2018 Year in Review

#goals 2018

If I bend (ok, maybe break) the rules, I met my 2018 goals. In December 2017, I decided I was going to do more sport climbing. 28 routes 5.7 or harder in a year didn’t seem that daunting if I could do 10 in a single weekend. It turns out that sport cragging isn’t really my passion, and isn’t something I just accidentally find myself doing. I do frequently find myself accidentally going on solo hiking trips in the eastern Sierra. On December 14, 2017 I did the first of the sport climbs that I started keeping track of; on December 10, 2018, I did the last one that I’m counting toward this goal. I never actually specified whether I needed to send a climb for it to count, but after initially sending everything I tried, I was assuming all my climbs would be sends.

Top 9: first photo was the culmination of my physical and mental training for the season; second photo was a hazy picture of Half Dome from the Curry Village parking lot. ( Read More )

AIARE 1 - January 19-21, 2019

AIARE 1 - Decision Making in Avalanche Terrain

January 19-21, 2019

In contrast with the two other courses I’ve taken in the past year, AIARE 1 was much less stressful. At the end of their presentations, the instructors frequently asked things like “Ok, who’s more confused now than you were before the course?” I didn’t feel suddenly proficient an avalanche terrain safety, but through every step of the course, I felt like I was understanding what they were teaching, and had a good idea of how I’d incorporate that into my backcountry travel. Of course, I’m a snowshoer looking for the easiest way up and down, not a skier looking to get into steeper terrain, but overall the concepts were logical and straightforward. Not that everyone’s questions reflected my feelings.

( Read More )