Iceland: A Skier's Journey

I've got to say, this series by Jordan Manley and ArcTeryx just knocks it out of the park everytime. I love that barring the whole flying to Iceland part it's mostly human powered. Kayaks and sailboats and hiking for turns. We sporty humans are quick to point out how "green" our activities are, but damn, we'll drive and fly a long way to do them. Either way, enjoy the hell out of this phenomenal bit of video.

Iceland: A Skier's Journey EP3 [S3] from Jordan Manley Photography on Vimeo.

Wild Things Design-Your-Own

Wild Things is a gear manufacturer that is pretty innovative. They started as a small shop back east, disappeared for a while making military gear, was bought by Smith & Wesson, and then came back with a new lineup of killer packs and softgoods again.

I have always had a crush on this pack.

 What I like about them is that they are made in the USA and their new thing is a lean-manufacture style of design your own softgoods. Damn cool.

Check it out here

Pics!

It's Sewing Season! An argument for simplicity

I've had a vision for a while of a decent sized day pack that isn't covered in straps and buckles. I really am not a fan of what packs have become. Most manufacturers try to jam as many features as possible into every pack. Like this:

Others stretch the imagination and the boundaries of design:

And others totally succeed at making a beautiful, simple pack:

This is Blue Ice, out of Chamonix, France. Nice pack.

Well, I decided to put my sewing machine where my mouth is and try to come up with something both original and simple. This is what I came up with:

Inspired by big-wall haul bags.

2 carry handles, 2 Shoulder straps, huge open top for swallowing  whatever you're carrying.

Doubles as a shoulder bag

I see all sorts of room for improvement. I'm calling this one Prototype II. I'll be putting up more pics of the actual construction of the pack, as I make the next version.

Also, feel free to check out my Etsy store.

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Not a lot going on right now. I'm working on a ski trailer for Lauren and I to tow around to various ski areas in WA and OR this winter.

1965 Kit Companion

The guys we bought this from were swilling beers in their truck as they drove away.

We're tired of driving back and forth in a day to Crystal Mountain, and we'd like to see Stevens Pass and Hurricane Ridge. So this is the assault vehicle of choice.

We've wallpapered the backsplash.

And I'm working through flooring, shelves, etc.

It's gonna be pimp when we get it done.

We spent some time with Jefferson and his daughter Lily Tree and played some mountain darts.

And just so you don't have to suffer through too much banality here's some videos and random pictures:

"THIS WAY" Episode 3 - Blue Ice from ARC'TERYX on Vimeo.

Tropical Smokers from Turkeymelt on Vimeo.

1 Downer and 2 Uppers. In Video Format.

Big accident on Manaslu. 13 dead, 3 missing is the numbers so far. Be safe out there.

Photo by Ben Tubby

http://daily.epictv.com/blog/2012/09/23/avalanche-on-manaslu-plake-alive-remy-and-greg-missing/ 






On a different note, Ed Abbey is great:

Essay by Edward Abbey "I Loved it...I Loved it All" from Ned Judge on Vimeo.



And on another different note, surfing is beautiful:

Glass Curtains from Turkeymelt on Vimeo.

My Secret Running Trails

I have a few trails down here in Price that I love to run on. They are all mountain bike singletrack built by Fuzzy over at Bicycle Works. He runs a tight shop, listens to metal, and builds sick trails.

This is how it starts.

I like running on singletrack because it's built for people moving pretty quick. These trails are fast and swoopy. There's tight corners, and overhanging trees, and steep exposed ridges.

Wasatch Plateau and wildfire haze

Looking down on Price

Sometimes you have to run around oil pumping rigs.

You get a rhythm going between your lungs and your heart and your legs and then you start flowing. Just cruising over the terrain like you've always run there and you'll always be running there and dammit you were meant to run there.

This trail in particular kind of sucks you in. You start running faster and faster and you don't realize it until you're out of breath and you realize your smiling like a kid again. I love it.

There's rocks and branches and falling could be disastrous, but it's so sweet to move fast.

Its the times when I totally lose myself running, become immersed in my movement, and fully give in to the trail and my body, that I love running.

Heart Rate, What is it Good For!

I was shopping yesterday and found a pretty cheap heart rate monitor. I had to buy it for a couple reasons. I've heard and read a lot about 'zone training'. I'm going to be in Alaska climbing next spring and I want to be in really good shape. I run pretty regularly and I have no idea how hard I work, outside of perceived effort. 

A friend and co-worker of mine, Katie Bono, recently set the womens speed ascent record of Mount Rainier.

Katie running on the Cowlitz Glacier

When I asked her about pacing, she said she knows the highest heart rate she can still clear lactic acid, so she ran at that pace for 4 HOURS AND 58 MINUTES. Big ups to her. That heart rate is roughly 170. After we talked about it a bit, I realized I have no idea what my heart rate is for any degree of effort. Is a heart rate of 170bpm hard? (The answer to this rhetorical question is yes)

So I bought it. And then I went running.

Turns out I work hard. My max heart rate - based on simple math, not a Stress Test, is 190. My average heart rate while running is 163 and the max I hit was 179. That means I'm running at 85% of my max. Pretty much all the time. I maintain a steady rhythm when I run, so I think my average is indeed average. My high was a whopping 94% of max heart rate. That was going up a short but very steep hill that makes me want to quit all forms of exercise, every time I run up it. All this info will change the way I approach running on a day to day basis. Which should change the way my body responds to exercise, right? All you fitness nerds chime in! This is a steep learning curve!

This is Pain

This is my running kit. HR monitor, Coffee.

A couple of factors will have affected my heart rate. I'm running at about 4500 feet. All my running in WA takes place at roughly sea level. The altitude will definitely raise HR. I went later in the day, but it was still pretty hot out. That will also change results a bit.

So I'm gonna talk with some smarty friends of mine and play with this thing a bit. I'll keep posting about it, despite it's absolute geekness. But better than that, I'll get some pics up of where I run here in Price. I've got some beautiful desert singletrack all to myself...

Til next time!

Finished the summer season and THIS happened...

After an incredibly busy summer on Mount Rainier, I cut it a little short and spent a week or so doing some climbing just for fun. You see, I was starting to wonder if I even liked climbing anymore. Guiding on Rainier is time and energy consuming and even when I had a rare day off I didn't have any energy or motivation to get up and *gasp* climb something else! So I went with my friend Kurt and we climbed some fun, easy Cascade routes in good style. Turns out I do still like me some alpine clambering!

View from 8500ish above the Roosevelt Glacier, Mt. Baker

This is part of the approach. A little committing, but I got Kurt to do all the hard work.

Doing some Glacier Slogging up the Roosevelt. I have mad slogging skills.

Bottom of the Coleman Glacier. Real pretty.

All pictures above this sentence are on Mt. Baker in NW Washington. We went up to do the North Ridge, but came down from our bivy at 8500 because it socked in with clouds and wind and looked not fun. Good enough reason for me.

Cascade Pass, looking up at Mixup Peak.

Turn right at the toilet sign

Cruising the very casual Cache Glacier, with Sahale Peak in the background

Nice gunsight notch.

Don't know the name of this, but it's beautiful.

This is Mixup Peak. We climbed up it. To the high part.

Mid route.

El Cumbre!

"White steps for giant people" was the route description.

This is not artsy, this is a cheap camera.

I spent a few more days in the mountain, but that was the really good ones.

 Hope you like the pics!