Teva Mountain Games 2010

Posted: July 11, 2010
By: andylibrande
In: Colorado, Random, Rock, Summit County/I-70 Area
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Teva Mountain Games

Spent a weekend hanging out at the Teva Mountain Games up in Vail June 5-6th with Caitlin and ran into a bunch of friends that were up there as well so it was a lot of fun (Andrew, Whitney, Ben, Beth, Terra). This is the second time I have been to the games (first time documented here), so it was good to be back to check out some of the fun events with highlights being the in-town Kayak events and the Bouldering competition; compared to the last time I went there the events were good but the timing of certain events overlapped while at other times there was a huge space of time where nothing was really going on. Regardless it is still an awesome event which everyone should check out.

The coolest part about the games was the water-levels on the Gore Creek running through town were just insane with the CFS nearing doubling during the day on Saturday (what I heard from 1700 CFS in the morning to nearly 3000 that night!). The water was so high on Sunday that they had to cancel the events mainly due to the huge amount of debris floating down-river. Anyways we were lucky to witness some pros hitting the creek that night at some of its highest flows on Sat night.

We literally watched full trees come down the river as it hit 20 year highs:

Here is a picture of how crazy flooded it was that afternoon (seriously up 3ft from the morning):

Watched the 3rd Annual World Bouldering Cup held in the US. Always fun to watch top climbers hitting a wall that is nice and tall. Also really cool to see how many people come and watch this event, easily the most watched event at the games.

Really cool features that they mounted to the climbing wall:

Bouldering at the Kluttergarden

On Sunday of that weekend hit up the beautiful Kluttergarden up near Red Cliff, CO. I had only been there once before (awesome trip documented here), so I was really excited to get back-up there again to play on these beautiful boulders.

We meet up with Terra and her roommate and the four of us enjoyed several different problems on just one boulder. The place was also insanely busy but everyone we ran into was pretty laid-back and we still had this boulder to ourselves for most of the day.

Here Caitlin sends a fun little variation that she found:

This climb I am working is on the same boulder and is a cool traverse with a hard lip to try to top-out on.

Then we headed back to vail for a late lunch and to clean-up all of the give-aways at all of the booths 🙂

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Spring Climbing Fun

Spring has been busy with a bunch of activities but just wanted to catch-up with some climbing updates and some other cool photos I may have taken.

Been spending a number of days up inThree Sisters park outside of Evergreen. I have been up to this park a number of times and there is just so many boulders to play on and the scenery never disappoints.

Here is a decent photo from a trip with Ben, Paige and Whitney (I spent more time nursing a hang-over then anything else). Here Whitney works on one of the larger blocks lying in this awesome pine forest:

A couple days were up at another section at Three Sisters where there is this awesome cave feature and a really clean, fun dyno block. Here Caitlin is in the cave:

Side perspective, great overhang and something unexpected in that area:

Here is the awesome dyno (well a photo of me on the launch holds, I was 6-10″ short):

We also had an awesome Friday Night climb session at the same place as the above photos with a big crew! Jake the redhead, Annie, Paige, Caitlin, myself and with a guest appearance from Terra made for a fun evening under beautiful spring weather. Here Jake crushes the Cave problem with speed:

Went to one of the best locations for a climbing competition held on the banks of the Boulder Reservoir. Battle at the Bubble was the comp and they had two of these amazing walls set-up outside with a big-screen projector and a huge amped-up crowd. Daniel Woods pulled together an insane finale move that sent the crowd into a frenzy that I cannot describe. Here is Angie Panye (2nd place) on one of the walls:

To wrap-up here is a cool photo I took of a storm passing through Denver from the top of the DU light-rail station:

Spring in Yellowstone

Posted: June 16, 2010
By: andylibrande
In: Camping, Location Categories, National Parks, Travel, Wyoming
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Where: Yellowstone National Park

When: Friday May 28th – Monday May 31st, 2010; aka Memorial Day Weekend

Who: Caitlin, Andy, thousands of Buffalo, some elk, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, moose, antelope, and the most dangerous animal of them all: tourists.

Have you every heard of this place called Yellowstone? Because I never have and rightfully so as there is not much to do there. We happened to stumble upon it when we decided that we should drive North through that mostly empty piece of land above Colorado that some historic maps have listed as “Wyoming”.

While driving through this land we eventually landed in this weird place called Yellowstone, which apparently is somewhat famous as it is designated as a National Park (what-ever that means). So we decided to hang-out for a few days (mainly because we were sick of driving through that barren land north of Colorado).

So there is not much to see there which should be expected as it is in the middle of nowhere. Not sure if anyone should ever go to this place…

Not really that many bison roaming all over the park, hanging out on the road or on the trails where you would least expect them.

Or are is there any other wildlife like the herds of elk or Pronghorn Antelope.

Or are there any Grizzly bears taking down elk calves in plain site and proceeding to eat them.

And there are most certainly no Wolves hunting elk herds for their newly born calves.

Lastly the landscape is extremely boring as things such as geysers, springs, bubbling mud-pits, sulphur pits, or stunning mountains and valleys exist anywhere in this park.

Anyways if you want to see some horrible photos of probably the most boring place on earth, please read-on and don’t come crying to me when you are bored to death as I warned you fairly.

The Trip: Yellowstone over Memorial Day Weekend:

Our first Wildlife encounter was on the first evening where we went on our first short hike in Yellowstone (2/3rds mile). We went out around a small geyser basin (Mud Volcano basin) through some insanely wet rain/slush:

Out on this short hike in the wet rain/slush we rounded a corner on the trail right before our eyes was the first (and certainly not last) buffalo; Caitlin exclaimed “Is that a real one!?!”…why yes I believe that is a real one:

One advantage of really wet/slushy rain of the first evening was that the pesky Tourist animal was no-where to be seen. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Lower Falls which we enjoyed in complete solidarity for at least 20 mins:

Caitlin demonstrating the proper way to deploy Bear Pepper Spray when a bear, bison, chipmunk, moose, bighorn sheep, or RV decide that they will charge you and attempt to maul/gore/eat/cuddle/love/stomp you:

Saturday morning looked pretty much the Beach Vacation we were expecting (2 inches of Fresh!) the next morning near the Hayden Valley:

Damn tourists can’t walk down the road right:

Porcelain Basin near Norris Junction was insanely awesome:

Some really colorful Extremophiles found in the Porcelain Basin:

The Northern Lamar Valley after a fast moving rain storm (which is about 1,500 ft lower than were we camped and was significantly warmer), also known as the Serengeti of Yellowstone:

Momma and Baby Black Bear were hanging out giving the crowds a show (Near Tower):

Sunday Morning we were treated to some excellent GORE!!! Yogi the Grizzly Bear had chased down an delicious Elk Calf for breakfast and I was jealous as I hadn’t yet had my morning baby animal breakfast. Anyways we finally got a decent photo once he got-up and re-hydrated (but people with high-powered scopes helped us see closeups of the grizzly enjoying the various parts of an elk calf):

Then out of no-where some Wolves attacked a small herd of elk on the same hillside!!! Unfortunately they were hidden by a small hill and they would only pop-out occasionally and were running so quick it that I could not get a photo that was worth anything at all 🙁

Once our killing appetite was taken care of we went and checked out some more Geyser basins near Old-Faithful (Old-faithful was probably the least exciting part of the trip):

The very large Grand Prismatic Geyser from a good vantage point (there is a boardwalk to this geyser but since it is so large and hot all you can see is steam):

So we randomly went to this one small side road and got out of the car to wander around. There was a small group near this one geyser and out of no-where the thing started to erupt and was really sweet to watch it shoot about 25 ft into the air. The White Dome Geyser:

Sunday evening the skies cleared and we were treated to some excellent visual pleasure over the Hayden valley and Pelican Creek (just before sunset the temperature peaked at a whopping 54 degrees):

Monday morning we packed-up and headed out. There was some excellent viewage at Yellowstone Lake (which like most things we saw in the park was still frozen):

Then back in the car again and across that vast land of Wyoming…

Yee Haw!

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Once upon a time it snowed…

Posted: May 27, 2010
By: andylibrande
In: Colorado, Snow, Summit County/I-70 Area
0

“Through sight, the colors may be seen, but too much color blinds us.

Apprehending the tones of sound, too much sound might make us deaf, and too much flavor deadens taste.

When hunting for sport, and chasing for pleasure, the mind easily becomes perplexed.

He who collects treasures for himself more easily becomes anxious. The wise person fulfills his needs, rather than sensory temptations.”

– Ancient Taoism Saying

A Season in Review:

Evan Looking Over Steeps at Zuma – March 6th 2010:

Snow is something that I have a hard time describing in words. Of everything that I have ever done in my life when a deep powder day or an backcountry adventure happens, I am never feel the rush of emotions that I do then. The emotions of excited/stoked/nervous/giddy/terrified/anxious/happy is rarely as strong in anything else as I am when I am in there in the moment.

Due to the nature of snow being so dependent on the weather, when the mountains open-up and give us their glory it is truly a wonderful sight.

Skiing powder gives you a feeling of being connected to the elements in an absolute manner; a union where skier and snow are truly meant to be. Deep powder is the epitome of weather dependency and due to its scarcity one desires it more than anything else.

Evan Dropping into Steeps at Zuma – March 6th 2010:

Skiing aggressive lines makes you humble to the powers of mother nature. Putting yourself in situations where you are nervous is good for ones soul; it allows you to calculate a risk that too few in humanity due today. It allows you to understand your limitations and the limitations of mother nature. The beauty in these situations is that there is rarely a margin of error; you either pass or fail.

Trent at the Bottom of Big Chute, Zuma – March 6th 2010:

The sheer ecstasy that can come over one in the mountains in these situations is one to make you desire more than you need. Is one that leads to your vision being clouded and poor judgment being made…..

Unfortunately this winter season started as the worst season of snow that I can remember since I really started caring about powder days 6 years ago. This is precisely why I included the above Ancient Taoist Saying as a way to ground the experience as a way to help provide insight into how to” fulfill your needs” and not “your sensory temptations”.

Tweak About to Get Slapped with a Little Dose of Reality – Baby Notch, Zuma – March 6th, 2010

Tweak hidden somewhere in that powder cloud. After being swept over those small rocks he was luckily unharmed and able to enjoy the rest of the run:

Finding powder in January and February was a activity that lead us into several challenging situations. In early January we skied the popular mellow side-country at A-Basin called the Beavers (no photos) and encountered some of the most intense moments of poor snow-pack I have ever seen. A learning experience in that even the “safe” areas can be deadly. Large sluff slides were also a concern throughout the year as though they seem minor, they can easily turn on you.

Caitlin Checking her Equipment before the BC Action Begins – March 6th, 2010

Even building the backyard park at Trent’s house was a major challenge as the snow fall never accumulated enough to enjoy it as we had previously enjoyed it.

Trent Hitting his Backyard Park Moments before Ellie (the dog) took him out and my Flash (RIP)

Playing with the Light since the Flash is broken – Evan:

Being anxious was something that ran through all of our veins at one point during the winter. Struggling to be satisfied due to such a successful prior winter (evidence here, here, here, here), we had to accept the change and make the best of it.

“Temperatures will rise and fall. Winds will shift. Leaves will drop and buds will form. And with every transition new beginnings will be revealed.”

March things become much better:

Jay Slaying at the Bottom of Steeps, Zuma – March 6th, 2010

Andy (me) Checking out Cone 3 – March 6th, 2010

Several days not documented here completed a winter that had fulfilled my needs. It is almost time to transition to the next season in the Rocky Mountains and a time to day-dream about the past adventures.

Scott Trying to Find the Soft Stuff – March 13th, 2010:

Tweak About to go a lot bigger than he realizes (hehe) – March 6th, 2010:

Trent Hitting the First Zuma Line of the Year in Little Chute – March 6th, 2010:

Video of the Small Sluff-Slide that Tweak was in the Above Photos. I was taking photos and you can hear my camera clicks an align them with the video:

Matt Baby Notch from Trent Cook on Vimeo.

The Wilds of Mother Nature – Afternoon Windstorm Re-purposing the Powder:

Good times were had this season (and if these late April/May storms keep up may continue!). We were granted enough to be satisfied and as we transition into the next season, we will remember the good days and look forward to future adventures.

– Andy

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Denver Zoo in the Winter

Date: March 20th, 2010

Accomplice: Caitlin (and the furry animals)

Location: The Denver Zoo

We decided to hit up the Denver Zoo the day after a 8-10″ snowstorm as in the morning the weather was absolutely beautiful. We arrived in the early afternoon and had a great time as it had been a long while since either of us had been there.

Let’s just say the weather was perfect, the animals were insanely active and the crowds were non-existent.

Numerous times throughout the day, Caitlin and I found ourselves in exhibits with only us and the animals (which may or may not be legal…). It much more enjoyable to see animals when they want to be outside instead of hiding in the corner from the hot sun and screaming kids.

The Male Brown Bear was Playing around and Real Happy:

And then we found out why he was so happy – Apparently licking the Urine of the Female Bear brings him much pleasure:

The Cheetahs were out running in their snow-covered pen:

Caitlin near the Monkey Area. Due to the Large amount of snow the monkeys were the only animals inside. But you can see how much snow there was in the early afternoon which was quickly melting off:

The Rhino was out enjoying the nice Light:

The Birds were Dive-bombing each other in Bird World as they fought for fish. We sat here for at least 15-20 mins watching them with only two other people coming through in that time.