Advice for those looking for it: Stay more than one night; go here if you are looking for mellow ski terrain and good views; and make sure you come back to Aspen when there is some stereotypical wild techno-champagne party at the base of Aspen Mountain (complete with tacky, expensive outerwear) to make it feel as if you took a wrong turn in Basalt and ended up in Europe somehow...
Category: North America
Some New Experiences in Moab
This year, a major bank released a commercial that features this route, and after seeing it a few times, I knew we needed to give it a shot on this trip.
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Jon Jay 2012 Early-ish Winter Edit
GoPro edit of my escapades around Silverton Mountain and Aspen Mountain, mostly during January 2012 with little bits of December 2011 sprinkled in.
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Skiing a 13er in January?
The only sign of instability occurred when Maggi took a tumble and I skied up to check on her when we were just entering treeline. She was OK, and when she made about 3 turns away from me, the slope I was standing on made an ominous "whoompf" as the snow settled. Maggi called back to tell me she just saw it crack, but I was already straight-lining to safer terrain. The slope did not slide, but instead just gave us a verbal reminder that it was January 2nd in the San Juans.
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A Number of Firsts While Ice Climbing
Not only was it my first time climbing on vertical water ice, but it would be the first time I used quite a bit of shiny climbing equipment I purchased before parting ways with Bent Gate Mountaineering. My shiny pink rope would loose some shine, and all sorts of slings, carabiners, and accessary cord would garner some street cred-tarnish.
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Catching Up with the Fall 2011: Conundrum Hot Springs
After an early-ish start, we finished the last hour of the hike and arrived at the Hot Springs, which had a total of four people at first. For reasons pictured at the beginning of this post, I didn't take many pictures at the Springs themselves. After a few hours, the place became packed with people, and I think there were close to twenty in the big pool by the time we decided to leave.
