Mountaineering

  • Climbing Grays and Torreys Peaks in Early Season Snow – 14,278 feet

    Climbing Grays and Torreys Peaks in Early Season Snow – 14,278 feet

    Fall colors in Colorado are beautiful – and what better vantage point than the top of 2 Colorado 14ers. This weekend, I did the Fall 14er adventure and  climbed with a group of friends to the tops of Grays and Torreys Peaks. (USGS Topo Quad) Wikipedia: “Grays Peak is the tenth highest summit of the Rocky…

  • Climbing Mt. Rainier

    Climbing Mt. Rainier

    During one of my high school summers, I climbed Mt. Rainier with Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated (RMI), as part of a larger trip with Wilderness Ventures. Here’s the only photo I can find from the trip, showing me learning to ice climb at the base. Shot with my first compact/waterproof/shockproof camera, the 35mm Canon Sure Shot…

  • Climbing Mont Blanc – 15,781 ft, Western Europe’s Highest Mountain

    Climbing Mont Blanc – 15,781 ft, Western Europe’s Highest Mountain

    Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Western Europe, resting on the Italian/French border and towering over the alps at almost 16,000 feet above sea level. It’s slopes are clad in thick glaciers, and it’s buffeted by constant wind. Last week, my brother Jason and I traveled to Chamonix and climbed it. Here’s the story.…

  • Climbing Mt. Sherman – 14,035 Feet

    Climbing Mt. Sherman – 14,035 Feet

    Another great Colorado 14er weekend – this weekend Amy, Shannon and I headed up to Mt. Sherman, in Colorado’s Mosquito Range. We headed up Saturday evening and camped at the Fourmile Campground, just below the Southwest Ridge trailhead. Luckily the light rain stopped right as we got our fire going, and we enjoyed a great…

  • Climbing Colorado’s Mt. Massive – 14,429 Feet

    Climbing Colorado’s Mt. Massive – 14,429 Feet

    This past weekend, I traveled with a good group of friends to Leadville, Colorado to camp at the base of and climb Mt. Massive, one of Colorado’s 14ers, and the 2nd highest peak in the Rocky Mountains. Route Description, from 14ers.com: Leave the parking area and begin hiking up the Colorado/Mt. Massive trail – Photo…

  • How to plan, train and  pack for your first summit above 14,000 feet

    How to plan, train and pack for your first summit above 14,000 feet

    This month, I was featured in Boulder Lifestyle Magazine discussing some great Colorado 14ers to get you started on your first climb. Thanks to journalist Sandra Henderson for interviewing me for the article. Check out the article, starting on page 34!

  • Climbing Mt. Sneffels to 14,150 feet

    Climbing Mt. Sneffels to 14,150 feet

    This past week, my climbing partner Sean Safdi and I successfully the Mt. Sneffels summit loop climb, topping out at the 14,150 foot peak in perfect weather. A few pics from our climb. View Larger Map To access the trailhead, we drove from Telluride, Colorado to Ouray, Colorado and then up a 4WD road outside…

  • Trip Summary – NOLS WOE Tetons Ski Mountaineering Expedition, January 2012

    Trip Summary – NOLS WOE Tetons Ski Mountaineering Expedition, January 2012

    I’ve returned safely from the backountry after completing the National Outdoor Leadership Schools Winter Outdoor Educator course. Overall it was a great trip, filled with adventure. Here’s course leader Roger Yim’s summary, links to my photos and videos from the course, and my daily summaries.Course Summary, by Course Leader Roger Yim: Instructors: Roger Yim, Emily…

  • Exploring the Salkantay Trail and Machu Pichu in Peru

    Exploring the Salkantay Trail and Machu Pichu in Peru

    This past September, my friend Chris Shybut and I spend 10 days trekking through Peru. During the trip, we explored all over, and had some great adventures. The trip also forced us to brush up on our Spanish – a much needed refresher. During the urban parts of the trip, we explored the cities of…

  • Climbing Mt. Washington

    Climbing Mt. Washington

    Last weekend, my brother Jason and I took a roadrtip to North Conway, and climbed Mt. Washington with the EMS Climbing school. We drove up to North Conway on Friday Night, and stayed at the White Trellis motel. With a 4 am arrival, I thought a locally owned motel would be the easiest do deal…

  • Climbing Mt. Massive with Molly – 14,428 Feet

    Climbing Mt. Massive with Molly – 14,428 Feet

    In 2001, I climbed Colorado’s Mt. Massive for the first time. The blog post was originally made on my Geocities blog, but sadly never transferred over to my now-continuing database, started in 2002 on Blogger v1. Here are photos from our awesome climb up Mt. Massive! Photoset, on Flickr