International Man of Mystery...

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I grew up in the Boston area and lived there until my junior year in high school when I attended the Mountain School, a semester program run by Milton Academy in Vershire, VT. I then attended Colby College in Waterville, ME. During my time at Colby I studied anthropology, spent a semester in Northeast India, and became fluent in Nepali. Before I became a guide I earned my black belt in kenpo karate and taught karate for 6 years. I began guiding in college on the rocky coast of ME with Acadia Mountain Guides and on ice at the International Mountain Climbing School in NH. After graduating I took to the highway and drove from ME to WA for the big mountains and glaciers. I spend my winters in lovely Ouray, CO guiding in the famous ice park. I am currently working towards becoming a certified guide through the American Mountain Guides Association. I live, work and play in the hills and on the rocks. On the rocks both literally and, well, with ice.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Sneffel's Range Reconnoiter

There is an imposing group of mountains that sit on the horizon as you drive from Ouray through Ridgway to Telluride. This group of mountains are the most rugged peaks in the Rocky Mountain sub range, the San Juans. This is the Sneffles range. Named for Mount Sneffels a 14k peak.

While I have often glimpsed these peaks on my way back form getting groceries in Montrose, I hade never visited them until recently. Phillipe and I decided to ski up into the Sneffles range for a ski mountaineering adventure.

We skied close to ten miles to right below the summit of Reconnoiter peak. The peak is capped by a 80 foot rock pinnacle. Since we had no rock climbing gear and we had our ski boots on our feet, we could not find a weakness that would lead to the summit.


 The prominent couloir to the west (left) of the peak  made for an exciting ski descent. Though the upper section was full of breakable wind crust, the bottom was pure San Juan ski bliss. The Sneffels Range is home to some of Colorado's best technical mountaineering. I cannot wait for my next chance to visit this unique range.
Posted by at 6:47 PM

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