of Backpacks and Beards
Adventures abroad, lessons learned, and beards.
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Mt Tupper – Upper Headwall of South Rib (5.11-) Personal Rating: ** Rock Quality: 6/10 Length: 7 pitches of 5.6 – 5.11- climbing Timeline: 12 hours (car-to-car) Gear: # Double Rack 0.3 – 3 I looked up at the relatively blank wall, seeing a few minor down sloping holds and poor feet with no obvious imperfections for gear placements, I thought we must have gotten a bit off route. I backtracked a… Read More
The Progression of a Ski Traverse Based on a 6-day Traverse of the Gold Range Step 1: The Anticipation. This is it, you’ve made idle plans over one to many beers – and now there’s a budding sense of commitment. Your buddy reaches out to ask about more specific details and you realize you should probably throw this on the ol’ calendar. A few weeks later you find yourself finalizing gear lists,… Read More
A 7’ wide runnel had formed down the center line of the slide-path and was a black hole vortex that sucked in every rock, dirt, and debris into it’s beckoning arms.
Maybe useful as a guide to someone? Bonnington Traverse Packing List General Info / Logistics The Bonnington Traverse is a 3+ Hut (Huckleberry Hut Optional) Traverse between Castlegar & Nelson. Based on the hut bookings our rough schedule will be: Traverse Day -> Ski Tour around hut day -> Traverse Day -> Ski Tour around hut -> Traverse Ideally, getting on the trailhead for 9am latest on March 5th would be ideal…. Read More
Personal Rating: ***** Rock Quality: 8/10 Length: 14-18 pitches Timeline (Bivy -> Bivy): 12 hours Gear: Full double rack (0.3-3) + ½ nuts Climbed: July 6, 2020 I yelled down to Tristan, “ROCK!”, and saw the focused look in his eye as he registered what I was saying before I had finished saying it. We both turned to look at the boulder rolling towards us. Now, in climbing rhetoric there are a… Read More
**Note: I do not work for Phantom or receive any gear or payment for this review Overall: Very Sweet! As soon as you get a first glimpse of the Phantom Slippers it’s going to turn heads. They just look slick, and they ride even better. Phantom Industries have been such a huge innovator in the splitboarding realm and it’s really great to see them produce not just their first boot, but the… Read More
The day has started off grey, with the beautiful promise of a coming snowfall on the tip of the mountains tongue. But in this moment, that promise seemed daunting. Further we watched the ceiling fall and close in. We saw less and less of the surrounding mountain tops and the gentle falling of snow was like the first signs of fear, the first heightening of senses, the cautionary feeling entering your movements.
I awoke, or more, opened my eyes. The sounds of burners hissing, water boiling, and climbing gear gently clinking together overwhelmed all my senses. Pressing the lowest button on my watch revealed an ultra-bright 4:00am. I took one long, full breath. Soaking in the stillness and trying to enjoy the last remnants of comfort, or what was close to it (my air mattress had a steady leak that I would replenish every… Read More
The Push. Two bolts off the ground, body feels good. The climb is right at the grade, an enjoyable right hand jug… perfect for making this next clip. Tons of options for feet. Confidence. Next move is a slight reach, decent. one more move, a smaller crimp, not ideal but fine. You look up and see the next bolt a few more meters away. All of a sudden a familiar voice chimes… Read More
Powder Rush Awake. It’s 6:30am, I immediately look out the window and see what I’ve been hoping for since I began following the low pressure weather forecast a few days ago – a calm sea of white doused on top of everything. Every detail, from the entirety of my old Ford Escape to the centimeter-thick branch that hangs from a naked tree is holding up a few centimeters of (hopefully) weightless white… Read More
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