Highlights of the “Night of the Dead” party included a black light bar, 22 lbs of pulled pork for a BBQ Dinner, everyone”s amazing costumes, Dessert Cook-off, Giant Jenga, crazy Decorations,  lighted dance floor, general debauchery, and one amazing and incredibly fun group!!

Thanks everyone for making Halloween 2011 “Night of the Dead” so awesome. Can’t wait until we do this again!!!

It was a huge success and I am really glad we had such an awesome group of people out ready to climb hard and have a lot of fun. The event was at least twice as big as last year and it was one of the most fun gatherings that we have ever had!!!

Below is a quick recap of the results and the event. There was 10 problems featured this year and a brand-new feature on the wall (literally finished the day of the comp!!!). Of the 10 problems 9 were completed which means I need to make it a little harder next year. Also glad to see such a diverse group of climbers out there and really glad to see all of the costumes.

Results:

Awards: 

• Men’s 1st: Jake Fell (2nd year in a row!!!)
• Men’s 2nd: Gabe Craveiro (after just barely missing it in the climb-off for 1st place!)
• Men’s 3rd: Vinny English (a late entry that come-in strong)
• Women’s 1st: Annie Bacci (Huge improvement over the past year!!!)
• Women’s 2nd: Brea Galvin (the Chilean Hooker outfit really helped the climbing)
• Women’s 3rd: Caitlin Shay (On the podium both years)

Prizes (these are the fun awards and glad everyone put a lot of effort into it): 

• Best Costume: RAMBO (making a guest appearance as some sort of sexy chilean prostitute and climbing in extremely tight jeans)
• Best Determination: Bubbha (the hipster tried hard all not but realized it just wasn’t that cool to win)
• Midget’s Unite: Katie for not ever really rock climbing before and coming out and doing amazing
• Best Beer: Gabe/Marcio (for bringing a delicious belgian beer)(lots of hard competition)
• Most Bonus Holds: Andrew Giamberardino (somehow winning this prize both years for hitting the most amount of bonus holds but not completing the problems)
• Drunken Monkey:  Andy Librande (flashing two separate problems after chugging a beer each time)

Thanks again for the awesome comp/party/BBQ!!!

More Info including the Competition Poster: http://andylibrande.com/news/2011/09/backyard-bouldering-comp-2011/

Details on the Scoring Format here: http://andylibrande.com/news/2010/08/backyard-bouldering-competition-sept-4th-2010/

Enjoy some pics from the night:

Where: Independence Pass, Colorado

Caitlin and I took off after work on a Friday to head-up to Independence Pass between Aspen and Leadville. The idea was to check out the bouldering that is all over the area, enjoy the sights, and escape the heat of Denver. We rolled in after dark and after taking Caitlin’s volvo for a little 4-wheelin’ action , somehow found free camping up Lincoln Creek road.

After sleeping like logs in the crisp night air (the denver heat was not making sleep easy), we awoke to a beautiful day. Amazingly our friend Terra happened to drive by our campsite as we were getting ready to leave for the day…small world.

Saturday we hit up the James Brown Boulders which we had a little difficulty locating as we were one pull-off too soon. Once we found these great boulders in the shade it was a nice day of trying a number of problems and enjoying the crisp air.

Caitlin working one of the tricky easier problems near the James Brown Boulder (notice the grassy top-out):

Me on the James Brown Boulder (awesome block):

We headed-up to the pass for some sunset viewage. Here is Caitlin showing-off:

Beautiful last chunks of light:

Small pond right next to the road right as the sun disappeared:

The craziest thing happened when we were back at camp and done cooking dinner. We were just sitting there pondering the night sky when a huge tree came crashing down in the forest behind us…scared the living crap out of us and it was pitch black and impossible to investigate. No idea why or how it fell but it was a crazy event that was a little unnerving.

Sunday morning cooking some breakfast:

Playing in the Grottoes:

Cool waterfall formation:

It was 100 degrees when we rolled back in Denver…nice to enjoy some cool weather and experience an awesome place!

Link to blog posting:   http://andylibrande.com/news/2011/09/independence-pass-bouldering-and-camping/

• Party – BBQ – Climbing Competition
• Saturday September 10th, 2011
• Starting at 4:30pm

The time has come for the 2nd Annual Backyard Bouldering competition. Following the success of last year I invite anyone ready to climb hard and have a good time. The scoring format and flow will follow very similar to last years with awards for Men’s/Women’s plus prizes for Best Costume, Most Determination, and other new ones.

See you there!

Where: Eagle’s Nest Wilderness, Peak C, Upper Piney River Trail  (TOPO MAP LINK)

Caitlin and I decided to add a little fun overnight backpacking trip onto a busy weekend. After going to a quick wedding reception in Frisco we headed over to Vail to embark on a short overnight backpacking trip. After driving down a very long dirt road (which uses the Red and White trailhead that we snowmobile in the winter) we finally reached the Upper Piney Lake Trailhead. Immediately we were greeted by a pretty nasty evening rainstorm which we decided to wait out in the car (and only took about 30 mins).

It quickly turned into a beautiful evening and as we started putting our packs on we were startled when two hudge BULL MOOSE popped-out of the brush 50 yards from us at the parking lot. Of course I had to get some photos of this incredibly rare occurrence (I have only seen moose in Colorado from a very far distance). Moose enjoying the tasty-treats:

Of course I wanted to get as close as possible and luckily we were down-wind from them. I sneaked over to an area with some thicker trees and tried to get as close as possible knowing that these animals are incredibly dangerous. I got this shot through the dense brush:

Right after I took that photo a jeep coming down the road saw them, slammed on their brakes and started taking photos as well. A group of car-campers nearby that were behind a small hill heard the commotion and joined in on the moose watching. I suddenly found myself in close proximity to two potentially dangerous creatures as the tensions quickly increased. The big guy looked around and gave me the stink-eye so I high tailed it out of there before he could test those hooves on me. Unfortunately the two never posed together but you can see both of them in this photo:

Moose distraction aside we started our hike in on an relatively easy trail with incredible views of the valley in front of us.

Caitlin measuring up against the local flauna:

Andy checking out the beautiful Peak C (Rough-rider Couilor is just visible on the notch to the right of the peak) We ran into a group that skied it on Sunday:

We backpacked in a few miles since the sun was setting quickly. Set-up camp and had a great cooking area overlooking two different valley’s. The next morning we got up and hiked around the area up the side of the mountain next to peak C. There are not really any trails in the area (and the ones there are poorly marked as we found ourselves somewhat misplaced).

We were camped at the bottom of this valley. To the Right is where the Trailhead for the Upper Piney is and a very large valley. In front of us in the valley is where the trail continues to Upper Piney Lake (which we missed this trail the night before). On the otherside of the peaks on the left is East Vail. The clouds made it hard to get a solid photo.

After watching the clouds build for a couple of hours a quick moving rainstorm scared us back down to the campsite where we got back just as the weather unleashed for 20-30 mins. Then it was back to clear skies and an awesome hike back to the car.

Beautiful valley views on the way back to the car:

Caitlin and I almost back to the car:

A view of the “Rip Saw” ridge from the road on the drive out:

Nice to get away!

Link to the full post: http://andylibrande.com/news/2011/08/backpacking-in-the-eagles-nest-wilderness-peak-c/

Flash forward 72 days later and it is finally time for A-Basin’s closing day. Now A-basin has only been open four other times on 4th of July and the last time they were open this late was 1997. So odds of seeing another 4th of July ski day at a resort is fairly low and we had to make the most of it. So we had a lot of fun.

We got there just after 10pm. Virtually every parking lot was full to our surprise. Costumes on, time to celebrate:

Apparently we weren’t the only ones here to celebrate AMERICA!!!:

Best part about the wait in the ski line was throwing snowballs at people on the ski lifts. These 3 girls all wearing bikinis got dominated. If you look closely a snowball just ricochet off one of the girl’s faces…awesome.

Dodging snowballs:

Watching pond-skimming at the top of A-Basin:

The normal pond-skimming place was melted-out and luckily a new pond formed. I have never seen it form in this location before.  The steep and abrupt entry made for some spectacular crashes. Here the crowd enjoys the views:

Clowns are horrible pond-skimmers:

People were yelling “AMERICA!!!” all day long and for good reasons!  Here Caitlin gives the lift-line a demonstration in mogul skiing via bikini on surprisingly good snow:

If you fall while pond-skimming you nearly freeze in the 32 degree water and overcast sky. To make matters worse a little kid comes along and throws snowballs at your face as you are trying to climb out of the freezing water. This girl gets the worse of it as the crowd cheered the little kid on:

I Love America!!! Seriously it kicks ass.

Not all closing days are the same and this season provided two of the most unique and incredible days anyone could ask for.

Link to full post: http://andylibrande.com/news/2011/08/4th-of-july-skiing-at-a-basin/

When: June 11th-12th

What: A quick overnight camping trip

Randomly both my parents and Caitlin’s parents did the Ride the Rockies tour this year (~400 miles over 6 days on a road bike!) which made for a convenient excuse to drive them to Crested Butte to drop them off.

Caitlin and I thought it would be fun to drop off each of the parental units and then spend a night camping with our sister’s and enjoy the awesomeness that is Crested Butte.

Arriving in the early afternoon on Saturday we stopped for a delicious lunch at the Brick Oven in downtown Crested Butte which has a surprising great selection of beer.  After gorging ourselves on a meatball, pepperoni, and pesto pizza my sister and I parted ways with our parents and headed out to Gothic to check out Stupid Falls.

Stupid Falls is a massive waterfall that is really easy to get to (essentially you turn right after the first bridge on the approach to Gothic and drive down the dirt road until you see a large point in the shape of the river). It was running at 2,300 CFS and was just massive.

Here is video of the falls along with a few photos:

Stupid Falls @ 1,100 CFS

Sister in awe at the power of the waterfall:

We finally met-up with Caitlin and her Sister and found a campsite along County RD 734 where the snowline was not much above the campsite.

Long exposure of the valley that night (~5mins long):

The valley was a contradiction of seasons with spring time at it’s fullest in the valley with mid-winter snowpack on the mountains:

We tried to hike near the Ol Be Joyful waterfall however the trail was closed due to a massive river crossing. Instead we went to a trail near Gothic on the Judd Falls trailhead into the Maroon Bell wilderness. Caitlin and I have done this hike before and we knew that it would be good for the sisters.

The girls with Mount Crested Butte (the ski area) in the background:

Lizard hugging a massive Aspen tree:

Black Bear Track right in front of the wilderness sign:

Sister with Spider Peak in the background:

Super green:

Link to full post here: http://andylibrande.com/news/2011/07/crested-butte-spring-in-june/

In summary I took a couple pretty photos. Below are some more scenics from the trip.

Enjoy!

Scenics from a Week in the Baja:

Panorama of a Pink Sunrise over the eastern beaches of Cabo San Lucas on the morning of May 9th, 2011. This is a photo that I stitched together and plan on printing. The print will be ~80 inches wide when I get it done. I witnessed nearly every sunrise on the trip as they were far more spectacular then the sunsets at Cabo.  Plus it was very peaceful watching the beach slowly wake-up every morning from our awesome villa.

Click for a much larger version and enjoy:

One morning I was treated to the most colorful sunrise I have ever seen. The location of the sunrise caught me off guard as it was the first morning in this new spot and I didn’t quite nail the composition. It lasted for just a couple minutes and luckily I woke Caitlin as she is the only testimonial that this actually happened. Unreal colors over San Jose Del Cabo taken from the Las Palmillas  Casita:

We kayaked out to Finisterra to see the Arch. Conveniently it was out of the water (extremely rare) and we were able to walk right underneath it. Here Caitlin is enjoying the view from the ocean and I am trying not to drop my camera into the water:

This is a small tunnel that we crawled through for fun. Andrew is standing in the other entrance while I am on my belly taking a photo from the small entrance. Located on Playa del Amor near the Arch.

Whitney at Playa del Amor:

Sunbathing at the Casita:

Did I mention that this whole house was just our groups for a few days!?! It was awesome with incredible views sitting above a violent ocean swell. This is a photo that I stitched together to get the full house.

This is the back patio of the first place we stayed at called the Villa at the Hacienda resort. We had an amazing spot that overlooked Finisterra right on Medano Beach and minutes from the Marina and downtown Cabo. It was pretty incredible.

Sunset over Finisterra (Land’s End):

So many more photos that I have it is hard to narrow it down sometimes.

Hoped you enjoyed!

Link to full post: http://andylibrande.com/news/2011/07/scenics-from-the-baja/

Why: Because the US State Department says it is really dangerous (OMG!!!)

Who: Andrew Giamberardino, Whitney Hoover, Caitlin Shay, Andy Librande, Billy Papa G, and Erin

Real Reason for going: We heard there is tequila down there

How: We sold our organs to help pay for our trip there and back

Overview: This is the nuts and bolts of the trip listed mainly because I tend to over-exaggerate everything and routinely mix-up events. The photos are on the light side but more will be coming. I took 3,000 photos on the trip and these ones get the point across.

El Arco de Cabo San Lucas with Sand Under the Arch which only happens every few years:

Saturday Day 1: Arrive early afternoon to Cabo; the flight between DEN and LAX was amazing as we were in a little plane and had great views of the snow-capped mountains. Get stuff at CostCo which outside of the meat and the amazing juice nectar the prices were not that great. Arrive at the best resort in Cabo San Lucas with incredible views and no-one else around. Drink.

Billy and Erin at our Villa with Finisterra in the background:

Sunday Day 2: Pick-up Caitlin. Pick-up a ton of fruit, delicious pastries, and more tequila at the grocery store. Get lunch at Taco stand where we tried Corazon Asado among other delicacies…Very hot in the city. Drink. Eat at the  Hacienda restruatrant for dinner (which is a part of the resort we stayed at). Drink some more.

Powerful waves on the Pacific side of Playa del Amor:

Monday Day 3: Beautiful morning Kayak to Finisterra (“Land’s End”) also home to Playa del Amor or Lover’s Beach. Almost get destroyed by a massive wave. Walked under El Arco de Cabo San Lucas (which one can only do every couple of years when the tides are low). Snorkel. Eat late lunch at some random place with good fish tacos. Sweat balls off walking around mexican part of Cabo. Enjoy refreshing Coke. Walked into the most hilarious and out of place indoor Shopping Mall I have ever seen. Drink. Late night dinner at The Office on the beach. Drink a lot. Have fun in pool when we get back.

Caitlin with El Archo as a backdrop:

Sea Lion literally laying underneath El Archo:

Tuesday Day 4: One hour drive to the city of Todos Santos. See some awesome art, buy some unique pieces, enjoy the 15 degree cooler weather there. Eat fish/shrimp tacos in a small thatched roof restaurant. Drive home on a road that is under-construction (where we saw a construction truck fall-off the road earlier). Late Dinner at Mi Casa.

The plaza at Todos Santos bordered by the town’s mission:

Wednesday Day 5: Early morning walk on beach with Caitlin, see a 50+ fishing boats leave at the same time for start of a fishing competition exactly at 7am, hang out at resort pool, breakfast at Hacienda Restruatrant, struggle at Paddle-boarding due to large waves,  lunch at Los Michancos where you buy the Carnitas by the Kilo (probably the best meal of the trip), hilarious negotiations when shopping, pack-up and head to La Casita at the Palmillas near San Jose del Cabo. Cook dinner there which was a massive amount of delicious ribs.

Caitlin enjoying the infinity pool at the Hacienda Resort in Cabo:

Thursday Day 6: Andy hangs around as not feeling well. Others go ATV’ing. Andrew/Whit go to the One and Only for dinner, Andy and Caitlin go downtown San Jose del Cabo for Thursday night art walk, drink free tequilas and mojitos at the numerous art galleries, ponder crazy art, and eat delicious dinner at Meson del Angel. Get lost on taxi ride home.

The group about to chow down on some home cooking:

Friday Day 7: See best sunrise of the trip (and one of the best in my life). Say goodbye to Erin and Billy. Hang-out at the pool at Club 96 as Andrew provides a tour for some travel agents. Drink more mojitos. Hang-out at Casita. Andrew/Whit get tanked. Andrew makes funny dolphin noises. Go to San Jose del Cabo and eat dinner at Tropicana.

Andy, Caitlin, Whitney and Andrew set the course at the Casita in San Jose del Cabo:

Saturday Day 8: Wake-up everyone really early for sunrise (6:15am) and get some great photos. Walk on beach one last time. Pack-up all of our stuff and start drinking. Drop Whitney at Club 96 and go into town for Tequila and final souvenirs. Hang-out at pool until 2:15, head back to casita and leave to airport at 3:00pm. See Jessica Alba on plane to LA. Awesome view flying out of cabo of the two different houses as well as Los Arcos. Arrive to LAX where  after sitting for 10 mins decide we need to off-load at the back of the plane, get on a bus which proceeds to drive around the entire airport taking 15 mins, walk through a deserted section of the airport for 10 mins, go through customs, pick-up baggage, go through customs random check which takes another 15 mins, run to baggage re-check, go through security, wait for another bus to take us to the small ass American Airlines Eagle terminal,  board plane at 8:29pm with departure time at 8:30pm. Very close. Arrive to rainy and cold Denver with some tall weeds in the front yard.

Andrew and Whitney with a intense early morning sunrise:

Sunday Day 1 Post Trip: Realized I took way too many photos.

• Better layout, more content, and hopefully more interaction.
• Continued focus on the photos
• Sorry but my lame writing and trip reports will continue much to the discontent of everyone

Started in Jan 2008 as a way to share photos with friends this site now houses over 50 detailed trip reports from across the country. Many more are planned and new features are being developed to help share other peoples work.

Thanks for following!

– ANDY