It's a Big Sky

Lots of miles, lots of vertical, lots of time on feet, and lots of great memories…

Yes, 2014 was a good year for me. To be honest, the last three years have been the best of my life. As I continue to put off rejoining the work force and a “normal” life I can’t help but feel a sense of dread building within me. But for now, I’ll just drink a beer, not think about that stuff, and continue focusing on little more than enjoying the present.

I don’t have much more to say than that.

So, here’s a list of what I feel were my Top 10 running/climbing/life highlights of the previous year, in no particular order…

Top 10 Highlights of 2014:

Finished the ranked Colorado 14ers and all but one unranked 14er (Sunlight Spire)
Led my first sport climbing routes (still need to lead trad)
First (and second) Flatiron Quinfecta
Did 20+ Easy Flatiron Climbs in a Day (98 total pitches)
Celebrated two years of living out of my Toyota Tacoma
Finished my 2^nd 100 miler (The Bear 100) and ran a 50 miler the next week
Took part in my first race with Satan’s Minions
Little Bear-Blanca-Ellingwood traverse and Crestones traverse in back-to-back days
Did my first snow climb (Longs Peak via Keyhole route)
Running the Pikes Peak Ascent and pacing Dave Mackey for 25 miles of Leadville 100 in the same day (It was awesome to watch Dave slowly work his way up from 90’something place and eventually finish in 5^th. School was definitely in session that day and it was great to be the student in the front row.)

Of course, it wouldn’t be a year-end post without listing a bunch of numbers that don’t really mean anything to anyone but me. But hey, I enjoy using spreadsheets and tracking numbers. Guess I’m still an engineer at heart…

2014 vs Previous Years:

Miles:

2014—3,001
2013—2,227
2012—2,500
2011—1,841
2010—561

Time (hours:minutes:seconds):

2014—845:27:12
2013—705:09:13
2012—514:40:05
2011—331:26:06
2010—90:53:43

Vertical Ascent (feet):

2014—830,000'
2013—663,900'
2012—524,200'
2011—245,900'
2010—4,700'

Outings (Runs/year):

2014—342
2013—246
2012—255
2011—237
2010—95

Oh yeah, no year-end post is complete without a crapload of pictures…

Cruising on the Freeway (Photo: Random Scrambler)

Stairway to Heaven (Photo: David Ponak)

Satan's Minions after a Tour de Flatirons scramble on the 3rd (Photo: Mike Wardian)

Old friends and new friends.

Sunset on the 1st Flatiron

Topping out on The Spy

Admiring the 3rd from afar

Sunrise on the 1st

Another sunrise scramble of the 1st

Just another Orrick, MO sunset

Scrambling with Legends. Bill Wright leads the way up The Regency-Royal Arch-5th Flatiron as Peter Bakwin and I follow

Sitting atop Stairway to Heaven after 10 Easy Climbs in a Day

Admiring Boulder during a 3rd Flatiron downclimb

Stairway to Heaven reaching high into the heavens

Peter Bakwin and I doing some early AM scrambling (Photo: Bill Wright)

An early start on some obscure routes near the 4th Flatiron with Tony Bubb and Stuart Paul

Tony Bubb seems to know every rock in The Flatirons. I think he does...

Cordis Hall wrapping up an exhausting day on his first (my second) Flatiron Quinfecta

Trotting along through the burn area of Bear Peak's west ridge

An early morning start to my 20+ Easy Climbs in a Day

Enjoying a white Green Mountain

Angels Landing is probably one of the best sub-hour runs I've ever done. Gorgeous. (Photo: Random Hiker)

Stuart and Rocco making their way back from Torreys

Cordis Hall negotiating the 5th Flatiron's arete

The usual Flatiron scramble up-short shot on the 1st (Photo: Cordis Hall)

Playing around Zion (Photo: Ben Clark)

More fun on the Zion Traverse (Photo: Ben Clark)

Hidden Valley, one of my favorite trails around Moab

The view from Angels Landing in Zion NP

Based on the posters all over the Grand Canyon one would think that going down to the river would lead to certain death. So, after running down South Kaibab, up Bright Angel, and back to Kaibab along the Rim Trail I had to celebrate being alive with a PBR below the rim of the canyon.

A flat 100km in Kansas. Brutal...

When I go home to visit family the only thing I want while running is a hill. Just one hill...

Summer in the Sawatch

Green in winter

Some down time during a photo shoot near Estes Park

Sometimes trail/mountain running hurts...

Look up when you're walking along the streets. You just might see a double rainbow.

Sunnyside Loop in Aspen with Luke Stephensen

Crestone Peak, Northeast Crestone, and Crestone Needle with Paul Hamilton and Brendan Trimboli (Photo: Paul Hamilton)

Traversing from South Little Bear to Little Bear (Photo: Britt Jones)

Looking back at Little Bear, Blanca, and Ellingwood

Sometimes beards get caught in ATC's while rappelling (Photo: David Ponak)

Avoiding the shit show of ice/water/loose rocks in the Hourglass of Little Bear by climbing up beside it (Photo: Paul Hamilton)

Standard Green Mountain summit shot (Photo: David Ponak)

Sunrise in Nederland

Cornet Falls in Telluride

You never know where inspiration will strike.

David Ponak gazing at Queen's Way

Island Lake. Yes, this place really exists...

Sunrise in the Sawatch.

Looking down on Frisco from Peak One

My first ever summit of the 1st Flatiron with Peter Bakwin leading the way (Photo: Peter Bakwin)

Spring in the Indian Peaks Wilderness

Sun's out, guns out on the summit of Mount Sneffels (Photo: Random Hiker)

Island Lake and Ice Lake

Northeast Crestone. When I first looked at this peak in summer 2013 it terrified me. In summer 2014 I returned with Paul Hamilton and Brendan Trimboli for the Crestone Traverse. When I looked at NE Crestone it looked way easier than I remembered. Maybe a year's worth of climbing/scrambling experience had something to do with that? Regardless, Paul took off towards the peak and I followed. The most difficult part was traversing over to the base since it involved some snowy/icy terrain. Once we reached the base it was a quick cruise up to the summit on a route that doesn't feel as exposed as it looks from afar. It took us less than 10 minutes to get from the summit of Crestone Peak to the summit of NE Crestone. This helped me realize that peaks aren't always as hard as they may seem...

Running around Capitol Peak (Photo: Luke Stephensen)

Another white Green Mountain

If there's one thing I know about Telluride, it's this...

Exploring around Spearfish Canyon before the Black Hills 50

Island Lake

David Ponak during Bighorn 100. Running 100 miles isn't all rainbows and sunshine...

Beard envy (Photo: Jeremy G.)

Brendan Trimboli and I doing some Crestone traversing (Photo: Paul Hamilton)

Sure is a sweet ridge separating Little Bear and Blanca (Photo: Paul Hamilton)

Storm's a comin' in Spearfish, SD

A leisurely stroll in the San Juans with Gerbster, Eric, and Kari before Hardrock

An amazing sunrise on my way to a successful completion of Colorado ranked 14ers. Operation Dark Snake was my last ranked 14er...

Looking back at the traverse Paul Hamilton and I had just done. Left-to-right, Ellingwood, Blanca, and Little Bear.

Capitol Peak and some nice wild flowers

Here's to more scantily clad days at 14k+ feet!

Week in Review: December 8-14

Monday, December 8^th

PM—3 Miles—1:11—1,600’—1^st Spyronêtte

Easy up and down…

Tuesday, December 9^th

AM—8 Miles—7:11—5,400’—Torreys Peak (14,267’) from Loveland Pass

Point 12,915’ > Point 12,714’ > Cupid Mountain (13,117’) > Point 12,756’ > Point 12,936’ > Grizzly Peak (13,428’) > Torreys Peak (14,267’)

Easy hike with Stuart and his dog, Rocco. It felt good to feel the burn of high altitude for the first time since October. Surprisingly beautiful day up high. If I were pushing the pace I probably could have got by with running tights and a long-sleeve shirt.

Wednesday, December 10^th

AM—13 Miles—3:19—4,700’—2^nd Flatiron, Green Mountain, Bear Peak, South Boulder Peak

I started off the day with an easy ascent of Green Mountain via the Freeway and NE Ridge. On the summit I ran into TK and Jason. After a brief conversation, I continued on towards Bear and SoBo. My legs never felt great, but they seemed to keep moving on the ascent up Bear Peak’s West Ridge. The weather was pleasant enough and I was moving quickly enough that I shed my shirt—sun’s out guns out! I eventually reached the summit of South Boulder Peak in 1:58’ish. From the summit, I began a casual meander back to Chautauqua via Shadow Canyon and Mesa Trail.

Thursday, December 11^th

AM—9 Miles—6:39—6,000’—Royal Flatiron Quinfecta

Royal Arch > 5^th> 4^th> 3^rd> 2^nd> 1^st

Cordis and I decided to get out for a Flatiron Quinfecta. He had never scrambled the 4^th or 5^th Flatirons and I had only done them once. So, we decided to go descending order to get the unknown routes done with sooner rather than later. I was REALLY slow on the 5^th due to my left knee hurting considerably more than previous days. During our ascent, I spotted the downclimb off the south side of the slab and made mental note of it. We went back to the Royal Arch and descended back to the base of the 4^th Flatiron. To me, the lower slab provides the best scrambling on the 4^th. The upper two slabs are somewhat forgettable and seem more frustrating than anything else. I suppose my opinion of the 4^th Flatiron might change over time as I get more experience on the route. Cordis seemed pretty happy to reach the summit of the 4^th after nearly taking a fall as we approached the gully between the summit of the second slab and Green Mountain Pinnacle. Descending from the summit of the 4^th back to the Royal Arch Trail was the worst descent of the day. The 4^th and 5^th Flatirons took quite a bit of time, but I sort of expected that since neither one of us knew the routes. The 3^rd Flatiron was nice and straightforward. I showed Cordis up the Free for All route on the 2^nd Flatiron for his first time. The slightly harder scrambling near the Pullman Car has made this one of my favorite routes. After a quick downclimb off the 2^nd we made our way to the base of the 1^st. Our scrambling pace up the Direct East Face was painfully slow as we were both feeling the fatigue of the day. A slow downclimb and a trot back down to Chautauqua was all that separated us from being able to chug some water. It’s hard to beat a day of scrambling with good company.

Friday, December 12^th

Climbing in Eldorado Canyon with Evan

Evan and I decided to get out on another classic multi-pitch route in Eldo. After a brisk morning, we were fortunate enough to make our way up Long John Wall (5.8+) in perfect t-shirt weather. A few fun rappels had us back down on solid ground.

Saturday, December 13^th

AM—13 Miles—8:40—8,700’—20+ Easy Flatiron Climbs in a Day

A few weeks ago I did Ten Easy Climbs in a Day after getting a little inspiration from Mark Oveson’s “Top Ten Easy Climbs in a Day” list in Haas’ Flatirons guidebook. I completed my list of ten climbs with relative ease, which left me wanting to pursue an even bigger day of scrambling. With no idea of how long this day would take, I headed up the hill around 7:30am with my Osprey Rev 6 full of water, food, a puffy jacket, running tights, gloves, and a headlamp.

I sent out an email to the Minions to see if anyone wanted to join for part of the day. Dylan Cousins arranged to meet me at the base of the 1^st Flatiron for the Direct East Face. He joined me for every one route after the DEF. Having Dylan along for the day made things considerably easier. I was already feeling pretty spent by the time we started up the Freeway (route 10) and was thinking about calling it a day. I just kept my nose down towards the rock and slowly made my way up. After the Freeway I led the way up Free for All; a route Dylan had never scrambled.

A quick up-and-down on the 3^rd Flatiron had me at 14 routes for the day. This is where I let Dylan lead the way and take me on a few new-to-me routes around Mallory Cave that were part of the Tour de Flatirons this year. Front Porch, Dinosaur Rock, and Der Zerkle all proved to be pretty sweet routes. Fatigue was starting to set in as we made our way up Dinosaur Rock, which left both of us struggling on even the easiest terrain.

After we finished the routes around Mallory Cave we began a laborious trot back towards The Regency. The run out and back from Mallory Cave was actually a strange bit of a relief during a day filled with nothing but slab scrambling. My legs somewhat welcomed the running cadence. Now, an easy scramble up The Regency and Royal Arch were all that separated us from completing the big day. We were both hurting pretty bad at this point, but managed to eventually get up The Regency. Shortly after summitting The Regency we found ourselves sitting atop the Royal Arch and taking in the views. A brief downclimb and a little over a mile trot were all that kept us from the water and food that awaited us in the comfort of our vehicles. The run back to Chautauqua definitely hurt, but was over as soon as it started.

Not a bad day at all…

Totals:

Different Routes—21

Total Guidebook Pitches of Scrambling—98 Pitches

-Ascending—79 pitches

-Descending—19 pitches

Total Feet of Scrambling on Rock—11,910 Feet

-Ascending—10,570 Feet

-Descending—1,340 Feet

1^st Flatironette—Southeast Ridge
The Spy—East Ridge
1^st Flatiron—North Arête
1^st Flatiron—Southwest Face (Downclimbed 5 Times)
Sunset Flatironette—Chase the Sun
1^st Flatiron—Direct East Face
1^st Flatiron—East Face North Side with North Arête
1^st Flatiron—Baker’s Way
1^st Flatiron—Atalanta
2^nd Flatiron—Freeway
2^nd Flatiron—Free for All
2^nd Flatiron—West Face (Downclimb)
3^rd Flatiron—Standard East Face
3^rd Flatiron—Southwest Chimney (Downclimb)
Front Porch—Tiptoe Slab
Dinosaur Rock—East Face Right
Dinosaur Rock—West Face (Downclimb)
Der Zerkle—Sunny Side Two
Der Zerkle—Northwest Corner (Up-and-down Climb)
The Regency—El Camino Royale
Royal Arch—East Face (Up-and-down Climb)

Sunday, December 14^th

OFF—I decided to give myself a little rest by just hanging around the climbing gym today

Weekly Totals

Miles—46

Time—27 hours 1 minute

Elevation Gain—26,400 feet

Week in Review: December 15-21

Monday, December 15^th

AM—12 Miles—3:24—4,450’—Green Mountain and Bear Peak

Easy effort with David Ponak. My legs felt like hell all day. There was a bit more snow than I anticipated, which had me regretting my shoe/sock choice. Things got a little chilly on the ascent of Bear and the initial descent down Fern Canyon to the saddle. Once we hit the saddle things warmed up a bit.

Tuesday, December 16^th

AM—3 Miles—0:29—1,200’—Treadmill

Easy run to see how my knee was feeling…

Wednesday, December 17^th

OFF—Endurance Lead Climbing Day at BRC with Phillip

Thursday, December 18^th

PM—3 Miles—1:32—1,600’—Flatiron Access Trails

The original plan was to scramble up the Freeway on the 2^nd Flatiron with Stuart. I got about 30 feet or so up the face when I slipped and started sliding all the way down to the bottom. When I was 15-20 feet from the bottom I hit a bump in the rock that caused my hands to come off the face. With the possibility of doing a backflip down the rock seeming somewhat likely, I decided to turn around and ran down the remainder of the face. Near the bottom, I did some fancy footwork and avoided total disaster. I decided to just hike up to the Freeway walk-off and meet Stuart there. Today I learned that it always pays to make sure your shoe soles are free of mud when you arrive at the base of a scramble. Later on in the night I realized that my right heel was pretty damn bruised and I was walking with a noticeable limp.

Friday, December 19^th

AM—3 Miles—0:30—1,200’—Treadmill

I bruised my right heel in yesterday’s fall on the 2^nd Flatiron. So, I decided to do a test run on the treadmill in case the pain proved to be unbearable. Turns out that running and climbing down really hurt, but I’m walking around with a bit of a limp.

Saturday, December 20^th

AM—8 Miles—1:10—1,400’—Mesa Trail

I met up with Marco from Rock & Resole at his house near the lower Skunk Canyon Trailhead. We headed up towards the Mesa Trail at a casual pace. My legs are still tired from my 20+ climbs a week ago. At the Bear Canyon split-off we turned around and headed back. Once we got on less snowy/icy trails we were able to enjoy a few miles at 6:00/mile pace.

Sunday, December 21^st

Climbing in Eldorado Canyon and BRC

Evan, Tony, Stuart, and I headed up to the West Ridge around 10am with the intention of climbing several multi-pitch routes, but brutally frigid winds quickly put an end to those plans. After climbing Mesca-line (5.7) I was content to call it a day and head to the nice, warm climbing gym. Evan, Stuart, and I got in several pitches of leading at BRC. The gym session was a productive one for me—I led a 5.11- and took a couple of nice lead falls (falling is fun!).

Weekly Totals

Miles—29

Time—7 hours 7 minutes

Elevation Gain—9,850 feet

Week in Review: December 22—28

OFF—I took this week almost completely off from any physical activity. I climbed one route in Eldo and at the gym a few times. Absolutely no running, though. For some reason when I go back to Missouri I feel incredibly lazy and unmotivated to do any running…

Week in Review: December 29 – January 4

Monday, December 29^th

OFF

Tuesday, December 30^th

AM—15 Miles—3:20—1,300’—Stocksdale Park (Liberty, MO)

I needed 15 miles to hit my mileage goal for 2014. So, I ran 15 super easy miles in the freezing cold.

Wednesday, December 31^st

OFF

Thursday, January 1^st

AM—9 Miles—2:51—2,800’—Green Mountain

A New Year’s snowy slog up the front side of the mountain with a Bear Canyon descent. The front side was broken really well, but the snow was still a little unpacked. The descent trails were still in need of some heavy foot traffic to pack the snow down a bit better.

Friday, January 2^nd

PM—7 Miles—0:57—200’—Bike Paths

Easy run on the bike paths from BRC.

Saturday, January 3^rd

AM1—5 Miles—0:49—1,300’—Treadmill

A nice hill workout. I enjoy running on the treadmill a bit in winter since crappy snow sometimes makes running uphill outside terribly inefficient.

AM2—5 Miles—1:49—2,500’—Green Mountain

Easy up and fast descent on the front side with Stuart and Rocco.

Sunday, January 4^th

AM—4 Miles—0:36—1,000’—Treadmill

A mellow day on the treadmill.

Weekly Totals