It ALL starts w/Lucia- you should get a VAN!!
pursuits around rock and alpine climbing
Been working on being more intentional and seizing opportunities (I call it stopping time!) as the sand runs through the glass…
Stopping time…to climb a 14er with my Son Erik. Priceless…
Stopping time & “create an opportunity”. Climb a peak near campsite with 11 of our tribe..friends / family! Dark start, sun rise MTN top flag raising. Doing hard things:)
The Flag raising…
Stopping time… hanging out with the tribe. My tribe. I am blessed! Bungie tours ’24:)
Pain cave + beauty + big weather = Awesome
Before and after our “little May blizzard”…
Outside of the summit and great skiing….so worthwhile to get “one” with the crevasses and better understand traveling and navigating around glacier fields.
Crevasse rescue scenarios feel pretty real when the wind is blowing!
Probably one of the most challenging things on these trips (outside of dealing with weather) is getting up and down mountain with big packs…
Sweet trip…great team.
Desert / Dragons / Deepening
Great trip…the desert is so beautiful, massive and a great backdrop for a week of growth. Pushed into some areas that are always challenging for me: Medical trauma — got my Wilderness First Responder Certification, Exposure — keep pushing myself here and build confidence operating in varying levels of terrain. Was fun experiencing this with Kristian Bell — my deepening / changing relationships with my kids as they are now adults is a fun journey itself!
Desert Dwelling
What a place to “just be”… can see why certain people (me included) just want to BE here. Loved the guy who soled “Ancient Art” ahead of us, and when we got back to the parking lot, he was hanging by his tent — singing while he played his banjo. Perfect! Or when Kristian got tired of my hotel (as I was!) and went back to the desert for his final evening/sleep.
My desire to be stronger in the mountains in the winter…brought me to build more skills in the summer. Specifically rock climbing, alpine scrambling, rope, anchor and other technical skills. Also learning to get more comfortable and confident with exposure and trusting skills/equipment/knowledge and your partner(s)! Enter Ben Markhart — an IMGA guide who just happened to grow up in MN. When I reached out to him after last ski season. He set me on this journey…. here we go..
After a few months climbing in a gym here in MN…Ben reached out and said “time to come into the real world” and see how this all works. Just returned after 4 days out in beautiful Estes Park / Boulder canyon and Rocky Mountain National park. What a trip! Feel like a 57 year old intern w/some of these new skills. But what the hell…you can’t be an expert unless your start as a newbie!
DAY 1: Castle Rock / Boulder Canyon
Day 2&3 Rocky Mountain National Park (East Glacier Knob, Butterfingers)
Pretty cool to be out in Rocky Mtn National Park…this time in the summer after backcountry skiing this area a few times over the past few years. So damn beautiful. So much cool wildlife as well!
DAY 3: “Butterfingers” in RMNP
Really a cool alpine climb / scramble. Multiple pitches…some relatively difficult for me (in approach shoes and “developing” climbing skills:). Thanks out to Ben for some occasional “assist” in his belay… Was directly across the canyon from Dragon Tail couloir I skied a few years back (I think it looks steeper in summer…maybe not. Ben say it is steep in winter as well:)
Great trip… Bought a lot of gear since I have been home. Lots to learn from anchor systems, protection, and continue to build experience and skills. So much gratitude for Ben, my health, support from Lucia and family — glad I am able to push myself further. So important to me…in the words of Kristian Bell… to truly live you got “slay your dragons!”.
“So oftentimes it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never know we have the key..”
Eagles, “already gone“
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