Life is filled with adventures if you seek them. I find myself always in a state journey. I want to see what is around the next corner, what is going to happen tomorrow, what new adventure can i find today? My mind can become clogged when i become excited about something. At the beginning of my senior year in college i found my self seriously missing the hills. I had just finished my time with the AMC for the 2009 season, it was one of the highlights of my life so far. I got to spend lots and lots of time in my local mountains, learning all about the area that surrounds me every day. Over the course of the summer, my buddy, john, and i planned a few journeys that we wanted to take. One of them was to do the Pemigiwassett loop in one day. this involves 12 mountains, 34 miles and 12,000 feet of elevation change. On september 7th we set out to complete this trip. It was an 18 hour journey, that gave us the full 360 degree view of the whites. For me, since i was living there over the summer, it was a cap to the summer for me. This journey was a builded because of the love john and i both have for this area. It is a local goal to do this trip in a day, we did it, swearing most of the last 10 miles, but we still did it. Maybe even we a little style! Adventure Ed We STOMP on mountains, it what we do, its what we love!

This pas summer was the best summer job experience of my  life so far. Between the knowledge i gained from leading, the fun i had from climbing and hiking, and the thick skin i grew from working, i feel tougher and more knowledgeable about the woods then i have ever before. Week in and week out my job was about the volunteers and making sure that they really had something to gain by going out and giving back to the trails. But as i was trying to deliver this experience for them, i unknowingly gained a certain respect and love of the whites and the woods in general. Working with groups of teens, is always an interesting experience, you really never know what they are going to do next. Most all the groups i worked with this summer were great, the members of the group loved being out there just as much as i did. Even with the groups that gave me stress, i still liked working with them. I felt as thought every person i worked with gained at least something this summer. It would almost be impossible to describe all the different activities and adventure that i did. But know this, when you are in the wild, no matter who you are, there is always an adventure around the next bend. It is because of this that i will be back, out in the trees, with the birds and the bees.

peace

On march 27th my buddy Chad and I hiked up to Tuckermans Ravine on Mount Washington. Good Weather, good Snow good steeps, good day!.

LOVE BIKES

 

Photos

Climbing mountains is a great feet. It is a task that requires great skill , strength and technical ability. It is not meant for your average joe. Unless you have the chance for a wild cable ride. There is a tram at big sky that starts at the bottom of a bowl, and takes you right up and over snow and cliff, to the top of Lone Peak ( big sky, moonlight are both on this one peak). Ana and I were first in line and choice of where of stand in the tram car. We choose the very front so we could get the best view of the cliffs and shoots that were below. As started our flight up the mountain we could see skiers doing some very aggressive shoots.
Since a very young age hiking has been a part of my life. I still find it some what strange to be plopped up on top of a mountain. I do no gain a sense of a accomplishment standing on the top, more of a sense of guilt. It still does not take away from the beauty that is seen all around you standing up there. As Ana and I stood atop of lone peek, we stood there to take in the beauty much longer then anyone else. With the sun shining and the wind howling, we stood up there admiring the mountains that lie all around us. The way down was nothing really that exciting, it was a large bowl, that had been tracked out pretty good. Ana might have an experience with emotion going down it. We will have to wait for her story.
When we were not riding in the high bowls, we were looking all around us for anything and everything we could possible jump, twist, spin or grab of of. I like the terrain park, and hitting big jumps. But I have greater fascination with hitting natural features that mountain give us. It just feels more gratifying to jump over a small cliff or corneas. The most extreme cliffs I found with Andy, but later in the week Ana and i found smaller stuff so she could hit features too. I must say, that girl has got some guts. When I had the same amount of time on snow as her, I was not doing nearly the jumps spins and grabs she is doing. Granted I am pushing her really hard to do these things. But she seems to respond well to the push, and the excited she gets when she does it is really fun. Ahh the beauty of teaching.  With the final weeks of the snow season near, I soon will post pics of time spent at loon, boo yaa.

So one of the goals of this trip was not to spend too much money. Horay to continental breakfast, gotta love peanut butter and bagels.

“No friends on powder days”, its the modo when you have snow dumping on your head. When Ana and i arrived at Moonlight for our first day of riding, we had a POW day at our disposal. We had connected with a friend of Ana’s, Bryce, who was living in the Bozeman area. He took tuesday off so he could come snowboarding with us. Bryce invited his friend from work to tag along too, Andy. Bryce is more of an archer, and Andy does all the sports you can do in the Bozeman area, snowboarding, hinting, paddling, etc. It was the four us vs. the mountain on day one.

After we got settled and every one was ready to disembark, we started the day by dropping into the trees behind where we parked the car. There was a small cliff the Andy said was worth hitting, about 4 to 5 feet he said. Andy and i dropped in and bombed through the trees, jumping and swooping in between the trees. Jumped the cliff and road the opposite side of the trail to wait for Ana and Bryce. About 4 minutes later we see Bryce jump out of the woods and over the cliff and about 8 minutes after that Ana scrambling out and over the cliff in a cloud of snow.  With all of us in high spirits we headed up the lift. We we reached the top Andy and I took one look at the top of the ridge and were immediately intent on going there. Bryce and Ana… not so much. We set up a meeting time and parted ways till lunch. Andy and I headed for the top.

When we got off the lift at the top of the ridge, we started to hike along the top of the ridge. (the picture) The ridge hike was epic. We are on top of the ridge where is drops on either side, about 45 to 60 degrees. The wind is not bad but even when the wind blows 5 miles an hour it becomes scary. I didn’t have a backpack so I was carrying my snowboard with one arm and using my other to grab rocks while I am hiking. We hike like this for about 20 to 30 minuets. We choose a shoot, made a sketchy traverse, over to where the snow opened up. The traverse was a snow shoot across the top of a rock field and cliff, the path was about 3 feet wide. We did this and then stood on top of our route and started gracefully dancing our ways down the slope. Turning in the deep and steep snow, like it was a hot knife in butter. The was drifts, cliffs and rocks, to maneuver our way around. It the speed that you would go was amazing and snow snow it self was incredibly soft and smooth. At the end of the run we jetted through a narrow shoot and ripped some more fresh tracks in the deep snow.

An exhilarating way to open my trip to Montana.

I think that Montana is pretty rad so far. On the first day of snowboarding we had 9 to 11 inches of snow at the base of the mountain, witch means about 5 more then that on top. Ana and i went to Moonlight Basin the first day with her friend Bryce and his friend from work, Andy. Andy was a local and he knew the mountain very well and we shredded some of the best lines i have ever done. We had hit fresh tracks all day, with face shots a regular occurrence. I was having such a grand time there was no time for pictures. The pictures came today, the sun was out and the tempreture was warm. Today no fresh tracks, but with a big sun and big sky above and below,  Ana and i shredded till we could not go any longer.

I forgot the cord to my camera, so no pics till we get back.

All flights went as planned, and we are now in our hotel ready to go. We got here just in the nick of time. Like an hour after we got here it started to snow. We are looking about 13 inches of fresh snow at the mountain tomarrow. BOO YA.