So I’ve done absolutely no climbing since April due to torn cartilage in my wrist. Big bummer. Got the word from the doc that I could take my wrist splint off and ease back into doing stuff again. Perfect!

So what do I go and do? Hell … let’s go to the Cirque of the Towers in the Wind River Range. That sounds like a grand idea (not so smart are you Scott?). Anyhow, myself and six other dudes went back into the wilderness to get a good dose of scare-the-crap-out-of-yourself.

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Guiding is hard enough if you are working with two distinctly different people, but if you have two best friends, about the same age, size and ability named Frank, the confusion factor is higher, especially when the excitement heats up.

Here’s the story:

After fishing for four days strait, and heading into the final day of the fishing week, I threw out the option to the group:

“What kind of experience would be the best way to wrap-up your ideal Patagonia fishing week?”

I knew I had the Franks for the next day, two best friends who had traveled to hunt and fish all over the globe together. Over a few glasses of wine and some quiet back and forth nudging and recollection, they announced that they wanted to spend the day taking it easy on a high mountain lake, being rowed around the tullies (weeds that form the apron of almost every body of still water in southern Chile), and dry fly fish for trophies.

“We had our best luck with big fish on the lake,” Frank added.

“My shoulder is sore, and I want to watch Frank catch some fish and relax,” the other Frank said.

“10-4! Sounds like a great plan.” I was really excited in knowing that the fishing jury had delivered a unanimous verdict of outstanding fishing everyday a guest had fished flat water in our lagoons and lakes. The fish seemed to be really concentrated on the outer edge of the weed-line feeding on both dragonflies and cicada beetles. The lake was the perfect answer, so with one day to go, and two guys named Frank, the plan was set; how could we fail?

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In March, southern Chile is heading into fall: Gauchos move cattle to market; firewood trucks are loaded for delivery to surrounding villages; cool air mornings pull fog off the surface of the rivers; large flocks of migratory birds head to lower elevations and big brown trout migrate into thin water to attract a spawning mate.

Because of the consistently mild weather, fishing out of our lodge near Rio Cisnes (River of the Swan) made for long stretches of grasshopper fishing on the riverbanks, dragonfly hatches on the lagunas and a huge Cicada Beetle ‘hatch’ that could scare the average arachnophobe into cardiac arrest.

When this abundant beetle hatch comes around every so many years, browns anchor themselves below “beetle trees” awaiting a meal the size of a charcoal briquette…BIG FOOD!

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Having lived in Jackson awhile and not yet climbed the Grand isn’t really a topic I throw out at cocktail parties. Always been meaning to get up there, but with the mountain biking, fly fishing and other various local options, not to mention work and family, road trips and the Brew Pub, it has always ben too easy to put off for another day. I’m not a super devout climber, but c’mon, it’s the Grand. So, with the dual prodding of Greg Williams and local Freeskier ad rep Jason Smith, we settled on the day. Read More »

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This video takes about three minutes to watch. The climb depicted, up the Upper Exum Ridge of the Grand Teton, and down the Owen Spalding route, took about 340 times that. We moseyed up that mountain, socializing, dawdling, detouring, and snacking the entire way. BTW, the climber in the video who says “Shwing!” is Ken Jern, who, several years ago, slipped on ice (right where he’s standing in the vid) and tumbled about 50 feet down the pitch below him, breaking several ribs. “It made for an interesting, painful day,” he recalled with a smile. The video is brought to you by thesnaz.com. The song, “Simple Life,” is from Jason Spooner.

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On June 24, 2007, Cloudveil founders Steve Sullivan and Brian Cousins climbed their company’s namesake, Cloudveil Dome, for the first time, on the exact 10 year anniversary of Cloudveil Mountain Works. Video brought to you by thesnaz.com.

4,000 vert of climbing, 14,000 vert of descent- in 2 days- 28,000 vertical feet

12 May 2007: The Grand Teton’s Stettner, Chevy, Ford Couloirs, Climb and Ski

For the past two years, a group of us lady skiers/climbers have been chatting about trying to ski the Grand Teton.

Finally two weeks ago, Karen Kingsley and I, both from Telluride, found our timing to pull the trip together. Karen, a top-three randonnee circuit racer, and I headed up to Jackson, WY on May 10 to attempt the second female ascent/descent of the Grand Teton, after just discovering a few days prior that the first descent had been done by two Jackson local ladies a fews weeks ago. Also on the list was Mt.Moran’s ultra classic- the Skillet.

Karen and I arrived in Jackson on Friday afternoon and began prepping for our 1 a.m. departure.

A fellow top notch randonnee buddy of Karen’s, Chris Kroger, with whom we were staying, decided to join us at the last minute and so the three of us found ourselves hiking up the trail towards Garnet Canyon at about 2 a.m. on Saturday morning.

With packs heavily loaded with ropes, ice and rock gear, med kit, crampons, skis, boots, clothing, food and lots of water, we felt prepared for our guestimate of a 15 hour day.

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