing and planned to meet him at Marshall flying site. After a night in the desert we rolled into LA and surprisingly enough got off the interstate at exactly the correct place without an idea where we were going. After coffee, we headed to the LZ and meet up with Peter, Dexa, Andreas, and Wolfgang. Since it was our first time there, Peter wanted to take us to the Marshall launch. Nick had a strong launch and got a long flight trying to work thermals for the first time. The mountain is brown with many thermals, so I managed to work out an hour and a half in the air. After everyone got down, we headed to Peter's for the evening.

The next day was of course another flying day so we headed to same place. This time Peter thought it would be alright to launch from Crestline. This launch is about a thousand feet higher than Marshall and just behind it. We all launched and couldn't seem to find much, so we headed to Marshall. Once we crested the ridge, the soaring began. The mountain was producing thermals similar to the day before, but a little weaker. After an hour I landed and enjoyed the rest of the day from the nice grassy LZ. Now it was time to visit Brad Potter, so off to Santa Monica we went.

Heading to LA. Wolfgang landing. Sunset at Marshall launch.


In the morning we woke to an overcast sky, but that didn't matter because we were surfing today. Nick decided to rest so Brad, Christina, and I went to the beach just south of the pier. The surf was small, but since it was my first time surfing, I still got worked. I lucked out on my first wave and got up. After this though, I spent time tumbling in the waves. The morning flew by and before I new it, we were done. Even though I got thrashed a few times, I had a blast and was looking forward to next day.

Santa Monica.

Another morning was spent surfing. I continued to get the hang of it and was able to catch a few more waves. Once again we saw some dolphins porpoising just outside of the break adding to the awesome experience. Afterwards, Brad had to work so Nick and I spent some time wondering around town checking out the fantasy life that is LA.

The next morning we hoped to surf, but got skunked. An off shore wind blew out the surf. Since the surf wasn't happening and we needed to hit the road that day, we figure the morning was as good a time as any to start the journey back home. We hoped to do some flying on the way, but were let down by overdeveloping skies. Home to Missoula it was.

The road to home.

Tarkio

Today I lucked out and had a great flight at Tarkio. Conditions didn't appear to be too favorable when I got there, but they seemed to work out just fine. There were a bunch of small thermals coming up the hill so I managed to get about 1000 feet over launch and extend what I thought would be a sled ride into an hour flight.

Myself at the landing zone.

Launch in the background.

The Tarkio valley.

One of many landing zones.