The 6 am Climbing Gym Crew:

/
The 6 am Climbing Gym Crew:

Between 6 and 8pm, the Seattle Vertical world gym is packed. Belayers stand shoulder to shoulder, and climbers line up behind popular routes. In the lead climbing areas, people pull ropes quickly and jog to the next bolt line to avoid a long wait. It’s a high-energy scene, but it comes with a lot of time waiting. It’s easy to spend 2 hours and only get on a handful of routes.

 

Read More

The Elusive Enchantments

/
The Elusive Enchantments

I could hear my Australian visitors huffing and puffing behind me, cursing at me under their breath. Meanwhile, I was chirping “it will be worth it once we get up there”. I knew I wasn’t wrong, I had been to the core area of the aptly named Enchantment Lakes before. It is worth toiling up the steep section, known as Aasgard pass, which delivers 2000 feet of elevation gain in just three-quarters of a mile.

Read More

Learning to Fall

/
Learning to Fall

Although I am primarily a rock climber and trail runner, my feet took me on what I like to call the other long walk to nowhere: backcountry skiing (the first being hiking). I’m not just talking skiing the groomers at the resort every single weekend, which in hindsight is what I should have been doing. I am talking about the kind of skiing where earning your turns, hiking for one single run back down the mountain, and variable snow conditions make you respect the mountains. I learned a lot about my attitude this winter and what drives me to be out in the vast landscapes that surround us. Yet the backcountry is where I knew the most fun could be had so the struggles began.

Read More

Toughest Mudder LA

/
Toughest Mudder LA

I flew down to LA to compete in the 1st ever "Toughest Mudder" presented by Tough Mudder. This was an 8 hour obstacle course that started at midnight and ended at 8:00 AM that morning. Little did I know the biggest obstacle wasn't even on the course map: Hills. Lots of hills. A group of us flew in to LA on Thursday, and rented a cabin up hear Big Bear, where we rented a cabin to hang out and load up on food prior to the race. 

Read More

The Grand Slice of Humble Pie

/
The Grand Slice of Humble Pie

At the stroke of midnight on Friday, March 25th, my partner Brent and I started the 20th-annual Grand Traverse Ski Mountaineering race at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado. Covering over thirty five miles and traveling over backcountry terrain from Crested Butte to Aspen, the Grand Traverse brings over 200 two-person teams to the Elk Mountains to test their mettle on an ungroomed, undulating course which spends most of its time over 10,000ft elevation.

Read More

Adventure Can Beers and Where to Find Them

/

I used to find myself contemplating the worthiness of a warm beer on a sizzling summer day here in the beautiful State of Washington. Luckily for me, I’ve purchased my very own Thermal Flask Growler, no adventure is worth taking without these brilliant sidekicks, because who wants to drink a lukewarm, celebratory beer?? Though for the shorter hikes, I have been known to take the lighter choice and haul up a couple cans placed safely around my ice filled water-bladder.

Read More

Spring sprints – La Sportiva Women’s Wildcat Trail Running Shoe

/
Spring sprints – La Sportiva Women’s Wildcat Trail Running Shoe

Sunshine! I am literally bursting out of my skin with excitement, after months of endless grey and rain, these rays of sunshine feels like conditioner to my soul. I can’t sit still and my legs are itching to sprint. Eager to try out my new La Sportiva Wildcat trail runners I decide to break them in on a lap around Green Lake.

The first thing I notice is that I don’t notice the Wildcat’s at all

Read More

Amidst war, climbing inspires youth in Afghanistan

/
Amidst war, climbing inspires youth in Afghanistan

In a school gymnasium in Kabul, though, I’m sitting with a group of children, imagining a different world. Girls in brightly colored tunics and headscarves are eyeing a 30 foot high climbing wall with considerable doubt. “When I come back in 10 years,” I say, “Who will be my mountain guide? Who will take me climbing?”  A teenager raises her hand. She lives in Kabul, but has a family home in the countryside nearby, and she tells me she’ll be the first female to stand on top of the mountains around her village.

Read More

Community Grief

/
Community Grief

Grief is hard, and grieving with a community is hard. She was and is ours to grieve, but she is also more than just a member of WAC, and respecting that while watching a community shocked and saddened was and continues to be a hard thing. This is made even more difficult by the community members on the periphery – the men and women who knew her by name but not closely, yet were watching the men and women they respected and looked to for support be turned upside down.

Read More

Flash Foxy Write up

/
Flash Foxy Write up

I had a very different trip report composed—one that went through the blow by blow of our planning and disaster, that covered our constant revision throughout the weekend and tried to capture our humor and joy—but it meandered several pages and didn’t really get to the heart of the festival. So here’s a second attempt at why the Flash Foxy Women’s Climbing Festival felt so essential to me.

Read More