Category: Climbing
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Minimalist shoes in technical terrain
Executive summary: minimalist shoes will help you move faster and safer in technical terrain, but have a substantial transition period and come with several significant and perhaps irrevocable downsides. M photo. Before preceding further we must define terms. Minimalist shoes can be broadly defined as those with well under 10mm of delta, and well under…
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The Two Essentials
This weekend I’m headed out on the biggest trip of the summer, a seven day traverse through the eastern and southern sections of Yellowstone National Park. Conditions look good; highs in the low 70s, lows in the high 30s, and the one problem ford down to an acceptable level (i.e. my shorter and lighter companions…
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Happy birthday
M turned __ this past Saturday. She got a pair of trekking poles and the best backpack in Glacier. The crux of the route, up a hidden gully through the cliffs, is worth worrying about this early in the summer. We needed the axes we carried. Offwidthing between ice and rock up the left side…
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An incomplete treatise on ‘mid selection
BD Megalight with aftermarket guy points resisting the wind. A pyramid shelter is the most versatile shelter for outdoor adventure. There are many reasons to not have a quiver of tarps and tents, and the best one is that having one shelter suitable for all conditions allows you to grab and go. A ‘mid fits…
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Absurd consequence revisited
On certain occasions all ruminations cease. No more meditations about last year, no more preoccupation with the route around the ridge after the next pass, not even discussions of diner in town five hours hence. Some times you just know you’re about to be rained on and therefore must keep walking. I learned a few…
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Just another Saturday
After last weekend and a busy return to work all I wanted to do was go hiking by myself. It took a while to hitch a ride, and I eventually made it to Logan Pass around 830. When I got back to the car 10.5 hours later I couldn’t think of any other way I’d…
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The Utah Canyons Classic
A Colorado Plateau-based wilderness event in the Wilderness Classic/Bob Open mold needs to happen. The possibilities are just too great. My problem is that reasonably extensive though my travels there have been, they all took place a while ago, before I had the eyes I do now. I need your help. A course, and by…
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As the elk go
There is no question that I’ve grown more cautious as I’ve grown older, both in the woods and generally. Speaking to the former, I like to think that increased wisdom accounts for most. I’m better able to realize the full consequences of the more reckless things I’ve done, as well as visualize the long term…
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Colorado River National Park
Utah today is home to five major national parks. Zion is probably the most beautiful canyon on earth. It started life as we know it as Makuntuweep National Monument in 1909 (Taft carrying TRs legacy), and became a national park a decade later. Bryce Canyon, which has birthed a thousand postcards, became a national monument…
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Solo is safer
First, let us define our terms: solo mean alone, and safer means less likely to die. Most discussions of safety in backcountry activities are based on a naively passive and fundamentally flawed understanding of how accidents happen. Show me 10, or 20, backcountry accidents and 9, or 19, times I’ll show you situations where bad…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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