Editor’s note from Lou: We’ve covered nearly every square foot of our house in Carbondale with Denali gear. By tomorrow we hope it’s all in our cargo trailer and we’re down the road burning mass quantities of diesel. We’re not sure where our first stop is, but the Sierra is tempting. We’ll pass through the Pacific Northwest then on up through the Yukon. Our glacier flight for Denali is scheduled for May 30, and we’ve got to get there a day or two before that to do red tape stuff and last minute food shopping, so that’s our schedule. Starting this weekend we’ll be blogging the road trip — hopefully from some somewhat different perspectives. I’ve been out skiing quite a bit, but nothing too exciting. Jordan had a run down the North Face of North Maroon Peak the other day that involved some amazingly good conditions for this time of year, so between gear mods and packing we put a bit of a photo essay together that perhaps shows the stellar day he and his buddies had up there. Enjoy.
Regardless of how many times I find myself up high, I never tire of the beautiful site of the sun rising in the east. My father wrote a song once calling it the Red Moon Rising.
The first rays of sunlight to hit your face in the morning are a warming reminder of why we spend time up high. Skinning on the apron of the North Face.
For me, the climb means as much, if not more than the ski. Here Ari Adler and Matt Kamper climb up the last bit of ridge before the summit.
Powder turns are a bonus to what is already one of the best days in the mountains I have had in years. Here, Ari enjoys soft recycled pow.
Matt getting a taste of why we climb mountains, and why we carry our skis with us.
Myself, getting in a last bit of Denali training.
This time of year is interesting, one starts with the skis and boots on the back, trail shoes on the feet, and past the dry and melted out area below, we finally get to put on our skins and skis, only to strap them to our pack again for metal spikes to climb the frozen spring snow.
Jordan White is a strong alpinist who finished skiing all 54 Colorado 14,000 foot peaks in 2009. He guides, tends bar, and lives the all-around perfect life in Aspen.
